Career in Real Estate Archives - Demetree School of Real Estate

Eleven Reasons That Real Estate Is A Better Career Than The One You Have

Real estate can be a great career. For someone without a college degree, I think it’s the best career that is not a trade or the military. It might even be better than a trade or military because you can do it at any age. Here are 11 reasons why I think it’s a great career:

Freedom – You Are The Boss

It’s true that you have to work under a broker. Generally speaking, however, you will be an independent contractor. If you want to take Tuesday off to go to your child’s play, take Tuesday off. If you like starting the day late and working later, rather than starting early and ending early, you can do that. If you want to work from home, you can. If you prefer wearing polo shirts rather than suits, you can. If you want to take the first week of July off for vacation, you don’t need permission. Basically, you have a lot of control of how your day and year works.

You Control Your Income

Not only do you control how your day works, you also have significant control over how much money you make. There are agents I know who make $5,000 a year and they are happy with that. That’s all they want to do. For them, it’s more of a hobby. I know other agents who make $50,000 and they are happy with that. I also know agents who make $500,000. Essentially, if you want to make more money, you don’t have to ask for a raise. You just have to work a little harder or work a little smarter.

Even better, you get to set the price tag. You get to decide how much to charge for your services. Some people charge a percentage. Some people charge a flat fee. Some people charge a lot and offer a lot of services. Others charge less and offer minimal services. You get to decide.

Your Business Is Scalable

Maybe you don’t want to work harder. You can work smarter instead. Real estate is scalable. You can hire an assistant, so you don’t have to do that work. Eventually hire a few more agents to join your team. Later, you can sell the team to someone else. If you understand business, this is a business that is scalable.

You Can Flex Your Creativity Muscles

Because you have so much freedom, you can flex your creative muscles. If you want to start a video advertising campaign, you can do that. If writing is more your style, there is room for that. I’ve even seen Florida Realtors do parody songs about their listings. It’s your business, so you can brand it the way you want to.

The More You Learn, The More You Earn

Initially, real estate is difficult – there is a lot to learn. You wonder how veteran agents get their offers written so quickly and how their CMAs are so much better. The more you learn, the easier it gets. That’s true in any business. In real estate, however, the more you know, the more money you can make. You don’t need to wait to get a promotion. You don’t need to wait for the boss to recognize that you have learned something. The customers will recognize it, and that’s where you make your money.

Low Barriers To Entry

The qualifications for this job are minimal. In Florida, you have to be at least 18 years old, have a social security number, have a high school diploma or equivalent, and not too much criminal history. Once you pass the class and state exam, you are as qualified as anyone else.

It will probably cost you about $2,000 to get started, about $500 to take the real estate class and get your license, and about $1,500 to start your business. I can’t think of many businesses that you can start like that. Most businesses require a lot of capital expenses upfront.

There Is Always A Need For Real Estate Agents

Real estate is never going to go out of style. People will always want to buy. People will always want to sell. I can’t think of a time that I have ever heard someone say, “I don’t really need a place to live.” That would be like saying, “I don’t really need food this week.” There will always be a need for real estate and real estate agents.

It is true that there are people who buy and sell without a real estate agent. But there are also people who unclog their toilet without a plumber. Most people hire a real estate agent. That is even more true in commercial real estate than residential. In commercial, the company doesn’t want to waste time finding a new storefront. They just want you to do it and tell them about it. Even large companies with real estate divisions will hire an outside agent, and happily pay you for your services.

You Will Learn About Good Real Estate Investments

As an agent, you will run across good deals. You will often learn about houses before they become well known. When you are looking at dozens of houses a week, you can’t help but come across some good deals. When this happens, you can purchase them for yourself. Maybe as a home, an investment property, or something to flip. If you keep your ear to the ground, you will learn about good real estate investments.

Every day is interesting

Once you’ve been in the field for a while, you will get the hang of things. You will have many transactions are fairly routine. But things will come up that make transactions interesting. Maybe this one was inherited by the grandkids, and 12 of the 13 owners want to sell but the last one is a hold out. Maybe we need a suit to quiet title. Maybe the neighbor’s fence is encroaching onto the property.

You Will Meet All Kinds of People

Everyone needs a home, so you will meet a little bit of everyone. Nothing is ever the same because people are never the same. One first-time owner will be very nervous and call you all the time. Another one in the same position will respond differently. You will see all types. Because you meet so many people, you will meet some people who will become good friends.

You Will Learn More About People Than You Will About Houses

You will learn a lot about houses, and you will see all types of houses. But this career is really about people. You might have a client that is a divorcing couple. They can’t agree on anything except that they hate the other person. The primary goal of each of them is to hurt the other one. You are the mediator who is supposed to get the house sold. A different divorcing couple is so ready to sell that they are both willing to sell at half-price just to be done with each other.

You have some people who are so attached to the family home that they think we should add $100,000 for nostalgia value. You got other people who think they know more than you do. Others who trust you implicitly. Basically, you will work with all kinds of people, see all types of relationships, and learn a lot about the way people work.

Real estate has been a good career for me and my family. I expect that it will be a good career for you too. If you are interested in learning more about a career in real estate, the first step is getting a Florida real estate license. Call us at Demetree School of Real Estate to learn the process.

Please note that Karen Climer has no affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. Her father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. It has since been involved in several mergers and acquisitions and is owned by a large investment company. Karen owns Demetree School of Real Estate in Orlando, Florida.

By Karen Climer|2026-08-04T12:48:56-04:00August 4th, 2026|

Five Mistakes New Real Estate Agents Make

I talk to new agents and soon-to-be Florida real estate agents every day. Sometimes they are studying for the exam. Sometimes they are preparing to take the class. Sometimes they just got their license. I’ve noticed a few mistakes the newer agents make. It’s the same mistakes over and over.

Shopping for advice they want to hear

Every now and then, a new agent calls me and asks for help. I suggest they call expired listings. With an expired listing, you don’t have to overcome the objection of hiring an agent. They’ve already hired an agent. They call one expired listing. No one answered. They called a second one who is going to relist with the original agent.

Calling expireds didn’t work, so they ask their assigned mentor for an idea. The mentor tells them that they should contact every person they know to let them know they are working in real estate, and see if anyone is in the market or knows someone in the market. That seems like a lot of work, plus it could be awkward. Instead the new agent only calls their ten closest friends and family members. That didn’t work. I guess the mentor doesn’t know what they are talking about.

The new agent then asks another agent who joined the firm three months ago. This agent is making TikTok videos. “What a great idea! Let’s make a silly TikTok video. Let’s do two a week. They are bound to go viral,” these two agents say to each other. After three months, neither of these new agents has gotten any traction from their videos. They decide that the market is saturated with Realtors and quit.

Here’s the issue… two veteran agents gave them good advice. That advice was too far out of their comfort zone, so they shopped around until someone gave them the advice they wanted to hear.

Real estate has changed a lot in the past 20 years, but there is one thing that has not changed in the past 100 years: The only way to get business is to get in front of prospects. You have to get face to face with a prospect. You aren’t going to get anything signed until you get eyeball to eyeball with the prospect. This leads to mistake number two.

Spending time with non-prospects

When I first got my license, I sold timeshare. At that time, every sales rep at the resort got three tours, or three prospects, a day. In timeshare, the sales reps do not have to find their own prospects. The sales reps only sell the product. In my training class, there were 30 people. Many of them were like me – they had never sold timeshare in their life. Most new sales reps had at least one sale by the end of the second week. After 30 prospects, you are bound to sell at least one of them.

How do we transfer this to residential brokerage? If you are spending 30 hours a week, working on your social media page, sitting in classes, and talking to other agents, you aren’t going to go far. Likewise, if you are talking to people who cannot and will not buy a house, you aren’t going to go far. You need to be talking to actual prospects.

How do you know if they are a prospect? A prospect is someone who needs or wants your service, can afford it, and is going to buy it from you or your competitor in the near future.

On the buyer side, they need to be pre-approved or have proof of funds. If they are not interested in getting preapproved, don’t show them houses. So many new agents want to show them a bunch of houses because they are worried that if they let the buyer go, they might buy a house with another agent. If that’s your concern, refer them to another agent and get the referral fee. Let someone else waste their time.

Another indication is whether or not they are making offers. If you find a house that meets their criteria, they can afford it, but they don’t want to make a reasonable offer, these are not buyers. They are tire kickers. Refer them to another agent and focus on finding an actual prospect.

One of the reasons that new agents like spending time with non-prospects is because it feels productive, you are doing something. Also, some new agents are scared to death of having an actual prospect. This leads us to mistake #3.

Not understanding the paperwork

New agents need to sit down in a quiet room and read the contracts – the listing contract, the exclusive buyer agreement, the showing agreement, the sales contract, the as-is sales contract. All of them. Read every single word of the contract. Don’t skim it – read it as if your new career depended on you understanding it. If there is something you don’t understand, ask your broker or sales manager what it means. If they won’t help you, call the Florida Realtors legal hotline.

Once you’ve read the entire contract, practice filling it out. In other words, write down some information: Bob and Mary, a married couple, looking for a homestead, need a house in Great Big Estates, need at least 5 bedrooms, willing to pay up to $2 million, willing to pay the buyer’s agent 3%, need the house by September 2026, etc.

Now, transfer that information into an Exclusive Buyer Broker Agreement. Do the same with the Showing Agreement. What if they were listing that house? Can you do the Exclusive Listing Agreement?

You do not want to practice on your clients. You need to be able to fill out the paperwork, in a reasonable amount of time, with a nervous person watching you.

Here’s what happens to new agents who are uncomfortable with the paperwork: the unconscious insecurity with the paperwork leads them to never ask closing questions. Then they wonder why they aren’t getting any listings. Most of them never realize that that’s the problem, and never even admit it to themselves. Let me be sure you got that: you will never ask a client for the sale because you don’t know how to do the paperwork. You will never realize that’s the problem. You will continue to blame it on the client, on the market, on the commission settlement, or anything other than your own insecurity.

Choosing the wrong brokerage or team

It is very difficult to pick the right brokerage or team. First of all, the new agent doesn’t really know what to look for in a brokerage. They focus on things that don’t matter. They are worried about the commission split. They are worried about whether the training is in-person or on livestream. They are worried about whether the company provides free coffee.

What matters most is this: is this a place where I can be successful? Do I like the broker or sales manager? Is this culture one that encourages success?

Once you get there and find out it’s not what you thought it was, leave. But before you leave, ask yourself this:

Am I leaving because they are pushing me to get out of my comfort zone, so I don’t like what they are saying? (Bad reason to leave)
If I’m not getting the support I need, have asked for that support? Think of it like breaking up with someone. There are extreme situations where you would breakup with that person with no warning, but this is extreme. Normally, you would talk to the person, try to work it out, etc. So talk to the broker and try to make it work. If it can’t work, part ways. But sometimes you can make it work.

Doing What They Want To Do Rather Than What They Need To Do

If you have never done face-to-face sales, there are parts of real estate that might be way out of your comfort zone. I am of the generation that grew up on the phone, not text, so I’m pretty comfortable on the phone. I’ve also worked in a call center at a timeshare resort, so I can ask for the order over the phone. (By the way, the “order” is this case is scheduling the appointment.)

There are other people who would rather hang upside by their toenails before they asked a direct closing question or even make a phone call. Those people will spend all day fixing their website, posting on social media, taking a class at the Board of Realtors, and then making their vison board. They will do anything other than get face-to-face with a potential client. Three months later, they blame it on the broker, their mentor, the market, and anything other than themselves.

Here’s the thing: sales is tough. Selling yourself is even tougher. The only way to sell yourself is to get face-to-face with a potential client and get them to like you. If that is too far out of your comfort zone, there are a lot of jobs in real estate that will be appropriate for you, but being a real estate agent is probably not one of them. If you want to succeed as an agent, you need to be willing to get comfortable contacting strangers and getting them to meet with you.

Can real estate agents succeed if they make these mistakes? Maybe. Sometimes. Can they succeed if they make all five other them? Not a chance.

Keep in mind that not everyone that works in real estate is a full-service residential sales associate. If you aren’t good at the phone, but love social media, maybe being a real estate agent isn’t for you, but you could work as the social media marketer for another agent. If you don’t want to prospect, but enjoy the other aspects of real estate, maybe you should work for a developer or a timeshare resort.

If you don’t have a license yet, and think real estate might be the industry for you, enroll in the prelicensing class at Demetree School of Real Estate. If you are a new agent, and are struggling, you are welcome to give me a call. If I can help, I will.

By Karen Climer|2026-07-22T12:38:24-04:00July 22nd, 2026|

“Please Tell Your Agents To Answer Their Phones”

“Please, please, please, tell your agents to answer their phones.” That is the first thing that Cliff Long, CEO of Orlando Regional Realtors Association, said to the brokers at the brokers breakfast last week. I like going to these breakfasts for the education and the networking opportunities. Cliff said that some clients when they can’t reach the agents call the Orlando Realtors Association to complain. Some of them want to file grievances against the agents.

It’s hard to blame them. They are frustrated because they are trying to see a house, get their house sold, or get to closing, and they can’t get a hold of a real estate agent.

I have the same problem when I’m calling agents. It’s not unusual for me to have a student who is looking to buy or sell a house. They ask me if I can recommend someone. If I’m sending it to an agent I’ve worked with before, I will just send their information over email and know the client will be taken care of. But if I want to send it to an agent I haven’t worked with as much, I want to talk to them first. I find out if they have done any transactions. Is there a type of person they like working with more, such as buyer, sellers, first-time buyers, veterans? That helps me direct my referrals a little better.

When I call someone, my initial voice mail sounds like this: “Hey, it’s Karen Climer, your real estate instructor. I’m checking in to see how your real estate career is going. Give me a call back when you get a chance.” If they don’t call me – someone they know and spent 63 hours with – back, they probably aren’t going to call their clients back either. In that case, I’ll then send it to an agent I am more familiar with that I’ve used before for referrals.

I recently talked to a past student who has a little less than a year under her belt. She has sold a few houses, but is still fairly new. I wanted to send her a referral. She would not answer my calls. I sent the referral to another agent – a different student with about five years experience who is exceedingly considerate and competent.

When I finally did talk to the original agent, she said, “Why do you want to talk to me on the phone? Just text it to me. If you don’t want to text it to me, I’ve got a million other leads. I don’t have time for this call. I’m trying to work.” That’s the reason I make the initial call: to figure out how you treat your clients.

Also, this was a referral for a million dollar home. The commission on that house is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000. If making $30,000 requires me to talk to you on the phone for five minutes, I will happily take your call.

I tell new agents that if they answer their phone and return phone calls promptly, they can make a decent living in this industry. Sadly, the scenario that I described above is not unique. It’s one of the biggest things that laypeople talk about when they talk about real estate agents. Cliff was right when he said, “Just tell your agents to answer their phones.”

By Karen Climer|2026-07-22T12:40:42-04:00June 26th, 2026|

How to Find A Real Estate Mentor

I have worked in three different industries in my adult life. In each industry, I was fortunate to have excellent mentors. This wasn’t an accident. I made sure it happened. So how do you find the perfect mentor? Here are 11 tips that worked for me:

The best mentors will not promote themselves as mentors.

They aren’t charging $500/hour for coaching. There are several people that I would consider to be my proteges. They probably consider me to be their mentor. Not one of them has ever paid me money. I’m not going to say that you shouldn’t pay for mentorship. I’m just saying that the people who have been my best mentors were not people who promoted themselves as mentors. They were people who had been in the industry a while and knew a lot. For some reason, they took to liking me and wanted me to do well. It grew from there. I have never paid any of my mentors.

I think of a mentor as a wise old friend. There are other people who can help you in your career where it is appropriate to pay them. But for me, a mentor is a wise person who is willing to share their knowledge. They relish in your success, and that is their reward.

Your ideal mentor will not be assigned by the company.

Some companies assign mentors. I think assigned mentors probably work like arranged marriages. Arranged marriages work in many cultures, but they are different from marriages where two people fall in love and get married. I don’t have enough experience in that to know if they are better or worse, but I know they are different. If you are from a culture where arranged marriages are the norm, you might prefer the assigned mentor.

Your mentor will likely be older than you, maybe a lot older.

I found they are often toward the end of their career, or at least the second half. As I mentioned earlier, I think of a mentor as a wise old friend. You need a mentor who has been around the block. You also need a mentor who will not be intimidated when you start succeeding. Someone with five years of experience who is trying to build a business themselves will not be a good mentor. That person might be a good accountability partner, almost like a workout buddy, but not a mentor.

If someone offers to help, take them up on it.

It is very common for me to give my card to someone and say, “If I can ever help you in any way, please give me a call.” About six months ago, an agent who was a former student of mine took me up on it. She called, and said, “Karen, can you help me some role-playing scripts?” We now have a standing meeting every week.

I can also recall a student who I really wanted to succeed. We had a lot in common and had good rapport during prelicensing class. I offered to help her. She said she didn’t need my help. She explicitly said that she wanted to do this on her own. I understand the desire to want to achieve something entirely on your own, but that just isn’t possible. We all need other people.

I told her if I can ever help, she is welcome to call me. I never heard from her. I’ve lost track of her, so I don’t know how her career progressed or if she ever even sold one house. I assume she either found someone to guide her or left the industry. Maybe that someone is not someone she would call a mentor. Maybe it’s a broker. Maybe it’s a paid coach. But someone has to help you. Her story is not unique. There have been dozens of people that I hoped would do well and wanted to help, but they had other plans. But I know that if they ever called, I’d say, “Let’s meet and chat.”

Learning is not linear. It’s more like Chutes and Ladders. A good mentor is like a ladder that boast you up.

Go where the mentors are.

My dad, Ron Climer, told me that he used to go to the office very early. A new agent, John Herndon, realized that Dad was already there when John showed up. One Monday, John got there at 8:00. Dad was already there. On Tuesday, John got there at 7:00. Dad was already there. On Wednesday, John got there at 6:00. Dad was already there. John said, “Ron, what time do you get here?”

Dad said, “Today I got here at 5:37.” The next day, John beat Dad to the office.

The point is not to be the first person to the office. The point was that John got there when Dad was there. Dad knew he was committed, appreciated his drive, and wanted to help him. John and Dad were the two office early birds. When other agents strolled in at 10:00, those two had already called all the expireds.

If you want a good mentor, you aren’t going to find them working from home. You have to show up when and where they are.

When someone says, “We should meet for coffee some time,” take them up on it.

Years ago, I was at a county commission meeting. I chatted with someone who worked for the mayor, she said, “Here’s my card. Let’s get together for breakfast some time.”

I called her and said, “It’s Karen from the county commission meeting last week. Do you still want to meet for breakfast?”

She had worked for several politicians, so when I was trying to get an appointment to a board, she was the first person I called and asked for advice. She was happy to give me some. I followed her advice and have since been appointed to several government boards. Today, I consider this person to be a friend.

Also, when someone says, “Let me know if I can help you,” call them right away. Don’t wait six months before you call them. By then, they have forgotten who you are. Any rapport you had from when you first met is gone.

Do your homework before you call.

I used to work in fundraising. I met someone who was a potential mentor, and I had a connection to him. Once when I wasn’t sure what to do in a situation, I called him up and asked for his help. He happily gave me advice. I didn’t call and say, “How do I get good at this job?” I called and said, “I’m considering doing two things with this specific project. I thinking about X because of ___. I also considering Y because of ____. Do you have any thoughts about this? Is there anything I’m missing?”

A few months later, I did the same thing. He was happy to help me because I had done my homework. I asked intelligent questions. Basically, I proved that I was worthy of his time.

When I saw him at industry events, I always made it a point to say hello. When I had an article published in a national fundraising journal, he was the first person I wanted to share it with. When I had some information that might help him, I made sure to share it.

About ten years later, his firm needed some help with a project and they hired me. My area of expertise was a little different than his, so up until his retirement, he would call me and ask me for my advice. In every case with my mentors, I have found that the student eventually becomes the teacher.

You can have different mentors for different aspects of your career.

My first real estate instruction job was at a large timeshare resort. The launch team for the real estate school included me, legal counsel, sales and human resources. The VP of human resources liked me and knew that I was young in my career. She couldn’t really help me become a better real estate instructor, but she did become a mentor in the company. She helped me meet other people in the company. She took the time to explain things because I was curious about learning them. She helped me learn how to navigate the corporate structure. Basically, she was in my corner. When I needed a recommendation letter for graduate school, she was delighted to provide it.

You might have one mentor that helps you run your business. A different one that helps you hone your sales skills. And a third who can help you structure deals.

Make sure the relationship is reciprocal.

I can remember when I was very young in an industry and I met an old veteran. I was actually a little intimidated when I first met her. But we hit it off. One day, she had a client that she didn’t have time for, so she referred them to me. My phone was not ringing so I was so grateful. Years later, when I had more clients than I had time, I was able to refer people to her.

Recognize the mentor when they show up.

A mentor is not the person who has a name tag that says, “Mentor.” It’s not the person that the company assigns to you. It’s just someone that knows a lot and wants you to succeed. It’s someone who believes that you have the talent, the heart, and the hustle to succeed. When that person shows up to help, they might not make it obvious. You have to recognize it. I’ve had mentors who are in different fields from me. For years, I had a mentor who was a Catholic priest. When I was in my early 20s, we worked in the same building but not the same company. As I got to know him, he helped guide me through various workplace bureaucracies that I worked in over the years. He always said that he worked for the oldest and largest bureaucracy on the planet. His industry was very different than mine, but people and workplace politics are the same everywhere.

Don’t force the relationship.

Let it evolve naturally. All of my mentor relationships, whether I was the mentor or the protégé, have evolved much the way a friendship does. You meet at some chance encounter. You hit it off and have some commonality. You might meet again. Eventually, you make an intentional effort to see them. You trust them. You respect them. Next thing you know, you are calling them a friend.

I have found that mentorships are the same way. If you call me up, and say, “Will you be my mentor?” I’m sure I will say that I’m not the right person. That has a little bit too much structure and formality for me. I don’t want the obligations that come with that.

When that happens, I imagine this person calling me up and saying, “Would you be my girlfriend?”

I’d be totally put off and not even want to go to dinner. With mentorship, just like dating, start with something simple and low-key. Let it evolve. Eventually you will refer to the person as your mentor and they won’t be surprised when they hear you say it.

When I think back to some of the mentors I’ve had and some of the ways I’ve benefitted, I’m amazed. As a middle manager, I was invited to the annual Christmas party of executives because of my mentor. I didn’t belong there, someone just liked me and wanted me to do well. When I got a job that was way over my head, I pulled it off because I had a mentor that I could call up and say, “This is what just happened. This is what I did. What would you have done?”

As a child, I played a game called Chutes and Ladders. Having a good mentor is like landing on the ladder space and you get to climb up several spaces.

By Karen Climer|2025-08-13T22:34:22-04:00August 13th, 2025|

How Do Realtors Justify Their Commission?

There have been several articles lately, mostly in the New York Times, about real estate commissions. It’s a hot topic. The comments on the articles are often as interesting as the articles. Realtors usually come out in force to defend their commissions. That’s not surprising. Most Realtors like the way they get paid.

What is wild to me is the way many of them defend the commissions. Many agents say something to the effect of, “Yes, I make a lot of money, but I also have to pay for E&O insurance, training, taxes, MLS fees, lockbox fees, etc.”

I don’t know anyone in any business who doesn’t pay taxes, insurance, and other overhead-type expenses. If that is how your Realtor justifies their value, they aren’t providing value. They are rent seeking.

Rent seeking is an economic term that refers to people who gain wealth at the expense of others without providing any value. The classic example is when the king goes to the river where all the ships pass. He puts a chain across the river, and charges money to lower the chain. This increases the cost of traveling the river but provides no value.

If a real estate agent is defending their fee by telling you about their costs, they are rent seeking. You do not want to hire this Realtor.

On the contrary, let’s take a real estate agent who says this: “Mr. Seller, go ahead and start packing boxes. We’ll get this house sold quickly. I know your time is valuable, so I’ll do all the heavy lifting.

“I will take care of the marketing. I’ll hire a professional photographer so we can show your home in its best light and generate a lot of interest.

“I will vet the buyers before bringing them to your home. I don’t want to compromise your safety by bringing looky-loos to your home. I will show the home only to safe, qualified buyers.

“I will handle the paperwork. I know which disclosures are necessary for your home. For example, a recent law passed and now we have a new disclosure about widget wadgets. I will ensure your buyer gets that disclosure, protecting you from future lawsuits.

“Selling a home is not a fun process, but I will make this process as seamless as possible.”

That is the agent that earns their money. That is the agent you should hire.

By Karen Climer|2025-04-02T18:37:12-04:00April 2nd, 2025|