When I started in real estate 27 years ago, I really wanted to be in movies. I figured I’d get on camera, and everything would be perfect. Instead, I had to learn scripts.
I’m a real estate agent with ADHD and dyslexia. The interesting part is that I want to go so fast, but my brain slows me down. So I found workarounds. Here are seven.
Real estate agent with ADHD? 7 workarounds
1. Write the script out until it’s yours
Scripts were my biggest hurdle. So I made myself write them out by hand. I hated it, honestly, especially the long ones. But writing it out turned somebody else’s words into my words. I’d write a script four or five times easily, sometimes dozens of times, until it stuck.
2. Give yourself permission to ad-lib
Then I asked myself: Do I have to stay inside the lines I drew on these scripts, or can I ad-lib a little? I decided to ad-lib, and that’s when it got easier. I gave myself permission to talk in my own language.
3. Let the red squiggle spell for you
Handwritten letters were rough. If I wanted to use a bigger word I wasn’t sure I could spell, I’d open Gmail and type it the way I thought it was spelled. If I got that squiggly red line, I’d double-click it, see the suggestion and pick the right one.
And just so everyone knows, my handwritten letters looked like a drunk chicken wrote them. Everybody on my team knew when Greg wrote something.
4. Talk instead of type
As technology got better, I got voice dictation software. I’d say the word, and it would just appear. Then I could dictate everything and copy and paste it into text messages once I got a Mac.
5. Find your version of a pen and a pad of paper
Letters and scripts could only get me so far. I’m good on camera, and in front of a microphone, so I asked what the nearest thing to movies was for me. I found YouTube.
Was I good? No. I was horrible. The first time I saw myself on video and heard my own voice, I literally took a step back and gasped. If you think you sound horrible and look worse, welcome to humanity.
But I had no other option. I wasn’t going to be writing, so it was video or audio. Right before Facebook Live came out, I apologized to the whole world because I knew I’d be popping up in front of everyone all the time. I’d found my version of a pen and a pad of paper.
So what works for you? Don’t be scared. Embrace it. Most people criticizing you don’t have the nerve to do it themselves.
6. Treat scattered as a skill and outsource the rest
If you think you’re too scattered for real estate, honestly, that makes you perfect for it. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off is the definition of a real estate agent. You wear every hat: buyer’s agent, seller’s agent, handyman, family therapist, cleaner and everything in between. Scattered is fine, if you manage it.
I built systems and a team around how my brain works, and it has literally cleared my mind.
Start here: Sit down and write out everything you’re absolutely amazing at. Honestly amazing, not what your mom says you’re amazing at. Then hand off almost everything else to technology or to the right people.
7. Buy a top agent lunch, then do the homework
For the longest time, I thought real estate was a solo sport. I thought other agents were out to steal my business. The opposite is true. Most top agents would love to help, but they only sit with somebody who actually does what they suggest.
So go to them and say, “I’m new. I see what you’ve built. May I buy you lunch and pick your brain? I promise I’ll do everything we discuss.”
Here’s the catch: If they give you their time and you don’t do everything you said, never contact that agent again. You burned that bridge.
But if you come back and say, “You gave me five action items. I did all five. Here are my results and what I learned. What should I do next? Can I buy you lunch again?” I’d bet just about anything that agent says, “Respect. Let’s do this.”
They’re not training their competition. They have a stake in you. You’re their protégé. And when you knock it out of the park, that’s how you thank them.
If you’re a real estate agent with ADHD and you think you’re too scattered, you’re not. You just haven’t been shown who to talk to yet. Go be the amazing human being that you are.
Greg McDaniel is a Realtor with eXp Realty and has been in real estate for 27 years. Find him at greg1.com and on LinkedIn.
