As many who have worked in the industry know, a career in real estate or real estate investing can take years to build.
Many start out learning the ins and outs of their markets, networking like crazy and still bringing in only the occasional sale in the hopes that those efforts will play out further down the line.
Don't Miss: Million Dollar Listing star Ryan Serhant reveals his most difficult sale
Ryan Serhant, who rose to fame from the Comcast (CMCSA) -)-owned Bravo show "Million Dollar Listing New York" and later launched his own brokerage SERHANT, told TheStreet that the best piece of real estate advice he's received was to "take care of the work" and expect that "the work will take care of you."
Ryan Serhant shares how you can reach the point at which 'the work will take care of you'
"Real estate is a roller coaster," Serhant said in an exclusive video interview for TheStreet. "There is no salary, there's no benefits. You have to be somewhat crazy to get into any business that is purely focused on commission. But it is a complete meritocracy. The harder you work, the luckier you're going to get."
For a real estate agent, this can mean continuing to market and show properties to potential clients even in a sales slump. Investing, in turn, is also a long-sum game that does not yield immediate returns — profit comes from studying what will be most likely to increase in value and then weathering out the day-to-day storms of the market.
'Don't focus on the money, don't focus on the deals, don't focus on the noise'
After spending 12 years at New York real estate brokerage Nest Seekers, Serhant branched off with his own namesake company in 2020.
At the end of 2022, the SERHANT firm nearly doubled its 2021 sales volume with $542 million. But, according to the founder, it's best not to "focus on the money" but on the steps that will set one up for future success.
"Don't focus on the money," Serhant said. "Don't focus on the deals. Don't focus on the noise. The markets are going to go up, the markets are going to go down and then they go back up again. So just take care of the work. If you do the work every day, day in and day out, that work will by default take care of you."
