New Real Estate Agent Checklist

Being a real estate agent can be a rewarding and fun career. But it also has a notoriously high failure rate.

Most who do not make it in the business do not develop a solid foundation in their first year to build on in the future. I made this checklist as a blueprint of the actions to take as a new real estate agent to get off to a good start.

You can look at, download it, and make it your own for your own personal use as you begin the journey into helping clients buy and sell homes.

Below is the checklist to use as a general guide. I will also break down the sections with a quick synopsis below.

In addition to the checklist, I also have an extensive guide on your first year as a new real estate agent. This guide goes in depth on how to be successful in your first year, and the checklist is a companion to it.

The Checklist

You can access the PDF version of the new real estate agent checklist here. Printing the PDF will give you the highest quality copy of the checklist.

If you want to use the checklist for another purpose besides your personal use, just send me a message.

Section 1: Preparation

The checklist starts off in the most obvious place: getting licensed, choosing a brokerage, joining the MLS/Realtor association and other things that a new real estate agent will need to be able to legally sell real estate.

Each state may have a slightly different process for this, but in general you will take a course, then sit for the state salesperson exam.

Tip: You do not need to wait to be fully licensed to continue to complete other preparation items. If you are ambitious, you can even go to the next sections (you just cannot sell real estate until you are licensed.)

Section 2: Goal Setting

Goal setting is an absolutely crucial part of the checklist, and is essential for all real estate agents, new or veterans.

You want to write down why you are getting into the business. And then make a list of daily goals, first year goals and even longer term (3 & 5 year goals).

If you do not know what success looks like for you, how will you know you are getting there?

Section 3: Acquiring Clients

This portion of the checklist will determine your income. First, you want to identify what activities you will be doing for generating leads.

Then, determine what time of the day (preferably your most alert and productive hours, usually morning) you will do your lead generation. Keep this time blocked everyday exclusively for your lead generating activities.

Some of this time should be looking for new potential clients, and the rest for following up.

I recommend 75% towards new leads, and 25% of the time on follow up. Later, this split might change as you build a pipeline of potential clients.

During non-prime hours (afternoon or evening for most) you can build online profiles, write handwritten notes and other activities that will bolster your business.

Keep hammering away at this until you close your first deal. Then keep going after more business.

If you hit your daily lead generation goals, the rest of the business tends to fall into place as long as you are diligent.

Section 4: Build Your Network

Real estate is a team sport. You will need relationships with several different professionals to help you get from a contract or listing to closing.

Again, I recommend using non-prime hours to reach out to these people. Save your best performing hours of the day for acquiring clients.

Section 5: Growth & Training

The key to long term success is to continue to develop your skills, attitude and knowledge base.

I made leaps and bounds by going to conferences. You have the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business. They talk about sales, networking, expansion and dreams.

The other factor that keeps me growing as an agent is reading the right real estate & personal development books. I consistently gain a few insights (or more) from each book on self development, business and real estate that keep my business and myself growing.

It is also a good idea to spend some time learning market conditions. The more you know about your local real estate market, the more you are able to provide value to your clients.

More Tips

Here are some more tips for using this checklist.

• Move through it as quickly as possible. I have found that completely a task is more important than doing it “perfectly”. Perfection does not exist. So do the best you can, but you want to get through your first transactions as soon as you can to get some income and experience.

• You do not need to go in order. Some of these steps will take awhile, and some you will want to keep doing your whole career. So work through the list and anything that you are able to complete, go ahead.

• Make it your own. When you are a new real estate agent, your checklist should reflect what is important to your personal goals, skills and network. So feel free to use this as a template.

• Keep moving forward. Real estate has a high failure rate. Part of that is because it is competitive and at time difficult. If you get discouraged, just keep focusing on your daily goals or taking the next right step. Your career is a marathon, not a sprint.

Conclusion

Having a checklist of the things you need to get started as a real estate agent is important. Taking action on your list daily is even more important.

I hope this downloadable checklist is useful for you.

New to real estate? Send me a message below.