Important things to remember before Entering into Real Estate| All About Real Estate|Sawan Kumar

If you are seriously thinking about becoming a real estate agent, the first thing you need to know is this: it is one of the oldest, most respected, and most rewarding professions in the world — but it is also one of the toughest, and over 70% of new agents quit before they ever become successful. After training 79,000+ students globally and consulting with hundreds of agents from Dubai to India, I want to give you the five non-negotiables that separate the agents who survive from the ones who quietly disappear in their first year.

Direct Answer: What It Takes to Succeed as a Real Estate Agent

To succeed as a real estate agent, you must complete a licensing course and pass the exam, join an established team for your first 1-2 years instead of going solo, commit fully to the profession with no fallback option, prepare for a 5-year marathon where your first commission cheque may not arrive for 6-12 months, and define a clear answer to why a client should pick you over a 10-year veteran. Skip any one of these five and you join the 70% who fail.

1. Get Your Real Estate Licence First — No Shortcuts

Before anything else, you need to be a licensed real estate agent. That means enrolling in the official real estate course in your jurisdiction, sitting the exam, and passing it. Without that licence in your hand, you legally cannot represent buyers or sellers, list properties, or earn a commission. I see too many people skip this step because they want to jump in fast — don't. Finish the course, appear for the exams, get the licence. That piece of paper is the foundation of every deal you will ever close.

2. Join a Team for Your First 1-2 Years — Do Not Go Solo

This is the single biggest mistake new agents make. The day you get licensed, you do not yet know what works, what fails, who to call, how to price, how to negotiate, or how to generate leads. A team gives you all of that on day one. Look for a brokerage or team whose values, training, and lead-flow match your expectations and join them for at least a couple of months — ideally one to two years. Stay until you genuinely feel ready to fly solo. Going independent in month one usually means zero leads, zero mentorship, and zero deals.

3. Be Committed, Not Just Interested in Becoming a Real Estate Agent

There is a brutal difference between being interested in real estate and being committed to it. More than 70% of new agents move out or fail to become successful — and almost all of them were "interested." Interest gets you through the licence. Commitment gets you through the dry months. Ask yourself honestly: do I have a fallback option if this gets hard? Because if you do, you will quietly take it the first time the pressure builds. The agents who win are the ones who closed every other door before they walked through this one. There is no plan B — that is when you give 100%.

4. Prepare for a 5-Year Marathon, Not a Sprint

This is the part nobody tells you when you are becoming a real estate agent: your first commission cheque may not arrive for six months to a full year. The first few years can be financially brutal. Real estate is a marathon that can stretch up to five years before you hit real momentum. You have to learn to live without a salary, without predictable income, and without the comfort of a monthly pay cycle while you build your pipeline.

• Sales marathon — closing takes longer than you think
• Networking marathon — every new contact compounds slowly
• Learning marathon — understanding what works in your specific market
• Patience marathon — do not panic, do not chase results obsessively

Run the marathon. Stay committed. The compounding kicks in around year three for most serious agents — but only if you are still standing.

5. Know Your "Why" and Your "How" — Especially the How

Here is the question every prospective client is silently asking you: why should I work with you instead of an agent who has been in this industry for 10 years? If you cannot answer that in one sentence, you are invisible. Define what makes you different. Define the specific problem you solve in your area better than anyone else. Maybe it is hyper-local knowledge of one neighbourhood. Maybe it is a tech-driven approach to marketing listings. Maybe it is bilingual service for a specific community. Whatever it is, write it down. Your why fuels you on the bad days; your how is what closes deals. Both are non-negotiable.

Why I Care About Getting You This Right

I am Sawan Kumar — a Chartered Accountant turned AI consultant and educator based in Dubai, where the real estate market is one of the most competitive in the world. Across my 74+ courses I have trained over 79,000 students, many of whom are real estate agents trying to use AI, automation, and GoHighLevel to shortcut these exact five problems. The five points above are not theory — they are the pattern I see in every agent who succeeds versus every agent who quits.

Closing: Your Next Step Today

Becoming a real estate agent is a great career — but only if you treat it like the marathon it is, get licensed, join a team, commit fully, and define your unique edge. Your one specific next step today: pull up a blank document and write a one-sentence answer to "why should a client choose me over a 10-year veteran?" If you cannot answer it yet, that is the work to do before anything else.

Keep Learning

If this was useful, these are worth reading next:

• AI for Real Estate Dubai: Complete 2026 Playbook for Agents, Brokers, and Developers
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• Or go further with the AI Mastery Course — used by 79,000+ students across 150+ countries.
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