Real Estate Agent and Mom! (Los Angeles: real estate market, 2009, home sales)

[harrellkim]

I am strongly considering a career in real estate and would like some feedback from experts in the field. I have two children, ages 9 and 15, who are in school from 8:30-3:00 daily. I'm not sure if this is possible, but this is what I am thinking!! I would like to do all of my marketing, looking at homes, title companies, inspections, etc. during the day while my kids are in school. I would like to be able to pick them up from school at 3:00 and take them home. My children are old enough to stay home by themselves for a bit if I needed to show houses in the evening, however, I would not want to do that every evening. I am thinking to spend time at home doing my emails and paperwork from home. Also, I am okay with showing houses on the weekends, but I would prefer to not show homes both Saturday and Sunday every single weekend. Please let me know if you think this is possible or if I should consider another line of business! Thanks

[Charles]

What is the demand for realtors by consumers?

[andlw2004]

To be successfule real estate is truly a full time job that does require alot of long hours and really being able to accomodate your clients. People also work full time and they are going to want to look in the evenings or on weekends unless thier job has different hours or they work different days where they may have weekdays off. I really love real estate and the first year was rough in building my database of clients but it has gotten better, however I do work anywhere from 45-70 hours a week depending on what I have going on. Also real estate is a very costly career to get into. There are associations and MLS's to join that have fees associated with them as well as everyday expenses dealing with marketing and anything else to run your business. These are just some of the things to consider.

[Charles]

Realtors are abandoning a listing ship - Los Angeles Times

[DMenscha]

For Charles;
"Still, Web-based brokerages account for only a small fraction of home sales. Nearly 14 million homes were sold in the first three months of this year; Redfin sold just 1,300 homes all of last year."

For the OP;
Real estate happens at the client's convenience, not the agent's. I'm typically in the office nearly every single day. Depending on the real estate market where you live, you might be able to do what you're thinking, but like most everything else in life, you will get out of it, what you put into it.

Give it a whirl and good luck to you