Question about becoming a real estate agent

amother

Burlywood

Mon, Apr 20 2015, 12:27 pm

We are considering moving, and I am looking into various career options that wouldn't require me to do another degree (I have a BA in a humanities area - nothing helpful). A certificate-type program would be fine, I just don't want to go back to school full-time for another few years. I did a little research about real estate agents. It sounds like it's a very demanding job. Is it possible to work part-time? Do you make enough if you only do it part-time? I have young kids and I would ideally not want to work more than 35 hours a week or so.

Thanks in advance!

Amarante

Sun, May 31 2015, 6:10 pm

I am not a realtor but some of my best friends are.

The first hurdle is that in order to make money, you need either listings from sellers or prospective buyers. It can take a while until you are established with a client base.

The job is not 9 - 5 which may or may not be an issue for you. You need to be available to show your listings and/or to take your clients around to view prospective homes. In my area, Open Houses are typically held on Sundays. These are when listing agents keep the home available for viewers so that typically you would be away from your house for much of Sunday - assuming you had a listing and assuming that Open Houses were typical of your area. According to my friends, they like to hold Open Houses as a way to meet prospective clients because if people come to see the house and don't have a broker, they can often start a business relationship.

tichellady

Mon, Jun 01 2015, 1:37 pm

I am not a real estate agent but my mother is. It can very lucrative, if you are good at closing deals. You only get paid if you sell or buy a home, so there are times you will work with clients and they won't buy anything, and you won't get paid. You will need to figure out who is serious about buying and who is wasting your time. It obviously depends on the real-estate market as well. If the market is doing well and people are buying and selling, then real estate agents can do well. If the market isn't doing well, then there's less opportunity. The hours can be flexible but you will need to work around when houses are open for showings and when your clients are available. My mom worked for a few hours almost every Sunday and often had to work on Friday afternoons, erev yom tov, and in the evening, but she probably worked only about 20 hours a week on average; just not always at the most convenient times.

I think that a good real estate agent has to have people skills and good communication skills (to understand what people are really looking for), needs to be confident and good at marketing herself, needs to be comfortable driving and parking in new places (with clients in the car), and needs to be flexible with accommodating client's schedules. It helps to be detailed oriented and good at helping people envision how a house could look or how to present the house they are selling in a better way.