I've been involved in a number of studies that tried to figure out why top agents are top agents. Do they have a common educational background? No. Good ones have high school diplomas, masters and doctorates. No correlation.

Similar previous careers? No. One of the best agents I know used to teach baton twirling. I doubt if I could find a lot of those if I tried! I've had waiters, teachers, high powered executives and stay-at-home Moms who were all very successful.

Common interests? No. Other than eating, (which we Realtor-types seem to do exceptionally well ) the interests are widely diverse.

After 13 years in real estate sales and management, I've only found a few constants.

• Successful agents treat the real estate business as a business. They actually have a business plan and a budget. They understand that you have to spend money to make money. They know how many sales they need to make the income they require and then they figure how they'll get from here to there. They plan in advance and execute the plan.  
• They actually work when they work and play when they play and take a day or two off every week. (just like a 'real job!') 
• They have fun and enjoy selling real estate but know that it won't be forever.  
• According to Dr. Ken Edwards in his monumental book entitled 'Your Successful Real Estate Career', the following traits and skills are essential to your success:
  • You need to like the lifestyle, 
  • You need to be a self-starter, 
  • You need to be a hard worker, 
  • You need to be a smart worker,
  • You need to enjoy solving 'people problems,'
  • You need to be able to deal with all kinds of people,
  • You need to be a good listener,
  • You need to be emotionally stable and mature,
  • You need to know your product and be convinced of your product's value,
  • You need to know the territory,
  • You need to be flexible,
  • You need to persevere.

While this may be a daunting job description, we don't see any non-essential traits here!