Mentoring Real Estate Professionals

"In every art beginners must start with models of those who have practiced the same art before them."

Ruth Whitman

Mentoring programs designed to develop younger workers have long been a foundation of corporate training for Fortune 500 companies. These programs establish a relationship between the mentor and "student" or "protege/mentee" that encourages individual as well as corporate development. The protoge relies on the mentor for, not only instuction on how to do the job, but also for professional guidance, and problem solving advice, through the establishment of a working relationship that benefits all participants; the mentor, the student, and the company.

According to Terri A. Scandura, a management professor and dean of the graduate school at the University of Miami, most Fortune 500 companies see mentoring as an important employee development tool, with 71% of them having mentoring programs.

If mentoring is a valuable teaching or developmental tool, why isn't the real estate industry using it? While there may be isolated cases of individual brokerage firms using mentoring as a teaching tool, why doesn't the industry encourage it more or adopt it as a necessary business practice? Perhaps, as the second stage of mandatory training necessary before a real estate licensee is certified to operate on their own?

I recently participated in a leadership development program hosted by three of the area real estate Associations. One of the tasks assigned was to examine the idea of a mentoring program for new agents, and to develop an outline of requirements for those licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Our group put together the following outline:

MENTOR PROGRAM

VISION

To raise the standards of performance of Realtors by improving their education and career development through a mentor/internship program.

MISSION

To provide a comprehensive mentorship training program whereby all Realtors are provided with the educational tools, hands on instruction, and career counseling necessary to execute the responsibilities of a real estate professional.

PARTICIPANTS

Virginia Real Estate Board (VREB) - Establishes mentoring standards.

Virginia Association of Realtors - liaison between VREB and local Associations, overseeing standardization and coordination of Mentor Program.

Local Association - Advise and coordinate program with local Brokers, to include identifying mentors.

Brokers - In coordination with the local Association, responsible for establishing company Mentor Program. This includes:

1. Procuring curriculum. Ideally, a standardized curriculum, developed by the VREB, VAR and local Association will be used, and can be tailored by broker. However, minimum standards/ requirements must be adhered to.

2. Identifying mentors. This includes not only identifying mentor candidates, but ensuring they've been properly trained. Minimal standardized training requirements set by local Association in coordination with state agencies, resulting in Mentor Certification.

3. Identifying Students. While all new agents are required to complete program, those returning to an active role as a Realtor may also need the program.

4. Establish procedures and verify student's progress.

Mentor- Responsible for instructing, encouraging and monitoring Protégé/Student progress in accordance with program standards.

Student - Realtor enrolled in Mentor program. Required to complete program in accordance with standard program criteria, and to the satisfaction of Broker.

MENTOR REQUIREMENTS

Individuals selected as Mentors should meet minimum standards to include:

· Minimum of 5 years Realtor experience

· Broker shall be qualified through a "mentor certification program" at the local board level

· Mentor will be qualified through a "mentor certification program" at the local board level

1. Selected and endorsed by broker as an appropriate mentor. Clarification - Some agents are unwilling and others not qualified to mentor

· Brokerage shall compensate mentor at a minimum of 25% per mentor assisted transaction

· Mentors shall, at a minimum, provide agent with Mentorship Program Handbook that includes:

1. NAR's Professionalism in Real Estate Practice
2. Contract documents
3. Overview of mentor program
4. Local Board's Education Calendar
5. Local Board's suggested Tools of the Trade

STUDENT REQUIREMENTS

· Mentorship program minimum duration of 6 months, or as long it takes to accomplish minimum of 6 closed transactions, to include 3 listings and 3 sales

1. To include listing presentation
2. CMA
3. Marketing plan per listing
4. Buyer counseling session

· Competent understanding of Code of Ethics and Agency as well as having completed the post licensing continuing education requirements for each

· Build Business Plan to include Plan of Action

· Must demonstrate understanding of all contract documents

· Must demonstrate understanding of their market and product

· Must be acquainted with rental transaction

· Marketing & Technology orientation - the necessity to succeed

· Vendor Orientation - 30 min to 1 Hour per vendor

• Objective - understand role and responsibilities of industry partners, to include, but not limited to:

1. Home Inspector

2. Settlement Agent

3. Lender

4. Pest Inspector

5. County clerk/representative

6. Appraiser

PROGRAM EVALUATION

Identification of goals, standards of measurement and methods of feedback are necessary for the effectiveness of any developmental program. The following must be established, examined and reviewed throughout the course of the program:

During the course of the program

· Goals - established weekly, monthly, and transactional objectives.

• While some goals can be achieved by simply finishing a document or transaction, others can only be achieved with the subjective approval of the mentor/broker. It is important to discriminate between the two.

· Standards of measure - established by state agencies in coordination with the local Association and Broker to measure success of student and/or mentor.

· Feedback - establishment of a functional feedback mechanism for both student questions and inputs.

Post Program Review

· Establish feedback loop to evaluate program six months after program completion.

· Inputs from student, mentor, and Broker

While our outline is is not a perfect blueprint for an effective mentoring program, it is a starting point. Developing better competency and professionalism in the real estate industry is an ongoing process that all of us as individuals, and as a profession, should be encouraging. By establishing stricter pre-licensing requirements and developing a mandatory mentoring program for agents, each of us will be better equipped to practice our profession.

While these added requirements might improve our practice, how effectively are we using the current standards we, as agents, are obligated to follow? Is the Realtor Code of Ethics, established in 1913, outdated? If not, why it so poorly understood by agents, and rarely used to hold agents accountable for their actions?

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