Your First Year in Real Estate: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional

This is the guide that new agents are looking for. I have been in the real estate for 20+ years and no one has compiled such a comprehensive resource for new agents. I can not thank you enough for writing this book "Your 1st Year in Real Estate." Every chapter explains to new agents exactly what to expectand how to move forward in their new career.Every new agent joining our company receives a copy of your book. If they have not received the book prior to our new agent training program, they receive a copy the first day of training. We encourage them to read it and use it as their real estate reference guide.The chapter on "Making Good Things Happen" is used for our goal setting class. "Take 15 Minutes to Dream" really makes them think and "Your Step-by-Step Plan" with the nine steps is exactly what they need to hear and do to jump start their career. The goal setting plan is simple and helps the new agent understand goals do not have to be difficult to be achieved. It is easy to tell your book was written from experience of one who lived it and made a successful career by following the same advice and exact steps that you are sharing with others. Kathy Collings, CRB, CRSDirector of TrainingF. C. Tucker Co., Inc.Indianapolis, Indiana

Your 1st Year in Real Estate is a comprehensive and exciting plan for success in Real Estate and life. In the tradition of Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy and Zig Ziglar, Dirk Zeller challenges you to not only achieve your wildest dreams through a lucrative career in Real Estate but also maintain balance, for a life worth living. This is the business plan that I was looking for when I started my career as an agent... Dirk doesn't leave any questions about what you should do or how to do it. Dirk has put a tremendous amount of information into this book and I commend him for his honest and sincerity. Experience is the greatest teacher and Dirk has put all of his into the book!Your 1st Year in Real Estate should be called The Fundamentals of a Successful Real Estate Career. Dirk tells you exactly how to create a business that is predictable and can be duplicated. One of the biggest worries for all agents is when and where the next closing (check) will come from. Dirk illustrates how to make your business proactive instead of reactive. He shows you exactly how to predict the amount of business you will generate based on activity, this information is priceless! Dirk even gives you the activities that pay! The book goes well beyond your 1st year in detailing the importance of time management and cost control. Dirk goes into extensive detail about these often-misunderstood elements of really high performers. It's in these chapters that Dirk details how to become the best of the best and achieve a high net income not just a high gross.In my estimation this is a must read for every agent who wants to achieve any measure of success in Real Estate and have a life. Dirk's career in Real Estate was one of massive success while enjoying a life away from work. An often-stated accolade of Dirk's career was that he did it all while working a 4-Day workweek, but I believe even more important, with a moral compass and ethics. Dirk will show you exactly what to do every day to be successful and then he challenges you to maintain focus and balance, something I plan to emulate.A great book that I continue to reread and find more value. This is an important part of my library.Thank you Dirk

I was hoping that this book would lay out in detail all that a newcomer to real estate needed to do in their first year to be successful. Like most books of this nature, though, it provided a lot of general guidelines to doing well, but no real specifics on exactly HOW to do it.Luckily, this only lasted the first portion of the book. And, while the first part was not as good as I hoped for, the second part more than made up for it! Starting with the chapter on "Mastering Your Sales Skills, Part I" the book really gets into the details of getting your business off to a great start.What was most valuable to me were the sections on : - Correctly defining what prospects/leads are for you (and then concetrating on those people that meet your criteria and not dealing with others) - Paying attention to profit & loss with regard to your business activities. (You don't want to be one of those people who buys their business either through huge amounts of time invested, or by purchasing all the latest gimmicks that don't help increase your sales.) - Ideas on how to effectively run your business and still maintain a good balance with your family time. This is a critical ingredient that helps prevent burnout!All in all, I believe this is a book worth reading and putting into practice. In particular, this book in combination with Tom Hopkin's "How to Master the Art of Listing and Selling Real Estate" and Danielle Kennedy's "How to List and Sell Real Estate in the 21st Century" provide a very strong foundation and a detailed list of things to do to get your business going. You can't help but be as successful as you want to be with these books guiding you.

I am a new real estate agent. Like most new agent I was VERY lost (i'm sher you know the feeling). I had no one telling me the "how to's", the "when to's", and most importantly the "why to's" of the business. Is that what I signed up for, i asked!? I was overwhelmed and nervous. I invested in books and tapes of the highest level in relation to real estate (they where very good) BUT they never gave me the BOTTOM LINE (starting for the moment you recieve |THE CERTIFICATE|to actualy thinking of making 100 000+/year)!The best investment I made was the book "YOUR FIRST YEAR IN REAL ESTATE". If you are new in the business and are looking for a mentor !? read the book. You dont know where to start !? Read the book. You want to build a solid foundation for your carreer !? Read the book. Dont be fooled by it's simingly "basic" cover, this is the book you want. Dirk Zeller's philosophy is fantastic. It is possible to work 4 days a week and still make alot of $ and have time for your family...

Mr. Zeller's book offers great insight and motivation for those new to the real estate profession. I read it cover to cover in a day and plan on reading it several times over. Only 2 months into my career, I felt like he was describing the very things I'm going through right now. I highly recommend this book!