New Agent Toolkit
What Every Realtor Needs to Help Clients
What Do I Need As a New Real Estate Agent in Massachusetts?
Starting a career as a real estate agent in Massachusetts opens the door to a world of possibilities, where you'll help clients find their dream homes or make strategic investments in this vibrant market. But beyond your knowledge and skills, the tools you equip yourself with can make all the difference in providing top-notch service.
There are a few tools that I find to be indispensable while I'm out in the field or in the office creating marketing content. From laser tape measures to binoculars and trusty printers, these tools are the unsung heroes of the trade, empowering you to serve your clients better and stand out in a competitive landscape. We'll explore the essential gear that can make your job easier, more efficient, and ultimately lead to the satisfaction and success of your clients.
You Need to Pass the Test First!
You will need as many practice questions as possible to ensure you get a passing score. These two books are your best resource for passing the test!
Educate Yourself
For new real estate agents, "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" by Gary Keller is a must-read, providing insights into building a successful real estate career. Additionally, "Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day" by Karen Briscoe offers daily tips and advice to kick-start each day with valuable knowledge and motivation.
Gear Up for Showings
I've been doing this for a while now and there are a few things I make sure are always in my car to make sure I am prepared for everything my clients need. As a new agent, you will definitely want to consider keeping most or all of these in your trunk!
I never go anywhere without this flashlight from Energizer - it is literally the best flashlight I've ever used. I own three of these and give one to every new buyer client! I use this so often, I'm actually recognized by other agents and their clients because of it. Seriously, don't use your phone's flashlight like an amateur, get this handy light cannon and start really helping your clients see everything at their next open house.
The number one thing your clients will forget to bring is a tape measure! Make sure are prepared to help them measure rooms, ceiling heights and spaces for their furniture or dream setups. This Lexivon tape measure is my favorite because it has the laser for quick measurements and the tape if the battery dies on you!
You will never not get asked "how old is the roof" as long as you're a real estate agent! While you're not qualified to inspect roofs, after a while you'll get to know them very well and be able to help give your client a general idea of the age of the roof. I've had these Nikon Trailblazers for ages and they have held up well to being tossed in my go bag and used in the rain for years.
Keeping yourself and your clients dry never goes out of style and an over-sized G4Free umbrella for your car is a staple no agent should go without. I'd say 70% of my showings are on rainy days up here in Massachusetts; having an umbrella for yourself and better yet, a second for your client is a great move. Bonus points if you rock this stylish green and black one that reminds me of Demon-Slayer.
Marketing & Office Must Haves
Honestly, your cell phone can do just about everything an agent needs to run their business. You can make calls, send emails, lookup listings, prospect, take photos, videos and post to social media. But if you want to take things to the next level, you'll want a few extra gadgets to help you create the best marketing and stand out among the hoard of other agents in your marketplace.
Use a Real Camera for Photo & Video Marketing
You don't need to take your own listing photos, and I actually recommend you don't (they're never as good as you think) but having a real camera, not just your cell phone, is a game changer when it comes to creating marketing content. I have always been in to photography so I've got a few gems in my collection but all of them are affordable enough that they should be in every agent's arsenal that wants to create high quality images and videos.
Nikon Z50: An entry level mirror-less camera that is great for listing marketing, headshots, 4k video tours and as a super crispy webcam for those extra important Zoom meetings. I like the Z50 kit that comes with two lenses but you would also be fine without the zoom lens.
GoPro Hero 12: Having an action camera around is so handy; I use these for super stable walk-through tours or homes and for driving tour content that helps drive new leads to me that are moving from out of town. I love the Hero 12 because of it's point-and-shoot ease of use and extra powerful stabilization. You can also use it to live-stream content directly to YouTube or Facebook. I love the Creator Edition because it is all ready to create great vlog-style content for all my social media platforms.
Rode VideoMic Go II: This mic is so crazy versatile and gives me absolutely stellar audio for a really low price tag! If you want an upgrade, I recently got the DJI Mic lavalier system but the Rode is still my daily driver and easily works with my Z50, GoPro and even cellphone.
Anker C200 Webcam: The Z50 makes a great webcam and gives you that shallow depth of field view but for most jobs, the Anker C200 is just so easy to use and is one of the few webcams that gives a more narrow field of view - it looks so much better and helps limit what shows up in your background if you want more control over that.
The Color imageCLASS MF644Cdw - All-in-One Printer is the best printer for realtors, no question about it! I've run this versatile printer through the ringer! I use it for all my print marketing that doesn't require professional printing. It's wireless, easy to use and has duplex scanning. Honestly, I hate using paper, but it's part of the job and this Canon imageCLASS color printer ensure the materials I produce are high quality enough to impress and get me new clients. I couldn't live without this printer, of all the gear here, it's definitely the one I use the most!
