Car for real estate sales (agents, Realtor, broker, rent)

[tallandbuff]

How necessary is it to own a car for real estate sales? Do most companies require them?

[gbone]

Originally Posted by tallandbuff

How necessary is it to own a car for real estate sales? Do most companies require them?

Actually, it's not the companies that require a car but rather the job. If you are talking about typical residential sales you will need a car to do your job, whether you own one or lease one.

[EllenArlingtonPark]

Originally Posted by gbone

Actually, it's not the companies that require a car but rather the job. If you are talking about typical residential sales you will need a car to do your job, whether you own one or lease one.

We are self employed and it would be next to impossible to sell real estate without a car, unless you specialize in a specific area like a downtown condo or something like that.

[kevcrawford]

You're asking a lot of questions on this board that lead me to believe you're not cut out for this business. There is no way to survive in this career (not job) without a car.

[IntownHomes247]

Actually, it does depend on situation. The vast majority of real estate agents cannot do their job without a car, however, there are some situations where it's possible. I have a colleague who is a top selling condo agent in Midtown Atlanta. She hasn't owned a car for the past several years (although she did just recently buy one). She focuses her real estate business on about a 3 block radius of condo towers (and lives in one of them). She just uses a cab when she needs to go outside of her primary sphere. So if you live in a situation like this with a major concentration of condos and you'll be focusing on just that market, it's conceivable you could do without a car. But in most cases, a car will be an absolute necessity.

[palmcoasting]

I'm an independent contractor. They can't require me to do anything except to accomplish the job at hand, which is to sell and/or rent real estate. What tools and methods I use to accomplish that task is my own business as long as it's legal and doesn't put the agency in a bad light.
If you can accomplish it without a car, so be it.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by palmcoasting

I'm an independent contractor. They can't require me to do anything except to accomplish the job at hand, which is to sell and/or rent real estate. What tools and methods I use to accomplish that task is my own business as long as it's legal and doesn't put the agency in a bad light.
If you can accomplish it without a car, so be it.

Agreed.
We are.
Writing business is the ticket.

I would also suggest that if in the course of an interview one indicated that one didn't have a car, one should have a logical business plan to propose, or it might be difficult to convince a broker to freely agree to investing a lot of time and resources training a new licensee.
Legal or not, I think that is the real world.

[Beena]

There was a time when the realtor profession attracted those with no education. Now it attracts those with no car :0

[jdhall1]

You certainly need one in my neck on the woods.

[DMenscha]

I'm trying to imagine how long it would take me to get to all the places in my 200 square mile service area on foot.