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Drives: YMB F80 DCT
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Toronto
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SM335i
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Originally Posted by Mardio
I've been a Realtor for 19 years. I will say in a nutshell it's sometimes the best job in the world and other times it feels like the worst job ever. I certainly don't want to discourage you but I will tell you some of the realities of the biz.
First off the saying that "20% of the agents do 80% of the business" is very true, it's very cutthroat. The part time agents rarely last long (or make much money) because it costs money and time to be successful. The only part time agents that make it are the rich housewives that get leads through their husbands. Honestly you have to put in a lot of time learning your market, and not just on a computer but physically touring properties. When you meet a brand new client you have to sell your services, they are making their biggest lifetime purchase and they want to feel confident in you. You have to convince them you are an expert. Remember everyone knows on average at least three Realtors. Why should they pick you? The most successful agents physically tour and know almost every property (for sale) in their market, that gives them a huge edge over part time agents. So when they meet a potential client they have a lot of expertise on that particular area.
How much time you put into your business is how successful you will be. So what kind of hours do you work? Well remember the average person works 9 to 5 so you'll be showing homes or working transactions well after those hours and weekends. If your in the middle of a sale you can expect long nights, remember this is your clients largest purchase ever and they expect you to be there 24/7. If you are not the top guys in your office will. Also during the 9 to 5 hours are when most of your transaction facilitators are available, escrow, title, home inspector, mortgage rep etc... so you need to be available then as well.
When you first start out you need to know a lot of people, the agents that start with a big network take off the fastest. Otherwise you need a lot of marketing money. If you start off with neither (like me) it takes years to build up your business. I also recommend you start with a big company or well known brand. They offer great training programs and often give you a mentor to help you out. If clients know you are a rookie at least they know you are backed up by a big firm, that is a selling point. The small offices are basically "sink or swim", you get to keep more of your commission but expect no real office or Broker support (which you need as a rookie). Once you learn the biz and build a clientele you won't need the big company and a smaller office might work better.
If your thinking about Real Estate you should also consider it's a risky business, how the housing market performs has a huge impact on your career. In 2007 during the housing crises Realtors were dropping like flies. I sold nothing for 11 months and had to go into my savings, scary if your supporting a family. You should always have some savings before starting this business because the market fluctuates (drastically sometimes).
Also you have to love people, your going to meet all sorts of characters and see them at their best and worst. People get really stressed out and so will you, you have to be able to handle that.
It took me about three years till I was consistently selling. I ate lots of top ramon and almost gave up several times.
Now that I explained the realities I will say it has some fantastic perks. If your busy 60+ hours a week your making good money, the money comes in large chunks and that can be handy. Another perk is often your the first one to know when a property hits the market, so (depending on the situation) you have a shot at buying it for yourself. When you go on vacations you have no time limits, you just partner up with someone in your office (you trust) and have them watch your business and vice versa. You can actually make money on vacation sometimes. During the holidays from Thanksgiving to January 1 the market goes pretty dead, If you are an established agent this is a long break vacation and no big deal.
Anyway I personally love the fast pace of Real Estate but it's not for everyone. I hope this helps with making your decision. Best of luck...
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Originally Posted by radiofrequency
Having sold 7 homes over the past 25 years, and currently on the 8th home sale, I would concur with this quote. Anybody can get the license to sell Real Estate, but very few Realtors, in my experience, hustle. I mention "hustle" in a positive manner - selling, done well, looks effortless. Truth is, people want to be sold, and most Realtors I have worked with just show up to a showing, and smile a lot, and provide little follow-up to the Seller. There is a great deal to sales when done correctly. I read a statistic that less than 2% of Realtors make over $50 000 per year. Don't get me wrong, there are very good Realtors out there, but they are in a very distinct minority. If you are going down this road, and do not have sales experience, invest in a good sales course, and practice what you are taught. Very few Realtors I have worked with go through the discovery process with their clients, in fact, I am able to find out more about the property by doing my own research than what Realtors are able/willing to tell me - kind of like what I do when buying a car.... It is an industry in flux, with all of the online tools available, Buyers are starting to question the validity of Realtors. Recently, in the state where I live, some young bucks have created a business called "Homie" - check their app out, this type of ingenuity will thin the herd, as more savvy people find a way to buy direct without the middleman. The middleman/Realtor has to provide value to their clients - To quote Michael Porter, the grand doyen of strategic thinking in business, “Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value.” If you think you can provide the latter, you will be successful, it's not impossible, it's just not easy.
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Originally Posted by TheHouseWon
You need contacts and negotiation skills... Everything else is secondary
Contacts=referral sources
Negotiation=dealing with other agent
This is not a part time job because buyers and sellers demand a fully-engaged agent. Especially if they're paying full boat 6%.
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Thanks for the solid reply guys, I really appreciate the feedback.
I think when I started this thread I asked the wrong question. Originally I did not mean for Real Estate to be a side gig because I understand that little money will be made from it as a side job. I'll say a little bit about myself and what I do. I have a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering, I worked for a couple of companies doing roads/highways and been out of the field for a few years. I hated all the jobs I worked as an engineer mainly because I felt like I was getting dumber and growing fat in a cubicle. I figured since I'm young and do not have many responsibilities I'll try different fields to find what I truly love that will also pay my bills and boy my toys. After all, I have a bachelors in Engineering, I can always find a middle class office job. I ended up for a few years in the trucking industry. I began working for a friend who opened a vehicle transportation company. My goal was to buy my own truck as well as run his company. The biggest reason why this job attracted me was free time, I do not need to be in the office at all and all I need is my phone and I'm making money at the beach. There is only 2 employees at the office currently and the rest are drivers, I do everything here from finding loads, to doing accounting, to solving issues, literally everything and my working hours are 24/7. I get paid by commission and I'm pretty good at what I do. I negotiate and solve all issues with customers all day long. I do not even need a laptop, I can do it all with good phone. But, with the combination of different things that I don't want to get into our business has been slowing down. This is when I began looking into Real Estate. I always loved the fact that Real Estate is a lifestyle not just a job. I feel like its similar to what I do now because of the nature of work and customers. I think our company is going to downgrade to fewer trucks, so I will have even more time to myself, but obviously the income wont be as good. If I have all the time in the world and have some money coming from the trucking job, real estate seems like a great place to start or transition to. I guess for me Real Estate won't be a part-time job, but an addition to my other job. The real question that I have is probably for myself, will I be able to do both. |
There will be a point where you won?t be able or want to manage both. With the right network real estate can be extremely profitable.
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