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I have been involved in real estate for over 25 years and am interested in getting my license again.
I had my license 25 years ago when I was in my early 20s but I only worked part-time for a realtor while in college. Since then I have been active as a real estate investor renovating homes, managing rental properties, and acting as a general contractor on 3 homes that I built. I'm currently overseeing the construction of a passive-solar 2700 sq ft hillside craftman home that I designed specifically for its location.
I truly love real estate and can see the potential in many different properties from the small 4 room ranch to gut-job brownstones as well as raw-land development.
I spent many years in contract administration before moving into my current job in education.
As I enter my late 40s, I am looking to find a good fit with my interests and have a less regimented schedule.
I'd appreciate feedback from professional real estate salespeople. Is the real estate field still a good opportunity for a dedicated agent? I'd still be involved in investment, rehab, and construction opportunities.
I think that the keys for someone like you are all about expectations and committment.
If there are offices in your area that will allow you to make enough to cover your paymnets to MLS and other needed tools of being an active agent it can work out to simply try to represent buyers and pick up the occasional listing from sellers.
To make more than a pittance you really need to have a large number of lisitings and /or work a very "full time" schedule representing both buyers and sellers. Doing so will generally mean some weeks are much more than 40 hours, with many of those hours being outside normal business hours as that is when most buyers will need to schedule some showings. While it is true that this can be less regimented then working a normal office (or school) schedule, it is not true that you are in control of things. It is highly likely that there would be conflicts between your need to meet with folks about your construction related activities and when a buyer would need you. In such cases you may want to talk to other agents in the office about how they feel about temporary client hand-offs and other such ways to fairly spread client requests around... A broker that has a rigid policy will not be happy to have some one that has side businesses...
On the other hand if you hook up with an office that will give you access to the tools need to be the kind of agent you want AND not charge outlandish fees I have seen this combo work out OK -- generally the income potential and costs have to make sense, the fact that you both have 'skin in the game' as an investor / rehabber can help out the whole brokerage, your knowledge of building practices can also an office-wide resource. Find an office where things are handed out to those with real expertise and you could even be the 'specialist' for other investors / remodelers. Might be worth visiting some of the brokers in your are to see where such a skill set would make sense to 'hang your shingle'...
I think that the keys for someone like you are all about expectations and commitment.
If there are offices in your area that will allow you to make enough to cover your paymnets to MLS and other needed tools of being an active agent it can work out to simply try to represent buyers and pick up the occasional listing from sellers.
To make more than a pittance you really need to have a large number of lisitings and /or work a very "full time" schedule representing both buyers and sellers. Doing so will generally mean some weeks are much more than 40 hours, with many of those hours being outside normal business hours as that is when most buyers will need to schedule some showings. While it is true that this can be less regimented then working a normal office (or school) schedule, it is not true that you are in control of things. It is highly likely that there would be conflicts between your need to meet with folks about your construction related activities and when a buyer would need you. In such cases you may want to talk to other agents in the office about how they feel about temporary client hand-offs and other such ways to fairly spread client requests around... A broker that has a rigid policy will not be happy to have some one that has side businesses...
On the other hand if you hook up with an office that will give you access to the tools need to be the kind of agent you want AND not charge outlandish fees I have seen this combo work out OK -- generally the income potential and costs have to make sense, the fact that you both have 'skin in the game' as an investor / rehabber can help out the whole brokerage, your knowledge of building practices can also an office-wide resource. Find an office where things are handed out to those with real expertise and you could even be the 'specialist' for other investors / remodelers. Might be worth visiting some of the brokers in your are to see where such a skill set would make sense to 'hang your shingle'...
Thanks for the advice. My interests cross many areas of real estate. I have done the part-time route before in the mortgage brokering field and it definitely is less than ideal.
If your thinking about getting licensed, you would actually start off as a "Real estate Salesperson" and not a salesman in the state of Ct
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