Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand andsystematically describe the essence of the experience of successful REALTORS ® before
and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methodology. A phenomenological design was used to explore the experiences of
successful REALTORS ® before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researcher used
a purposeful sampling and utilized Patton’s (2002) steps for phenomenological analysis.
This included epoche, phenomenological reduction, bracketing, textural portrayal, and
structural synthesis on the data. Validity and reliability were established through the use
of Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) four aspects of trustworthiness. This includes credibility,
transferability, dependability, and confirmability.
Findings. During the data analysis, 33 codes were generated from the significant
statements. Further synthesis and analysis of the statements created meanings. Six overall
themes surfaced from the data. The six themes were explained and backed up with
significant statements from the interviews. The essence of the experiences before and
during the COVID-19 pandemic as described by successful REALTORS ® was detailed.
Conclusions. The findings of the study support the literature. The following six themes
emerged: (a) agents chose an entrepreneurial career to be able to work for themselves,
have unlimited earning abilities, and have flexibility in their schedules; (b) relationship
building resulted in consistent business; (c) experiences of overcoming challenges in the
past led agents to believe they can successfully overcome challenges in the present,
which lead to a high self-reported, self-efficacy rating; (d) education was important to the
agents’ business; (e) working with someone you can learn from helped develop qualities
of a successful agent; (f) and listening and strong communication skills were important to
develop.
Recommendations. Further studies should involve more participants or random
sampling. Other quantitative or qualitative methods could be used that would provide
results that can be generalized to a larger population. Each discovered theme in this study
could be researched further provide additional insight into the phenomenon.