Qualify Yourself to Clients (Where do you stack up?)

How do you compare with other agents in terms of experience and production? Stats and methods here.

Why is this important?

Buyers and sellers are hiring you. Russell Shaw's tagline is, "I'm not bragging, I'm applying for a job!" Buyers and sellers want to know they can:

Trust your systems (your brains and what you'll do for them).
Trust your experience (have you done this before and what are the results?)

An agent who only talks about their experience won't instill trust. "I've been doing this for 20 years. Trust me!" An agent who only talks about their systems can instill trust, but won't do so as effectively. However, when you combine the two, it's magical:

"I absolutely love my job and have been doing this for 10 years. I enjoy getting another 5 star review as much as I do a sale. It's important for you to know my qualifications, so please don't interpret this as bragging. More than 70% of the agents in Austin sell 3 or fewer homes per year (yes, seriously) and the average agent sells 4 homes per year. I sold 5X that many in 2023. Now, here's what I'll do for you..."

What qualifies you?

*No one will check all of these boxes, btw

How long have you been in real estate?
How long have you lived in Austin (and how well do you know the city and area they're interested in)?
What special skills do you have from your education, past job, or training/certifications? (Were you a teacher? If they would trust their kids with you, they'll trust you to help them buy a home.)
Are you on a team? What makes y'all great?
How many reviews do you have?
How much business do you do? (see below)

2023 Competitive Metrics

18,356 REALTOR members of ABOR. (Year end)
The average agent sells 4 homes per year.
The average agent sells $2.4M per year.
Half sold 0-1 homes in 2023.
72% sold 3 or fewer homes in 2023.

Where do you stack up?

Top 20% is $3M+ per year or 6+ units
Top 10% is $5M+ per year or 10+ units
Top 5% is $8M+ per year or 14+ units
Top 2% is $13M+ per year or 20+ units
Top 1% is $19M+ per year or 29+ units

What if you had a down year last year?

It's absolutely normal to have up and down years. Life happens in many ways and we're working to live (not the other way around). If you had a down year last year, you can do any number of things to prove your experience. How many homes have you sold in your career? What do you normally sell per year? With a bit of thinking, we can absolutely prove your qualifications.

What if you haven't been doing this very long or sold very many homes?

If you're here and you haven't done this long, you're probably on a team. (I'll avoid a long rant about the lack of true mentorship at most brokerages.) You have direct mentorship and team support. How much does your team sell? How much amazing experience do you collectively have? How great are your systems? Sell your experience, then move immediately into systems and sell those hard - you're an amazing agent and person who will follow these amazing and proven systems to a tee!