Future For Real Estate Agents in Phoenix? (for sale, renters)

[grmi66]

Phoenix real estate is always a crap shoot, but anyone want to guess about the future if I were to decide to get my real estate license. I have over 20 years of outside sales experience and a college degree in Urban Planning, so hoping to merge my two interests together.

Currently live in central Phoenix and would like to concentrate my efforts in selling houses in my area. Have no interest in selling out in the suburbs. Simply looking to make a career change that I can do until I retire in a decade. Am I crazy to jump into this?

[ScottsdaleMark]

There are a lot of realtors. It's an easy field to get into, but most people aren't that good at it. If you've been succeeding in sales for 20 years I'm going to guess you make pretty good money. Are you prepared to start out at zero and hustle hard for weeks or months before you get your first commission?

The best make good money but I know plenty of career professionals in this field and even for your top quartile or whatever, it's not always easy street.

Over time, if you work hard enough and really like advertising/marketing/networking, you can succeed at it. You have to be able to promote yourself, be sociable, and make considerable outlays of time and effort without knowing if there will be a payday resulting from it.

I guess if you've been in sales for 20 years you're probably more suited for it than most people. Still, before you can even sell the house you have to get a listing. Getting listings is hard because of the competition involved.

That's my opinion as a non-realtor. There are plenty of realtors on his board so I am sure they will have more info.

[Zippyman]

I've held a license here for a little under ten years, but never tried to make a "career" out of it.

I think it's well worth getting & keeping a license to represent your own interests, as well as helping out family/friends in their deals. There are lots of low-achievers in the business & letting them "represent" you could easily be a mistake that costs you $20,000 as a buyer or a seller.

As far as working with buyers or sellers, I personally don't have the patience or the "wordsmith" ability - the freaks and kooks who were "buying" homes before the crash (with borrowed money) have "good credit" again, and they still think it's 2010, so they want "deals".. lol.

[UpTownJon]

It's a tough business. Statistically speaking, 90%+ don't make it past 2 years. There's a notion that it's easy money, which is probably the farthest thing from the truth. You'll probably spend about 90% of your time looking for business the first 2 years. The others were right, it's VERY competitive, in fact last I heard the most saturated market of agents per capita in the country.

That being said, I personally wouldn't trade it for anything! You have to work most weekends, but that's when most clients are available and you have to be available for them on their time. Being knowledgeable and providing outstanding service is critical. It's very much a "you get out of it what you put into it" gig. Hard work will pay off if you stick with it!!

I think the biggest piece people don't realize, is its no different then running small business. Scheduling, finance, marketing, its all on you. Be diligent, be professional, and treat people how they want to be treated. Like any business, there are also many, many ways to go about it, niches to fill, and how you run your real estate business is completely up to you!

[asufan]

Been a Realtor over 16 years now, but not as a primary occupation. I, like most, do 2-4 deals a year (not including my own), but the time/financial investment in getting a license has certainly paid off. I don't think it's realistic to say you're going to merely focus on the area you live in, and make a successful career out of it. You can get to the point where you have enough referrals and become an urban specialist (there's tons of those), but it may take up most of that 10 years before business starts humming along well enough. You definitely need to hustle to make it a primary gig.

[grmi66]

So what about getting a license to work as a property manager someplace? Just trying to shift gears a bit in my career. Really burnt out on doing business to business sales and am in a position where I don't need to make the money I used to make.

[autism360]

Originally Posted by grmi66

Phoenix real estate is always a crap shoot, but anyone want to guess about the future if I were to decide to get my real estate license. I have over 20 years of outside sales experience and a college degree in Urban Planning, so hoping to merge my two interests together.

Currently live in central Phoenix and would like to concentrate my efforts in selling houses in my area. Have no interest in selling out in the suburbs. Simply looking to make a career change that I can do until I retire in a decade. Am I crazy to jump into this?

To many real estate agents here, it is extremely difficult to get started, most of people who are sucessful got a referral base before the internet made it so anyone can view properties for sale
People work with multiple agents and do not tell the agents so the agents are working for free and do not know it.
There is big money selling time shares if you want to go that route but it is a slimy way to make a living

[Dangerous Dave]

I'm a part-time realtor in my first year. It's treated me pretty good, and I've been able to supplement my income doing something that I enjoy. It's nice that I don't depend on it to pay the bills, and the clients I've dealt with appreciate that I can be upfront and honest to them because I'm not desperate to push them into anything.


I'm not doing any major marketing (although I plan to as time goes on), I'm just taking leads generated off of my broker's website and it's kept me in a nice balance so I can do my primary job and meet with people on evenings and weekends. It does help that I work a flexible schedule and I have a ton of vacation time saved up.

[azriverfan.]

The real estate industry has changed considerably over the years. There was a time when a person new to the industry could become successful on their own without having a lot of money, friends or influence. Now, it's nearly impossible to be successful without having money to market yourself and acquire leads. Most successful inexperienced realtors typically come from wealthy families or are married to wealthy spouses.

There are other factors why the industry is difficult to become successful in. There are more real estate schools that offer more flexible hours so many people are getting their own license to avoid paying a realtor commission. There are on-line real estate companies that offer reduced fees. And there are online tools to making searching for homes easier. Nearly every MLS site has a virtual tour so you don't need to hire a realtor to tour neighborhoods and see properties like back in the day when a realtor drove you around.

[Dangerous Dave]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

The real estate industry has changed considerably over the years. There was a time when a person new to the industry could become successful on their own without having a lot of money, friends or influence. Now, it's nearly impossible to be successful without having money to market yourself and acquire leads. Most successful inexperienced realtors typically come from wealthy families or are married to wealthy spouses.

Actually, that's why it's traditionally been considered a "pink collar" career. If there is a "bread winner" in the household with steady pay and benefits, it allows working moms to make their own hours, and if the market tanks, no biggie the mortgage is still paid, but you have a bundle of cash in the bank from when the market was hot, or the money was played smartly and she bought a couple four-plexes... which are now full of renters who can't qualify for a home loan lol