Read the blog below:
Anthony:
My friends, those of you that are part time in real estate and trying to go full time, making that transition from part time to full time, very tricky transition. I was there once. Let me tell you a story, Anthony Lamacchia here with crushing in real estate. I want to tell you a little bit about my story and then I’ll get into how I recommend you do it and give you some tips on how to make that transition because it is not an easy transition at all. Driving home from a ski trip, my daughter Eva is filming right now and I thought I’d make use of the time. Let me tell you a little bit about me, when I got in the business, got licensed in July 2004, started in September 2004, worked in real estate and for my dad doing landscape construction for 20 months. May 2006, went full time. During that 20 months, how did I manage it? What did I do?
I’ll tell you this, my dad’s company was in construction, landscape construction, paving et cetera. Early in the morning I would go to work with his guys, usually till about lunchtime and I tried to set up my showings so that they were in the afternoons. I’d run home, eat, shower, change, put on dress clothes, go out show properties in the afternoon, make my dials, do what I needed to do for the things in front of customers I often did in the afternoons or nights. Got back up the next day did the same thing all over again. I wasn’t always able to line it up that way and when I couldn’t, I would just reverse the schedule and go to work with my dad in the afternoon. I had the fortune of being in my dad’s company where in some ways that made it easier, for those of you who know my dad, in some ways it didn’t but I was able to make that transition.
I worked about 40 hours a week in my dad’s company from about the March or April of 05 until the end of the year end of 05. Because remember we’re a seasonal business in landscaping here in Boston. I worked 40 and then I worked at Least 40 or 50 in real estate. I took advantage of all the time I could at night I would work to build up my database. I would add contacts to the database, I was sending postcards out, I was sending Patriots calendars and Red Sox schedules and postcards out every month, within a month of starting so by October 2004 I was doing that every single month. I wasn’t even full time in the business but I already started those activities. I was building my database, I was making calls.
Another thing that I did during that transition, for those of you in the blue collar world, let me tell you some words of wisdom from my grandfather. Right around the summer of 05. This is eight months after I started. One day, my grandfather says, “Anthony, I’ve got a question. Do you want to end up being full time in real estate or still work with your dad and have that be your main job?” I say, “Grandpa, you know what I want to do.” He said, “If you want to do that then why almost every time I see you you’re in work boots, and a t-shirt or work boots and a hoodie?” I said, “I only dress up for real estate when I’m doing my real estate work.” He said, “Two weeks ago, you complained that you went down to the variety store to get a sub and a bunch of guys said, “You still work with your dad. You’re never going to leave your dad. You’re still going to plow snow, right?” I said, “I did.” He goes, “How did those guys see you?” I said, “They see me when I get sub before I go home.” He goes, “In work boots?” He goes, “Why are they going to believe you’re a realtor?” I said, “Geez grandpa, I never thought of that.” He said, “Anthony, act the part. You want to be full-time in real estate, dress like you’re in real estate full-time. You get out of the garage in the morning to see dad’s guys dress like it. That way when you bump into other people, you’ll look like you’re in the business.”
What did I do? I did what he said, I got ragged down by the guys a couple of days. Who cares? As I transitioned, I increased my real estate, decreased the other job. I understand that that’s not always a luxury but as I said, guys, I worked 40 hours a week for my dad, at least and did real estate. I worked extra, I did both. I love when people say, work smarter, not harder. Guess what I do and guess what I’ve been doing ever since, I’ve been working smarter and harder, forever. That’s what I did to make that transition. You’ve got to try to drum up leads for yourself, you’ve got to make time to call your leads. Hopefully the full time job you’re in is one that you can jump outside and make calls, make time to show properties, work weekends, work seven days a week and just tough it out.
At some point you got to make the leap. I made the leap, I was nervous when I made the leap. I was, I’ll admit it but I did it and it wasn’t easy. After I made the leap, of course, I had some deals fall through oh my god, what am I going to do? I didn’t backtrack, I stuck with it and I toughed it out. I doubled down on my advertising, doubled down on my postcards. Everything I was doing social media was not big then, that’s another tip. Social media makes it a lot easier now. Do not talk about your other job on social media. Sometimes I see people even join our company, maybe they tend bar or maybe they’re waitresses, they say, I want to be full time in real estate and then I see them checking in when they’re tending bar or doing hair, some of them do nails nothing wrong with those jobs but guys, if you want to be full time in real estate, that’s what you need to be talking about on Facebook, not the other job. You’ve got to message what you want to be. Act the part, just like my grandfather told me, if you want to be in real estate full time, dress like it full time.
Hopefully those tips help you and at some point you’ve got to make the leap. Remember this guys general rule of thumb in life. The more you put into something, the more you get out of it. The more you put in, the more you get out. If you spend your time mostly in your full time job and you just look at real estate like it’s this little side thing that you’ll do when you get around, I got news for you, you’ll never make it full time. You got to double down, make it happen, take action. That’s it. For those of you that are part timers trying to go full time, I commend you, I was there once I don’t knock you. My full time realtor friends that are listening, don’t knock them because most of you were there once, I was there once. Go get it, put the effort in and end up full time. Best of luck, my friends.