Aspiring Real Estate Agent

[399083453]

Although college is a good experience to grow and add a document to your resume, the diploma is not required nor helpful to getting a job in a real estate office. In real estate, and any other sales position, you need people who are good at networking and closing sales. Period.

Your resume means nothing.

[HTY483]

Originally Posted by 399083453

Not to burst your bubble, but you will be lucky to make $20k for the first year. Your average agent only makes $35k year. Its only the top agents who make the big bucks, and in real life, there are few who do.

Yeah this. OP, do you really expect to make $80k/yr at a job that requires no college degree, no real marketable skill (other than people skills) and what is essentially the completion of a certification exam? I'm not saying it can't be done but you need to be realistic about your potential earnings.

[Mandalorian]

To get picked up by a big firm though, I would figure about 80% of fellow applicants would have bachelor's degrees or higher.

Plus, just saying if I were buying a house, I would want my Realtor to have had college finance classes and preferably an MBA.

[Silverfall]

All of the top producers in my area have bachelor's degrees or higher.

[I_Sell_Houses]

You get out of it what you put into it. It's not an easy paycheck - you have to work hard for it.

At your age, I would suggest you go for it and get the license; however, rather than working as an agent, find a great mentor agent who has a team and work for him/her. Or, consider working as an administrator for a successful agent, with your license. You'll gain valuable experience while also getting a steady paycheck. You can't beat on-the-job training.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by dblackga

At this point in your life, you might be better off checking with agents and see who is looking for bright, enthusiastic, motivated assistants. Steady pay for a while, and you get to learn the industry hands-on, inside-out. You might even land yourself in a company that will pay for you to get your license, down the road. Or, you could get your license and then work for an agent as an assistant/showing assistant/open house assistant. If you're really good with the internet, you might be a good person to kick-start an existing agent's internet lead generation through internet or social media development -- if you have a license, you might even be able to work a deal where you get a percentage from leads that you help generate.

Think outside the box -- a real estate career takes time to develop, and yes, your age is working against you. NONE of your friends are going to be buying homes/condos for the next few years, but if you are already in the business, you might be the logical one they turn to when they ARE ready.

Originally Posted by I_Sell_Houses

You get out of it what you put into it. It's not an easy paycheck - you have to work hard for it.

At your age, I would suggest you go for it and get the license; however, rather than working as an agent, find a great mentor agent who has a team and work for him/her. Or, consider working as an administrator for a successful agent, with your license. You'll gain valuable experience while also getting a steady paycheck. You can't beat on-the-job training.

Great advice.

Best agent I ever worked with had an energetic assistant who put up the signs, buried the St Francis statues, kept the one-sheet box filled, had the list of vetted contractors/housekeepers/window cleaners for homeowners, held open houses, posted information on the MLS listings, fielded phone calls, set up agent showings...

She also had a professional photographer and a stager for a one time consultation.

This freed our agent up to focus on selling and working out the details of deals. This woman knew every way there was to finance a home.

This agent rocked.

[oldtrader]

One fact you need to know: 85% of people that enter the real estate business, will fail and leave the real estate business without making a living.

The 15% that stay in the business, will do so because the made a living. Many are married and the spouse is making enough money to support the household, and they are only following a hobby.

I went into the business in 1972 and remained in it till I finally retired (I am 83 years old). I took university courses for a year before entering the business, to learn the business. Most people in the business do not, and that alone is one reason they fail out of the business. I studied, and had 20 years of big ticket sales experience before going into real estate.

I specialized in income/commercial/farm and ranch real estate, with an emphasis on real estate exchanging. In all the years in the business I sold 7 single family homes for owner occupancy, and every one was a friend who asked me to help them. My first day in the business I sold my first apartment house, and the 4th day I sold my second one. The next work week, I exchanged a 16 unit upscale apartment house as a down payment on a great irrigated farm. If I had not taken real estate specialized courses for a year before entering the business, I would never have been able to do things like this. I was not lucky, but had taken the time to learn the business, and had 20 years big ticket sales experience, so I succeeded. I saw a lot of people that just thought they could get a license and succeed, go into and out of the business.

I was involved in multiple state, and even multiple country transactions. I had clients that were in the oil fields of Arabian countries and in Malaysia, that I bought, sold, and exchange investment property for. I developed property. Example I had a property that was 13 lots built to my specs, and sold the to be built homes to investors that like rental homes, selling them from 2 to 5 houses per investor in 2 hours on the phone. Was able to get them built enough under the market, they made great investment properties. I still hold as far as I know, the one day sales record for single family homes in that county where real estate was booming back in the 70s, and still is.

The day I retired, I was cleaning out my office, when I got a call from a woman broker, that worked for one big investment group (as an employee) handling their investment buying and selling. She told me they had taken a big condo project that was half built. Everything was all under roof, needing the insides finished. They got it due to a big mortgage. She asked me if I could move it for them. I asked if they would take a multiple thousand acre irrigated farm. She said Yes. I called a broker friend of mine who with his brother had built numerous condo projects and told me I had it available at a good price if he wanted it, and they would take the farm he had just gotten in a big exchange. He said in a heartbeat. He know the project, and was waiting for it to go on the market after being foreclosed as it was in his town. I went to his office, we drew up the contract. I drove it 70 miles to where the other people were, and the contract was signed that afternoon. a little over $5.5 million dollar transaction, and at me getting a 3% commission for 4 hours work, I felt it was a good way to retire from the business. First and last days in the business, made me money.

If you want to make a success in real estate, you have to find your own niche, and work hard. You need to get educated not just get a license if you want to be a success. Thinking you can go to $60,000 per year income right away is dreaming unless you did like I did, and get educated. I found the people I needed to sell the first properties to, before I started working. I had discussed the type of business I was going into, prior to starting work. I had started networking prior to going into the business. One reason for the early networking, was to understand what people wanted in investment real estate and why.

If I had gone into the business the way most people do, take a class to get a license, take a test and get a license, then just expect to see people come to the office and say they want to buy a home. Then they load them in their car and drive house to house, hoping they will like something. The buyers get tired, find an experienced agent that knows what they are doing, and buy from them. If you like to drive people around, get a job as a taxi driver. If you want to succeed in the real estate business, learn the job before going into the business. Your biggest problem at this time is your age. It will be difficult to find clients that will put their faith in you for such a big investment.