Who Said "Teams Don't Work" in Hendersonville, North Carolina Real Estate?

     In real estate sales, there are dependent business models.  There are independent business models.

     At Keller Williams Realty, we have an interdependent model.  The way our pay plan is structured makes the "team" concept make a lot of sense.

     The team concept is based on the realization that we all have different strengths and "challenges".  It is not unusual for a Realtor to have a very aggressive personality that is comfortable calling cold leads but maybe be less than stellar doing the paper follow up that is critical for success.

    Some Realtors like to list houses and dislike showing houses to finicky, indecisive buyers.  Another Realtor might love potential buyers and dislike sellers that can not acknowledge that their home is not in showcase condition.

Keller Williams Realty is a great place to start your real estate career

     In recent years, the team concept has expanded in the real estate industry.  It seems to be working like a charm.

     The old dependent business model where all the real estate agents split their commissions with the company really does not work well to encourage an agent to be a team leader.  Financial incentive is critical to success.  The old dependent model makes it almost impossible for the team concept to flourish.

     As a new Realtor gets a few years experience, younger agents start to ask them for help and advice.  It becomes obvious that starting a team would be mutually beneficial to the younger agent and the experienced agent.  There is another character in the mix, the company.

     The old dependent business model company needs everyone, the young agent and the experienced agent,  to remain dependent on the company.  That is keep paying thirty per cent of their income to the company.

     This is usually the time that the experienced agent start looking for a better way, a different business model.  The often find Keller Williams Realty.  Then they lament their previous choice which made so much more sense when their income was half what it is now.  As the agent's income grows, the old 70 -30 split makes less and less sense.

     As that agent's income grows, their opportunities grow also at an interdependent company like Keller Williams Realty.

     That experienced agent can start a team'  She can profit from her mentoring efforts.  The inexperienced agent also profits because he has a "sergeant" leading him.  This is a win-win for the young agent and the experienced agent.

     WIN-WIN is the first premise of the Keller Williams Realty belief system. https://www.kw.com/kw/mvvbp.htm

     If you are selling real estate anywhere, call me at 828 755 6996 or email me at ronclimer@yahoo.com .  Let me put you in touch with a Keller Williams Realty team leader near you.

     You may not decide to leave your current company.  You will certainly learn something that will put more money in your pocket.  Call me.

     If you are anywhere near Hendersonville, North Carolina, call me.  If you need a real estate license, check out First Real Estate School at www.firstrealestateschool.com

     Whether on a team or as an individual,  selling real estate is a great way to make a living.

   

Pass Fail Statistics for The North Carolina Real Estate Exam for February 2019

     In February of 2019, four hundred and two real estate license applicants  took the North Carolina real estate exam for the first time.  All of these real estate license applicants passed a seventy five hour  real estate course at an accredited real estate school in North Carolina.  Two hundred and twelve of these applicants passed.  The rest of them will be back at the PSI test center, paying $164 to take the exam again.  That is a 52% pass rate.  If you are an pessimist, that is a 48% failure rate.

     This North Carolina real estate exam is not easy.  It is not inexpensive.  It cost $164 every time you take it.  Overstudying seems like a good idea.

     How do the repeat test takers do? In February, two hundred and two repeat test takers took the North Carolina real estate exam for the second or third or fourth time.  Thirty five exam candidates passed.   They all paid $164 every time they took the North Carolina real estate exam.  That is a 17% pass rate.  This test is not easy.

The North Carolina real estate test is not easy

     It would appear that the repeat exam candidates would do better.  They have already seen the test.  They know how hard it is.  They know that the answers look very similar.  It seems that they would fare better.  This is not true.  What is true is that the applicants that failed underestimated the North Carolina real estate exam.  They think they are ready.

     They think they are ready even though they have not done any practice tests like the one in the back of their real estate textbook or the free practice test that I have posted at http://rondclimer.blogspot.com/2015/04/real-estate-practice-exam-for-north.html  This is free.  This is easy.  This will give any applicant a warning if they need one.  Plenty of applicants go take the exam at $164 per opportunity without taking this FREE practice exam.  Why?  It is a mystery to me.  I have another practice exam at www.ncreexam.com .  You should be making a 95% on my practice exam before you spend $164 to practice at the PSI test center.  Does that seem right to you?  Answer ALL the questions at the end of the chapters in your real estate textbook.

     There is no mystery about what is on the North Carolina real estate exam.  The North Carolina Real Estate Commission publishes a forty page booklet that tells us EXACTLY what is on the real estate exam.  Many real estate exam applicants go pay $164 to take the exam without even glancing at this information in this booklet.  Here is a video that I made with more information about that.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZFPZGo_DJ4  Check this out.  If you are studying, be certain that you are studying the right thing.

     The North Carolina real estate exam is broken into two parts:  The "national" portion which is one hundred questions and the "North Carolina" portion which is forty questions .  An applicant can make a 100% on one portion and miss the other portion by one point.  That applicant will be paying $164 to take that failed portion again.  This may not seem fair.  That is the way it is.  Far more people fail the North Carolina portion than the national portion.  You either know what the Conner act is or you don't.  You either know what the Machinery act is or you don't.  You either know how many members are on the N.C.R.E.C. or you don't.

     In your textbook in Appendix A, there is about half of what you need to know to pass the North Carolina portion of the test.  Many test candidates go take the exam without reading Appendix A, "The Comments".  Why would anyone do that?  Read "The Comments" in Appendix A in your textbook.  It is boring.  It is dull.  It is on the test.  If you don't want to read it yourself, you can listen to me read it on You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaPLEyKzX24  There are seven of these videos.  Read it yourself or listen to me read it.  This material is certainly on the North Carolina real estate exam.

     The national portion of the exam is 100 questions.  Fifteen percent of those one hundred questions are math.  An applicant needs to be able to compute interest and equity dividend rate and amortization and excise tax and net listings and commissions.  I have all of the this posted in a series of videos on You Tube.  Any math that is on the North Carolina real estate exam is posted on You Tube.  Watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HbEwoiVBMY&t=58s  Watch the six videos where I am wearing the black T shirt.  Math is fifteen percent of the national portion of the exam.

     Make studying a team sport.  Get together with your classmates.  Share ideas and study aids that you have found online.  Help each other.  Since I work at Keller Williams Realty, this seems natural to me.  We encourage our students to study together and pass together. 

     Here is a super simple obvious tip.  Read the textbook.  There are plenty of test applicants that go take the test ( at $164 per opportunity) when they have not read the textbook.  Yes, I mean read every word of the textbook including the glossary.  Read the textbook.  Turn off the TV.  Turn off Facebook.  Read the textbook.  If you are still in real estate school, read the chapter that you know your instructor will be covering next class session.  Write questions in the margin.  Ask them in class.  Read the real estate textbook. 

     Make yourself some flashcards.  Make a couple of hundred.  Take a 3x5 card.  Write Four things the N.C.R.E.C. can do as punishment on one side of the card.  Put the answer on the back.  Use these all the time until your exam.  Write What are riparian rights on one side of the card.  Put the answer on the back. 

     Study, Study, Study. 

     When you get your North Carolina real estate license, if you're looking for a great place to start your new career, let me personally invite you to interview with Keller Williams Realty.  This is such a pleasant place to work and start a new career.  A new licensee could not ask for better training or peer support.  Please call me at 828 755 6996.  I will have a team leader from an office near you to contact you.  You will thank me later. 

     First things first.  Pass the N.C.R.E.C. exam.  Watch my You Tube videos.  Take my practice exam.  Study.  Study.  Study.  Stay in touch with your classmates.  Gather their contact information while you are still in class.  Call them and congratulate them when they pass. 

     If you are anywhere near Asheville or  Hendersonville, join us at First Real Estate School www.firstrealestateschool.com   for your post license class.  

Buy A House For Zero Down in Hendersonville, North Carolina

     I looked in my mailbox at the office this morning.  There was an advertisement from a mortgage company stating that anyone with a credit score of 660 or better can buy a house in Hendersonville, North Carolina with zero down payment.  The loan amount can be up to $484,000..   Here is what I can not understand.  Why would anyone continue to rent knowing this is true? 

     Are there people that do not know that real estate appreciates in value?  Are there people that do not know that twenty years ago in Hendersonville, an average house was less than $100,000?   Are there people that think renting a home is better in some way than owning a home?  Are there young people that think they will NOT need a home to live in in twenty years?

Quit renting.  Own your home.  I can help.  

     If you wonder how much homes will appreciate in the future, consider the past.  Watch this short video that I made in 2012 when an average house in Orlando was $110,000.  That was only seven years ago.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKaIsTSTsEU

    What is holding YOU back from making a decision to be a homeowner?  In twenty years, would you rather have $100,000 in equity in your home or $100,000 in rent receipts.?   You have to rent or own.  Those are the only two choices.  This seems like a simple decision to me.  Choose wisely.

     If your credit is not so hot, get Dave Ramsey's book from the free library.  Solve that problem.  It is an easy problem to solve once you get started.

     Owning a home is the easiest first step to getting financially better off.  Why delay?

     Call me,  828 755 6996.  Email me,  ronclimer @yahoo.com,  Let me help you buy a home in Hendersonville NOW.  I can refer you to a good Realtor no matter where you are.  Here is a video I made about how to qualify for a mortgage in North Carolina.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy1Y7zDO3M4   Qualifying for a mortgage is not a secret, mysterious, difficult process.  The rules are very straightforward.  You can do this.  YOU have to start the process.  Contact me.  I will help.

     My next article is going to be about reasons why people prefer to rent long term.  If you are renting, would you please leave a comment and tell me why you prefer to rent than own.   If you own a home, could you leave  a comment and tell me why you think that has been a good decision for you. 

   

Looking For a Lay Down, a Unique Prospecting Method For Salespeople

When I was young, I worked in a Buick store in Orlando, Florida.  Selling cars is a good place to learn to sell.  Everyone needs a car.  Everyone is a prospect.  

In the car business, they have their own language.  The term 'Lay Down"  refers to a customer that walks in and is so easy that Bozo the Clown could sell them a car.  They don't need financing.  They don't have any objections.  They are not concerned with the color.  A symptom of a lay down is that they arrive at the dealership in a taxi cab with a insurance check in their shirt pocket.  They have lay downs in every industry.  Maybe other industries do not use that term.  Easy customers are everywhere in all industries.  

After I had gone through my one month training at the Buick store with Henry and learned to sell, ( If you have not read that article, you need to read it. Here is a link http://ronclimer.blogspot.com/2011/04/when-in-doubt-blow-em-out.html )  I found one or two lay downs every month.  

In real estate, we certainly have plenty of lay downs.  If you are not finding your fair share, perhaps it is because you are not looking, prospecting, enough.  If you called fifty expired listings, SURELY there would be one lay down in that group.  

In my youth, I learned a lot about selling at a car store

If you called fifty  forsalebyowners, certainly there would be one lay down among them.  

If you held fifty Open Houses, surely one lay down would walk into one of those open houses.  

If you joined some service club or lead exchange club, surely you would meet one or two lay downs per year.  

If you posted You Tube videos about real estate in your town, maaaaaaybe a lay down would see your video about USDA financing with 1% down payment and call you.  Maybe.  

If you called fifty of your friends and past customers and asked them if they know anyone about to move, perhaps your buddy would refer you to a lay down that lists his house with you.  

If you called fifty foreclosure victims, surely one of them would be glad you called to solve their problem.  

If you did some of the above activities, even if you never met a lay down, you would certainly meet regular prospects that do have a few objections and do need financing and do care about color and neighborhoods etc.  You should be able to sell them.  

Get your fair share of the lay downs.  Call lots of prospects or find a way to make lots of prospects call you.  When the boss walks by and you are sitting at your desk with your headset on and the boss asks if you are lead generating.   Tell her the truth.  " No Boss.  I am looking for a lay down.".    Call a prospect today.  

How To Lower The Cost of Getting a North Carolina Real Estate License

     You can lower the cost of getting a North Carolina real estate license by passing the North Carolina real estate exam the first time that you take it.  In  December of 2018, five hundred and three real estate exam candidates took the comprehensive real estate exam for the first time.  All of these real estate license applicants had graduated from a real estate school in North Carolina.

     Many of these applicants had not been warned by their real estate instructor that only 280 of them would pass.  Forty three per cent of these applicants will be back paying $164 to try again.  This is so unnecessary.  Study for the North Carolina real estate exam BEFORE you take it. This test is tough.  This test is expensive to retake, $164 every time you go back.

     There is no mystery about what is on the North Carolina real estate exam.  The North Carolina Real Estate Commission publishes a booklet telling us exactly what is on the exam.  Here is a link to the details about that.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxc4SZ1CW1w&t=36s   This is published in your textbook.   You have to read it.  Many people go take the North Carolina real estate exam without reading this booklet.

     There are fifteen math questions on the North Carolina real estate exam.  I have every math question that is on the North Carolina real estate exam explained on You Tube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuHYf3DYhIU&t=106s  Here is a link to one of those 100 videos.  Why would anyone go spend $164 to take the North Carolina real estate test without knowing how to do the math?  One hundred and sixty four dollars is a lot of money at my house.  Watch all of these videos until you know how to do all the math that you may encounter on the exam.

     In December of 2018, one hundred and sixty six test candidates took the North Carolina comprehensive real estate exam for the second or third or fourth time.  Twenty three of these repeat test takers passed.  They all paid $164 for the opportunity.  Eighty six per cent failed.  They will be paying $164 to try again.  Please pass the first time.  The North Carolina real estate exam is not easy.  If your real estate instructor failed  to tell you that, take it from me.

After you pass, let me tell you about Keller Williams Realty

     You must study.  You must read the book.  If you went to the best real estate school in North Carolina with the best instructor ever, you can not learn enough in class to pass the North Carolina real estate exam.  You have to study outside of class.  You need to answer the questions at the end of the chapters.  Grade yourself.  Do the practice test in the book.  Do my practice test at www.ncreexam.com Find other study aids online and use them.   Get together with your classmates and study in groups.  Go take the state exam as soon as possible after your class is over.

     Read Appendix A in your textbook.  Half the questions on the North Carolina section of the exam comes from Appendix A also known as "The Comments".  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaPLEyKzX24&t=483s   Here is a link to me reading the comments if you are too busy to read them.  Listen to me read them while you drive etc.

     Please do not take this exam two or three times at $164 per try.  You can pass it the first time IF YOU STUDY.  www.firstrealestateschool.com

     After you pass, please call me and let me tell you about Keller Williams Realty.  It is a wonderful place to start a new real estate career.  Ron Climer 828 755 6996 or 828 440 1064

Please Write A Letter to North Carolina Real Estate Commission Repeal 58 H. 0302

     Earlier this month, I received a letter from the North Carolina Real Estate Commission stating that they are considering repealing the rule that requires a new real estate school instructor permit applicant to submit an hour long video of their teaching to be "approved" by the staff of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.  This is rule 58H .0302.

     As part of their consideration process, the Commission wants to hear from you.  Between January 15 and March 13, 2019, the Commission is accepting written comments from you.  They want to know how you feel.  If you do not know how I feel about this, read my article about my ordeal in 2016.  Here is a link to that.  http://rondclimer.blogspot.com/2016/09/my-process-to-get-my-north-carolina.html   After thirty years of teaching real estate classes in Florida, I applied for a instructor permit in North Carolina.  My video was rejected by the staff of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission three times for silly reasons like like I took my glasses on and off too much and I ended a sentence with a preposition.  It appeared to me that this video approval was some sort of hazing for new instructors.

Write a letter to N.C.R.E.C. Repeal 58H .0302

     Today, in 2019, it appears that the North Carolina Real Estate Commission is considering eliminating this unnecessary, humiliating process.  Just to be certain they know how I feel, I am writing another letter to the N.C.R.E.C. It will be very similar to what I said when I went to speak to them in person. Here is a link to that.  https://rondclimer.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-north-carolina-real-estate.html

     Would you please take a few minutes and write a letter to the N.C.R.E.C. and let them know how you feel.  Ask them to repeal 58 H. 0302.  We do not need video evaluation of new instructors. There are too many young, ambitious real estate instructors that do not have as much tenacity as I do. This video evaluation hazing process has stopped too many real estate instructor careers before they began in North Carolina. .  http://rondclimer.blogspot.com/2018/03/another-real-estate-instructor-career.html

     Please take a few minutes and send a letter by US mail or email public.comment@ncrec.gov to the N.C.R.E.C. at PO Box 17100 in Raleigh, N.C. 27619 or www.ncrec.gov  Help end this discriminatory practice that does nothing to protect the public and does nothing to make North Carolina real estate schools better.

     Thank you.  Mail your letter today. Anyone can mail a letter.  You do not have to be an instructor.  You do not have to be a Realtor.  You do not have to live in North Carolina.   Please leave a comment.  Here are a few more links.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPB0ZIwKWk8&t=3s 
    www.firstrealestateschool.com

   

Pass Fail Rate for North Carolina Real Estate Exam in November, 2018

     The fee for attempting the North Carolina real estate exam is $164 EVERY TIME YOU TAKE IT.  Last month in November 2018, five hundred and thirty six real estate license applicants took the North Carolina real estate test for the first time.  All of these test candidates had already passed a test at a real estate school that is approved by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission www.ncrec.gov

     The North Carolina real estate exam is divided into two parts.  One part is the national portion.  That is one hundred questions.  To pass, an applicant needs to get seventy two of those one hundred questions correct.  The other half of the North Carolina real estate exam is the North Carolina section.   This is forty questions.  An applicant must get twenty nine of these forty questions right to pass.  If you have not read Appendix A from your textbook, you better read it before you spend $164.  Here is a video of me reading it to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaPLEyKzX24&t=442s   About half of the questions on the state portion of the exam come from "The Comments" .  Either read Appendix A or listen to me read it to you.  It is seven videos.

     In order to leave the test center with a smile on his face, a test applicant has to pass the national section and the North Carolina section of the test.  In November of 2018, two hundred and seventy nine exam candidates did this. Two hundred and fifty seven test applicants left with a sad face and a failure notice.  That is a 52% pass rate.

Do not underestimate the North Carolina real estate exam.  

     If you are soon taking the North Carolina real estate exam, please do not underestimate this test.  It is tough.  It is expensive to to fail.  If you have to take the exam again, it costs $164 every time.  If you pass the national portion and fail the North Carolina portion, it costs $164 to take the portion you failed. If you pass the state portion and have to take the national portion again, it will cost you $164.

     Last month, forty three real estate license applicants (repeat test takers) took the national portion only for the second or third or fourth time.  Twenty seven of those applicants passed.  That is 63%.

     Last month two hundred and sixty four exam candidates (repeat test takers) took the North Carolina only portion of the North Carolina real estate exam for the second or third or fourth or fifth time.  One hundred and forty five passed.  That is  55%.

     This is really depressing.  One hundred thirty six test candidates (repeat test takers) took both halves of the exam for the second or third or fourth time.  Twenty nine of these repeaters passed.  That is a 21% pass rate.

     Unless you have a lot more money than I do, you can not go take this North Carolina exam without being prepared.  It is too expensive.  You need to pass on the first try.  Many students study like they want to baaaaaaaaarely pass.  They are aiming to make a 73 on the national portion and a 29 on the state portion.  Please study like you intend to make a 100% on both halves.

     I operate First Real Estate School in Hendersonville, North Carolina.  I tell my students what to study and how to study.  Why do some of them go take the test at $164 per opportunity without reading the textbook?  I tell them to read the textbook.  Half do.  Half don't.  Why?  I do not know.

     Why do some of the students answer the questions at the end of the chapter and some do not?  I do not know.  Any test applicant needs practice answering questions similar to the ones on the North Carolina real estate exam.  I have a free practice exam right here on this blog.  http://rondclimer.blogspot.com/2015/04/real-estate-practice-exam-for-north.html   I have another practice exam at www.ncreexam.com  Why would anyone go spend money to take the exam without doing these practice exams?

     We sell a book in our class titled " Guide To Passing the AMP Real Estate Exam" .  It has a thousand practice questions to help anyone pass the North Carolina real estate exam.  You would think that every one would buy this book.  Half do.  Half don't.  At First Real Estate School, we also sell a Math help book published by 3 Wise Teachers .  The math is ten per cent of the exam.  We also have the solution to any math questions posted on You Tube.  Why would any test applicant NOT avail themselves to this help? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3TtXSnMx9s  There is a dozen of these videos on You Tube.  If you are soon taking the North Carolina real estate exam at $164 per pop, watch them.  Why would anyone go pay $164 to take the exam when they don't know how to determine value when given cap rate and NOI ?  If you don't know how to determine maximum payment that a buyer can qualify for when given debts and income, don't bet $164 that you will not get that problem.  Watch the video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy1Y7zDO3M4  Why would anyone spend $164 to take the exam when that test applicant does not know how to compute the number of acres in a football field?  Why indeed?  You know what is going to be on the test.  Certainly you know if you are going back for the second time.  If you don't know, watch this video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZFPZGo_DJ4&t=53s   It is not a mystery what is on the North Carolina real estate exam.

     Here is a tidbit of advice that will diminish your cost of taking the exam.  When you go take the exam for the first time, leave a pad of paper and a pen laying on the seat of your car.  If you come back to your car with a failure notice in your hand like 48% of the test takers do,  start writing down questions that were on your test.  Sound simple?  You will not believe how many people DON"T do this.  They see a question on their repeat effort at passing the exam that was on their first attempt test.  They did not know what an extender clause was the first time they took the test.  When they saw the question the second time they took the test, they figured it was probably time to find out what it is.  Sure enough , the same question was there the third time.  Write those questions down and find out the answers before you go back at $164 per trip.  Better yet, talk to your classmates.

     Study, study, study.  Obviously, 48% of the first time test takers underestimate the North Carolina real estate exam.  Don't be one of those folks.  At First Real Estate School, we teach a state exam review on the second weekend of each month.  www.firstrealestateschool.com  If you live anywhere near Hendersonville, get yourself a test date soon after the second weekend and join us.  The tuition is $60.  After taking the exam four times that does not seem like much money.

     Get together with your classmates and study together.  Call your classmates and congratulate then on passing the exam.  Watch my math videos.  The exam will be ten per cent math.  Share tips and ideas that you find online with your classmates.

     If First Real Estate School can help you in your license process, contact us at www,firstrealestateschool.com   Our next pre license class is 1 -29-19 .  Our next state exam review is 1-12-19 Saturday and Sunday /  Call  us to register at   828 440 1064 .