Quote:
Originally Posted by missdawn215
Are there any realtors out there that would care to give an opinion on the stability and the pay range of a new realtor? What schooling is involved and how much does this cost?...
Any information would be helpful.
Thanks so much in advance for you input!
Missy
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It is very hard to come into an area which isn't your home turf and establish yourself as a Realtor®. I know from experience. The schooling is not terrible expensive, but it takes time. The schooling that you receive just gets you through the licensing.
After you get licensed, you still have to figure out how to be a good Realtor®. Some companies are much better at helping you do that than others.
The initial required training really tells you very little about what you need to do to become a successful Realtor®. Establishing yourself and getting your first listings are what is expensive. You also need to be very computer literate and have a good laptop computer and be good at digital photography and working on the web. You will also run into monthly fees to be part of the local MLS and a yearly privilege license, and finally a yearly fee to be a Realtor®. You also have to take continuing education each year after your first year.
On top of all that there is no pay range for real estate agents. There is no salary. All the Realtors® that I know operate as independent contractors. If you don't sell anything you don't make anything.
For a new agent that first sale can take six months. I have seen a couple new Realtors® take a year to make their first sale. Some leave the business before they even make it to that first sale.
While the market is slightly better than it was last year. We still have a large number of unsold properties on the market in Carteret County. (See Bill's Data and Charts) There are sellers that are very frustrated with selling their homes. There are buyers that expect every home to be priced like a foreclosure even in Carteret County where home foreclosures are rare.
If you want to try being a real estate agent, expect to pay around $1,000 in training fees to get your full Broker license. I used the
JY Monk School. There are number of good ones.
Make sure you have enough money to survive for the first couple of years while paying out MLS fees and marketing expenses to get yourself established. You should plan on a minimum of $2,100 in fees and licenses per year, and anywhere from $3,000 up in marketing yearly to establish yourself.
In an area with excess listings like Carteret County, there is a lot of competition for listings. Many homes are listed in the 5% range and some even less. As a Realtor® you usually end up splitting your commissions with your company or alternatively paying a large fee to work under their umbrella.
If you start and are exceptionally lucky and find some buyers, you can figure your income this way. Most homes are selling in the low $200K range. Using $200,000 as an example, one of your buyers buys the home. It is listed for a 5% commission. Usually in Carteret County the buyer's agent gets 40% of the commission unless it is an in house sale. 40% of 5% is 2%
So your total income on a $200,000 sale where you had the buyer but not the listing would be $4,000. If you are lucky, you would take home 50% of that less any other fees (and there are usually some). So sell 12 homes like that and you make $24,000 gross before taxes and expenses. From that you pay all your expenses and fees including gas to drive around your clients. You also have to come up with your own health insurance.
Obviously the numbers look a lot better in a more robust market, but that is the reality in today's real estate market.
Hope this gives you the information you need to make a decision.
By the way, if you can find 12 buyers in your first year, you can open a real estate school and make more money selling training on how to find buyers. Let me know when you start your first classes because you will probably be swamped.
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