In response, LVAR has relaunched the Lehigh Valley Real Estate Academy at its Bethlehem office earlier this year.  “We’ve always been doing education in a way, but we relaunched it with a new focus” said Ryan.   The Academy is now offering pre-licensing classes for anyone interested in obtaining their real  estate license.  The courses cover the required 60 hours of instruction and prepare participants to take the Pennsylvania Real Estate Salesperson exam.

For the pre-licensing fundamentals course, the fee is $218, per Ryan.  After this, students take the pre-licensing practice course for another $218.  Information about the Academy can be found on the organization’s website:  www.LVrealEstateAcademy.com

We encourage you to contact us for more information about what kinds of financial and life-balance rewards to expect from a career in Real Estate.  Please call or e-mail us before you sign up for the pre-licensing course.  Make sure to read our article about what to do before enrolling.

Excerpted from Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal, April 30, 2012

The state of Pennsylvania requires that an individual take 60 hours of approved classroom instruction in basic real estate courses.  Upon successful completion of the course work, you will be pre-approved to sit for the state-licensing exam by your instructor.  The instructor at your course location will provide you with the necessary application materials to register for the state exam.

There are many on-line courses available to enhance your classroom experience.  However, if you just attend the classes and study conscientiously,  you can  pass the exam without  investing money in extra computer software courses.  Work with your instructor or with your agent mentors at Keller Williams to identify areas where you need more work and do that on your own by reviewing the course material and strengthening your weak areas.  Really, everything you need to know to pass the state exam is covered in the course work in the classroom. The math portion of the test is not daunting.  Even if math is not your strong point, you’ll be able to master the basics needed for the exam.  You need to simply study the sample formulas.  Once you understand the basic formulas, they can be applied to any question based on a specific formula.

Besides the basic requirements to obtain a real estate license, there are a few other things you should consider as well.  Selling real estate is not a nine to five job, it is a career commitment.  Before you earn your license  you should start to consider the pros and cons of which Lehigh Valley Real Estate office/broker will be the best place for you to “hang” your license and more importantly, to learn the career and business skills you’ll need to be a successful Lehigh Valley realtor.  We strongly encourage to contact Shawn Morrow, the Team Leader at the Lehigh Valley Keller Williams offices, for answers to your questions about a real estate career.

As a new sales agent you will need to learn the ropes, so-to-speak. This is where your choice of real estate companies becomes so important. Any particular company you choose will have certain procedures they follow for listing properties, sharing “opportunity” time and covering your operating expenses, but most of all each one will provide different levels of coaching and training. More information on determining the right office for your real estate career can be found here.

You will need a good vehicle in decent shape to transport clients to view properties.  You will also being doing a good amount of driving around to properties yourself, the purpose being to check listing locations and be familiar with each property before you show them to potential buyers.  Bear in mind that your mileage and upkeep of your vehicle will be a taxable business expense, so keep good records.   In addition you’ll have some minor start-up operating costs such as business cards, flyers and your time.    You will be a self-employed, independent business person – you may be independent, but you won’t be alone if you start your career at Keller Williams.  Contact Shawn to find out about all the KW coaching and mentoring programs available to you as you embark on your new Lehigh Valley Real Estate career.

Quick Review:

1. Contact Shawn at Keller Williams for a one-on-one career counseling session and help evaluating whether Real Estate is the career for you!
2. Enroll in an approved Pennsylvania Real Estate School and the Keller Williams Sales Training & Coaching Program
3. Successfully complete your Real Estate License course work
4. Register for and pass the Pennsylvania Real Estate License Exam
5. Start your new career at either the  Keller Williams Lehigh County office or the Keller Williams Northampton County office.

Arrange An Interview At a Keller Williams office near you!

Step One – Choosing The Right Company

Even before you get licensed as a real estate agent, it is important to know the kind of company you will be working for. What kind of support staff do they have? What technology do they provide to help you process more transactions with less time? What kind of training and coaching system do they have in place? Do they allow you to earn the majority of the sales commission on each transaction?

You will find that many real estate companies keep the lion’s share of sales commissions on each transaction. However, Keller Williams Real Estate actually gives you the ability to earn 100% of the sales commission on your transactions. No other firm offers that. Contacting them before you start real estate school allows you to hear all of the options available to you before you step into a classroom, so that you are completely confident in your choice of careers.

Step Two – Attend Real Estate Sales Training

Attending a sales training meeting or workshop at your local real estate office BEFORE you start real estate school can really open your eyes to how business is done, and how success stories happen. Experienced and new agents always benefit from sales trainings, and you can learn just how much you will get out of a sales training session, again reinforcing your decision to start a real estate career. These sessions are at no cost to you, so why not take advantage of the opportunity to learn about the business in a live meeting?

The sales training and coaching system is a big difference-maker between success and failure for new agents. Many new agents pick the wrong firm, and get very little real sales training before they begin. In this situation you often have to ask help from agents who won’t earn money from helping you. Instead at Keller Williams you are assigned a coach and mentor right away, who will help you avoid “rookie” mistakes. They get you started successfully, and are there to help you make money.

Step Three – Attend Real Estate School

Once you have visited with your chosen real estate company and feel like you are ready to move forward with licensing, it’s time to attend real estate school. Here you will learn Real Estate Fundamentals and Real Estate Practice, both of which teach you the laws and procedures to selling real estate in Pennsylvania. Mostly, they teach you how to pass the real estate license test.

What you should realize is there is no sales training presented in this material. They won’t teach you how to make money or be successful. They teach you how to pass the test and not break the law. Of course this is important to know, but really you want to learn what the mega agents who earn six- and seven-figures do to get to those levels. This is why finding the right company, with the right income model, and the right sales training and coaching system makes the difference between success and failure.

Learn More From These Videos

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You Are The Brand

Ready To Take The First Step?

10. KW is an open books company, allowing all associates to see firsthand how the company is performing.

9. The Agent Leadership Council (ALC) gives all agents a voice in how the office is operated –monthly meetings are open to all agents.

8. Industry leading real estate technology helps our agents generate leads, close transactions on-line and & run their businesses more efficiently than agents at other offices.

7. Earn a lifetime of passive income through profit sharing as  for helping your office and your company grow market share and be profitable.

6. The Keller Williams commission structure allows you to make more money than with any other company.

5. Top-notch real estate training at your fingertips through on-line real estate courses through KW University (KWU) & KW Connect.

4. The Keller Williams business model teaches you to thrive in all markets:  buyer’s market, seller’s market, good economic times or bad economic times.

3. The only new real estate agent training program that teaches you how to run a successful business through the implementation of proven economic, marketing, lead-generation. Budget and organizational models.  You don’t experiment at being a realtor – we teach you the proven models you need to be successful after you’ve earned your real estate license  and completed your “textbook education”.

2. An unbelievable company culture where agents help each other,  treat all associates as family members and all clients honestly and fairly – we want every transaction to be a WIN – WIN.
And the number one reason to join a Lehigh Valley Keller Williams Real Estate office…

#1. It’s YOUR real estate business …it’s all about your career and success!  With other real estate franchises, it’s all about the corporate brand – the company is emphasized over the individual agent.

Don’t wait any longer; you owe it to yourself to build “a career worth
having, a business worth owning and a life worth living.”  All this is
possible at the Lehigh Valley Keller Williams Real Estate offices.

Yes, it does, but probably not for the reasons you may think.  It’s not the size of the company, or its TV, radio and billboard advertising or the promises of subsidized expenses that should most influence your decision.  It’s the training, coaching, business models, technology and career mentoring that are most important.  It’s the opportunity, encouragement and support to start your own business, and not be left out in the cold to fend for yourself and teach yourself.  The Keller Williams culture and the Keller Williams models provide you with a structure and a support system that insures that you learn how to be successful in real estate.

Bottom Line…People buy from people, not from real estate companies…especially when it comes to an emotional service like real estate.

You are not selling soda and an iconic bottle with a Brand name.  You are selling yourself and the service and guidance and expertise that you can provide to your buyers and sellers.

Your Personal Brand Matters.  Your Standing in the Community Matters.  Not the color jacket that you wear or the balloon that you fly around in or the history of the company that you are with.

Buyers and Sellers want to be taken care of and want to work with a professional.  Survey after Survey, year after year has proven this.

View this short video for statistics and interviews that show the power of the Keller WIlliams Real Estate career models!

Your Listings – Your Leads – Keller Williams Careers

You worked hard to build a relationship with a seller and they decided to list their home with you and your company.

Then you have to put a sign in the yard that primarily promotes the company that you work for and not you.  You end up getting 2nd or 3rd billing because the national franchise name is included, and then the name of the local “flavor’ of the franchise and finally your name.

The sign also includes the main office number and your contact info is relegated to a rider sign that you hope the prospective buyers look at.

And the listing is promoted on the company’s main website, where all of the inquiries are routed to a call center, or a duty agent that has not bothered to preview your property or it is routed by the manager to their favorite agent.

Does any of this make sense?   NO.

Your Listings – Your Leads is a concept that recognizes the work that you as an agent have done to bring business to the company.

Contrast this to the way Lehigh Valley Keller Williams offices operate:

- The sign in the yard will have your contact number and your branding as the primary focus.  You will include the Keller Williams logo, but your brand and logo and contact number will take center stage.

- The contact number on the sign will be your number.  You decide if you want it to ring to your cell phone or your unique extension on your office desk or if it is routed to your lead capture system. You decide.

- You, the one that knows the property the best get the inquiry and get to answer the questions and you get to make the decision if you want to work with another agent in the office to assist you with the inquiry if you do not feel comfortable working in a “dual agent” situation.

So, when you choose your company affiliation, will you be asked to promote the company brand, or will you be given the tools, training and business models to establish your own brand?

Perhaps the greatest aspect of running your own real estate business at Keller Williams, is that it is YOUR business and we provide all those others things so that you can focus on growing your client list and making money.  You aren’t working for a broker, you are working for YOU.  We provide the office space, support staff, training, coaching, and technology, including websites and automated marketing for you to leverage to run your business.  The only investment you need to make is your passion and dedication to learning and growing.

To learn how our agent-focused model makes it about YOU, please watch this video:

If you think you would like to hear more about how a career in real estate at Keller Williams can meet your goals and change your life, please complete this form here and we will contact you shortly to arrange for a meeting at our closest office.

This is the first step in an awesome journey!

Each Keller Williams office has coaches and mentors who have been-there, done-that and will help you avoid the pitfalls that can slow your growth.  Our agents actively share their knowledge, and are always available to help you get started.  We offer structure training classes, including a set training schedule every month where you can attend and learn up-to-date methods and practices that are creating successes.

To see an example, in this video Gary Keller discusses new updates to Agent Mountain, his training website, where he features interviews with agents who are hitting breath-taking milestones and how they do it.

If you think you would like to hear more about how a career in real estate at Keller Williams can meet your goals and change your life, please complete this form here and we will contact you shortly to arrange for a meeting at our closest office.

This is the first step in an awesome journey!

No other real estate company in the Lehigh Valley offers the Vision and Technology to drive buyers and sellers to work with Keller Williams Real Estate agents. It is isn’t just about creating video, it’s about developing a new business model that your competition can’t touch, and it’s only available at Keller Williams.

Learn how to gain access to this revolutionary video platform for your real estate business by completing the form below:

For an idea of the variety of tools at your disposal as a Keller Williams Real Estate agent, watch this video:

If you think you would like to hear more about how a career in real estate at Keller Williams can meet your goals and change your life, please complete this form  and we will contact you shortly to arrange for a meeting at our closest office.

This is the first step in an awesome journey!

To learn more about our industry-leading solution, please watch this video:

If you think you would like to hear more about how a career in real estate at Keller Williams can meet your goals and change your life, please complete this form  and we will contact you shortly to arrange for a meeting at our closest office.

This is the first step in an awesome journey!