Real Estate Agents . . .

[Irishgrrrl]

. . . tell me about your job!!!

I''m seriously considering a career change, and selling real estate seems like a possible option. I know the market isn''t the best right now, so I would probably wait until after the market stabilizes a bit before (possibly) trying to become an agent. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, such as:

1. What do you love about being a real estate agent?

2. What do you hate about it?

3. Why did you choose this career?

4. How are you paid (salary plus comission, comission only, etc.)?

5. Approximately how many houses do you sell per month?

6. Is it hard to get started?

And any other info you could give me would be great! Thank you!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Hi there, did you see this thread? https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/real-estate.44971/

 

[Dee*Jay]

Skippy, thank you for finding that thread!

Irish, take a look at what Skippy linked and let me know if there are any other questions I can answer for you. Also, hopefully any other real estate agents on here (are I know there are at least a few) will give you some other prespectives.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Skippy ~ Thank you so much for the link! That thread was very helpful!

Dee*Jay ~ I was hoping you would check in! I read the thread that Skippy gave me the link to, and it looks like what you''re doing is very similar to what I would be doing. I''m a full-time paralegal, and I''ve just been having days lately where I''m really frustrated with it. But, it is a steady paycheck, and I realize that selling real estate involves a certain amount of risk (especially since the market is kinda weird right now). I would want to work mainly with buyers, and do very limited (if any) work with sellers. I would also want to do this part-time, at least at first.

When DH and I bought our house in the Spring of 2004, we worked with a wonderful buyer''s agent. She was just fabulous, and she wasn''t pushy at all. I''m a very laid-back person, and I guess I always thought I wouldn''t be very good at a career in real estate because I''m not the pushy type. But working with our agent made me rethink that, and I''m rethinking it even more now that I''ve read your comments about your lack of pushiness in the thread Skippy posted above! Maybe I could do this after all?!?!

One unique consideration that I have is the fact that I do work full-time for a small law firm (five attorneys), and my firm does handle real estate transactions. Also, our firm has its own settlement company. I''m wondering what effect, if any, that might have on my part-time career as a real estate agent? I can see where it would be a benefit to me, because I have a law firm always lined up to draft deeds for me and a settlement company to handle the closings. But would there be any conflict of interest issues? I can''t imagine how, but that does worry me a little.

Does your firm pay you commission only, or do you get some kind of base salary as well? Could you ever see yourself selling real estate full-time, or do you intend to always do it part-time? (I''m thinking if I start doing this part-time and it really takes off, I might ditch the paralegal gig.)

Sorry for all the questions, Dee*Jay! Thanks for letting me pick your brain! LOL!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Irish - whew, I just realized how old that thread was! Let me update you in that I am fortunate enough that my real estate business grew so successfully over the initial 3+ years that I left my other job last October to be a full time agent. To answer some of your other questions:

I think you have a leg up in terms of your knowledge from your current job, but in terms of a conflict of interest, that is an interesting question. Many of the clients I work with do not already have a relationship with a real estate attorney so they turn to me for a recommendation. In your postion I would struggle with the idea of referring someone to an attorney at your firm. Perhaps you know some other real estate attorneys at other firms that you could give as referrals?

The fact that you do have a full time job (as I did) is another thing to seriously think about in terms of a different type of conflict. For instance, it's 10:30 am on a Tuesday and you have something that HAS to be done for your regular job but you are knee deep in negotiating an offer on a deal and the seller needs an IMMEDIATE response because there are multiple offers on the table -- which one takes precidence? Also, do you have a private enough work environment (i.e., your own office) that you can make/receive calls during the day? And how will you explain to your real estate clients that you aren't a full time agent? You have to be honest about it of course, but there are a lof of people who won't work with a part time agent because they think you don't take it seriously. Finally, is your schedule flexible enough that you can be gone from your office for closings and also potentially for inspections and to take clients out depending on how the schedules work out?

As for pushiness... what can I say? I yam who I yam! If a client wants to work with me, great. And if not, I'm fine with that too. I am good about staying in touch and being uber-responsive, but I am definitely NOT pushy!

About getting paid: You don't close, you don't eat. Period. There is no salary, it's only the commision that you get from successfully closed transactions. Sad but true.

I hope this info is helpful! Let me know if you want to know anything else -- as you can see I'm not shy about sharing!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Dee*Jay, THANK YOU!!! You''ve given me tons of helpful info!

You brought up some good points regarding availability for clients since I already have a full-time job. I''m not sure I could make/receive calls at work, but I would be able to do e-mails. I don''t think I could show houses or attend inspections during business hours though. But I could possibly attend closings, IF the parties opted to use our settlement company (which is co-located with my law firm). I really don''t think I can be away from work very much at all during the day.

You''ve given me a lot to think about . . . thanks again!

 

[purrfectpear]

I have several friends who are now successful RE''s. The one thing they all had in common...no money for the first 5 to 6 months. Usually it takes a couple of months to make your first few sales. Then they''re in escrow for another 45 days or so, THEN you get paid.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Date: 9/12/2008 12:50:32 PM
Author: purrfectpear
I have several friends who are now successful RE''s. The one thing they all had in common...no money for the first 5 to 6 months. Usually it takes a couple of months to make your first few sales. Then they''re in escrow for another 45 days or so, THEN you get paid.

Thanks for the input, Purrf! The "no money for the first 5 to 6 months" is the only part that really worries me . . . hence the reason why I would definitely start out just part-time and keep my day job!