I’m constantly concerned by the churn that exists in our industry. I believe that real estate isn’t that hard, yet the careers of many who join us are actually predetermined and often, in my view, are predetermined to fail.

We push so hard as an industry to get our rookies to make their first sale. But a sale with no platform won’t lead to success.

Have you ever wondered why our churn is so great? Or why such a large percentage of our industry have incomes that fluctuate wildly throughout the year and often plateau at around the two or three year mark? There are many moving parts to what we do and it requires detailed attention to all of these components. Maybe that’s where the difficulty lies?

Just as buildings require a solid foundation, a successful career in real estate requires the same mentality. I am often amazed at how long an inner-city building takes to get out of the ground, but seemingly, the floors fly up once the foundation is established.

A rookie – or even established agent – who is stagnating needs to visit – or revisit – and spend time building their foundation. So often, through the lack of foundation, the agent is forced to lurch from one month to the other, hoping a letterbox drop or this weekend’s open will reveal next month’s listing.

Maybe the fluctuation of incomes and the churn that exists is actually linked to what occurred – or didn’t occur – in the formative period of a real estate career. I want it to be different and I believe that it can be.