Ron Climer Archives - Demetree School of Real Estate

Ron Climer Teaching Real Estate At Classes At Demetree School of Real Estate

Ron Climer has joined Demetree School of Real Estate. He and I will be team teaching a livestream real estate class that begins January 11, 2021.

Ron Climer is teaching a real estate class at Demetree School of Real Estate.

If you don’t know, Ron Climer is my father. He taught me most of what I know about real estate and how to be a good teacher. I’ve sat in the back of his classroom and listened to his stories (and maybe stole a few of them) for more hours than I can count. He and I talk almost every day, and we talk about real estate and teaching real estate because it’s something we both love doing and talking about.

If you were wondering what qualifies him to teach, here’s a little bit about him… he has had a real estate license since 1978. He started teaching classes in the 1980s. If you know someone in Orlando who has had their license for ten or more years, there is a good chance, Ron was their pre-licensing instructor. Ron Climer started Climer School of Real Estate in the 1990s, taught there for a long time. Then he sold it to the current owners in 2014. Today, there are no Climers at Climer School of Real Estate. We are all at Demetree School of Real Estate.

Ron Climer was a million-dollar producer when interest rates were 11% and a million-dollar house meant the White House. When I was very young, maybe around first or second grade, we were the only house on the block who had a VCR. It was a big clunky machine. They were just starting to become popular. We had it because Dad won it in a sales contest. A few years later, every house on the block had one.

Ron and I are team-teaching the live stream real estate class. It’s starts on January 11, 2021 in the mornings. Join us!

Please note that I do not teach for nor have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. My father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. None of the Climers have any affiliation with Climer School today.

By Karen Climer|2021-08-23T10:49:57-04:00December 7th, 2020|

Interview with Ron Climer – Advice for New Real Estate Agents

As you know by now, real estate is my family’s business. I’m a third generation Florida real estate licensee, and a second generation Orlando real estate school owner and instructor. My dad, Ron Climer, is a wealth of knowledge. I run into people regularly who took his class in the 1990s or early 2000s, or they sold houses with him in the 1980s. They tell me how much they learned from him. He and I talk about real estate almost everyday. I thought I’d interview him formally about some advice he would give to new real estate agents. Here’s my interview with Ron Climer… Ron Climer recommends Demetree School

Karen Climer: Let’s say I just passed the state exam, and I’m looking for a real estate broker. There are lot of things to consider, but what do you think is the most important thing when choosing a new broker?

Ron Climer: The most important thing to consider is “Do you like the person on the other side of the desk?”

It is critically important that you get your training. It is hard to be trained by someone that you don’t like. I assume the sales manager has his very best foot forward. His attitude generally permeates the office. If he is happy and jovial, everyone else is similar. Training is critically important. There has to be a good training program.

Karen Climer: I’ve picked my first broker. I’ve signed all the paperwork. I go to the office and sit down at my desk. What do I do in my first week?

Ron Climer: Make a list of your closest 200 friends. Mail them a letter with your business card in it. Ask them to refer to you anyone that needs to buy or sell real estate. Send one to your attorney, your banker, your customers from past jobs, your dentist, your engineer, your high school friends and teacher, your neighbors, your church members, your club members, your creditors, your debtors, your car salesperson, your kids’ teachers, your preacher. Do you know any painters or policemen? Do you know a nurse or a tree planter or a lawn maintenance man or a mechanic or an investment counselor? Do you know a waiter or xylophone player or a zoo keeper or a bookkeeper, or your old real estate instructor that taught you to pass the real estate exam?

Every training program in America tells their new recruits to do this. Five percent do. Ninety five percent don’t. Join the 5%. Then join the 5% of the 5% that sent this same list a Christmas card every year. Add to this list. Add your customers. Add your vendors. Add your co-workers that leave the company. Add everyone that you meet. That list will make you rich. Five percent of five percent do this. Join the five percent of five percent.

Karen Climer: In this day and age, should I really send a postcard? Do you think e-mail blast or Facebook post will suffice?

Ron Climer: In this day and age, you get an email and delete. Facebook posts scroll on by. But a postcard. Your friends will see that. Send a post card through the U.S. Mail. Repeat for Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and Halloween forever.

Karen Climer: Let’s say that someone is new to town, or maybe they don’t have a large sphere of influence. They don’t have referral leads because they are brand new to the business. How does a rookie agent like that find buyers and sellers?

Ron Climer: If someone is new to real estate or new to Orlando, calling for-sale-by-owners is the perfect prospecting activity. Calling and visiting with FSBOs is a wonderful new agent activity. What the sales trainer never tells new people is that you learn from FSBOs. They teach you all kinds of things about real estate that your sales trainer would never even think to teach you. FSBOs are perfect practice to perfect your rapport building skills. If you woke up five days a week with an appointment with a FSBO, success would be inevitable.

Karen Climer: One of the big fears that new salespeople have in any field is that they won’t be able to answer objections. They think, “Someone is going to throw out an objection. I’ll stumble through it and embarrass myself and my real estate career will be over before it starts.” Of course, it’s not really that bad, but that how a lot of new salespeople think. What is your advice in this situation?

Ron Climer: When are you going to come up with the best answer to an objection? When you are sitting in front of a prospect? Or when you are in the office working on it by yourself or with colleagues? I’m betting it’s the second choice. There are only a handful of objections you will hear in a listing presentation. You need a rock-solid answer to all of them. You will not come up with a stellar answer if you are trying to do it on the fly. Practice it beforehand. Whenever you hear a new objection, go back to the office with the trainer and some top sales agents and figure out a good answer in case you encounter it again.

KW Bold has a Facebook group where new agents ask how to answer common objections like, “We have a friend in real estate.” Old agents (like me) show them how to answer their objections. Check out the KW Bold Facebook page.

Karen Climer: I know when you were selling real estate teams didn’t really exist. Do you have any thoughts about whether a rookie should start off on a team or start off solo?

Ron Climer: When I was selling real estate, teams were a new thing. Today, they seem to be working very well. Some people are good on the phone but not in person. Someone else may be good in person, but not on the phone. Someone else is great on the phone but hates paperwork. If solo isn’t working for you, find a team that supports your weakness and accelerates your strengths.

Karen Climer: You sold real estate during high times and low times – seller’s markets and buyer’s markets. You managed to prevail through the storms. What type of person succeeds in real estate sales?

Ron Climer: The market is hot. The market is cold. Everything was different when interest rates were 18%. They were different when houses were appreciating 20% per year and the phone would not quit ringing. Shortly after that, every other listing was a short sale. It is nice if you can see the future. You can be certain what worked yesterday is not what we need today. What we are doing today probably won’t work next year. But the basics never get old. The person that learns the basics will succeed. Basics like:

Listing is the name of the game.
People do business with people they like.
Knowledge is power.
You can accomplish more in twelve hours than you can in six hours.

Karen Climer: Is there still room in the market for new Realtors? Everyone seems to know a real estate licensee. Can someone started out really make a living or are we at the saturation point?

Ron Climer: There is always room for new Realtors. Old Realtors are dying or retiring. People are leaving New York and moving to Florida. More importantly, there are a lot of agents who are not interested in doing what it takes to succeed. If you are willing to do that, you will do well.

Karen Climer: If someone called you up today and said, “I thinking about going to real estate school in Florida. Where should I go to school?” How would you respond?

Ron Climer: Absolutely positively, go to Demetree School of Real Estate. My favorite real estate instructor teaches at Demetree School. I taught her everything I know about teaching real estate. If you don’t believe me, check out her videos. Check out her online reviews. Absolutely, go to Demetree School of Real Estate.

By Karen Climer|2021-08-23T11:00:25-04:00November 27th, 2019|

How To Choose A Real Estate School

Recently, I taught a three-day state exam review, which I teach once a month. About half of the students had been my students for pre-licensing. The other half went to other schools. I asked everyone, “How did you pick your real estate school?” Many of them said it was based on the online presence of the school. I told them that when I went to school, I chose the school based on the reputation of the instructor. I said this partially in jest (my dad, Ron Climer, was my instructor), but it was also true.

This is not a photo of me teaching real estate. It’s a photo of a random person teaching that I thought would make the blog post more visually appealing.

There are many real estate schools businesses that have an awesome online presence, but are actually terrible businesses. I don’t think this is news to anyone. A good online presence is indicative of one thing and one thing only – how much the business values an online presence. You can pay for a website. You can pay for search engine placement. You can even pay for positive reviews on Google, Yelp, and other sites. If that is important to a business, presumably they will pay for that. I’m not saying that any business with a positive online presence is a terrible business. Often, they are good businesses. I’m saying that that should not be your top priority in selecting a school. You need to get more information.

In my opinion the most important factor in choosing a school (whether real estate or otherwise), should be the instructors. A good instructor can make up for a lot of other problems and a poor instructor can negate many positives of an otherwise good school. Most of us have probably had the experience of being at a good school where one terrible teacher made that class unbearable, or the opposite – being at a mediocre school where one phenomenal teacher made that subject come alive.

So How Do You Determine If The Instructor Is Any Good?

The quality of the instructor is probably the most important aspect of a school, but also one of the most difficult to determine prior to taking the class. Many schools boast of having the best instructors, but that is almost always a self-appointed title.

Fortunately, many real estate instructors (including me) have videos online of them teaching. Watch a few videos of different instructors. See which person’s style click with you. If you like their style on video, you will probably like it in person.

With real estate, almost everyone knows someone in real estate. Ask your friends who their instructor was. Did they like the instructor? Here’s a hint: if they say, “Yea, he was pretty good,” that is not an endorsement. On the other hand, if they say, “The class was awesome. She was sooooo good. You have to take her class,” that’s an endorsement.

When you call the appropriate school to register for class, be sure you get the instructor your friend wholeheartedly endorsed. If your friend had Joe at East Cupcake School, don’t just call and register for any class at East Cupcake. Be sure you are in Joe’s class. This may seem wildly obvious, but I’m amazed at how often people don’t do this.

Now, I’m going to tell you a few things that I think are important for a real estate instructor. Your mileage may vary…

Knows a lot of stories and mnemonics to help you understand and remember the concepts. Telling a lot of stories is not enough – they have to be learning stories. Anyone in the field can tell you a lot of war stories that contribute nothing to the learning. You need stories and mnemonics that will help you understand and remember the concepts.
Is willing to answer questions. This might seem like a given, but it’s not. There are many instructors who are not willing to answer questions. They feel if you don’t understand it after their brilliant explanation, it’s your fault.
Understands the subject matter and teaches the subject matter. In real estate (and most licensing situations), there is a big difference between what is on the exam and how to do the job in real life. For pre-licensing, you want an instructor who knows what’s on the exam and teaches what’s on the exam. Once you get your license, find a mentor who can help you learn how to do it in real life.
Good sense of humor. Let’s face it – Real estate pre-licensing material is boring. A good sense of humor can make the time go a little faster and the concepts stick in the brain a little longer.
Respectful of students. Again, this should be a given, but it’s not. Many teachers approach the class like they are king of the world, and can’t believe the students know so little about real estate. You need someone who will meet you where you are, whatever that level is, and get you where you need to be.

Fortunately, when I went to real estate school, my instructor had all of these traits. I try to exemplify them in my own classes. If you are interested in taking a real estate class with me, call me at 407-493-3974.

Please note that neither I, nor anyone in the Climer family, have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. My father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. You can find me at Demetree School of Real Estate.

By Karen Climer|2021-08-25T14:24:32-04:00February 8th, 2019|