"I got my real estate license" Is it that bad?

[Shelter]

Good for you! My buddy's "soon to be ex" got her license and makes bank even though she's a bit of a slacker. She always had bartending or equivalent jobs before.

Granted, she's hot and was in her late 20's when she got her license so her success isn't surprising.

See, I've never understood why people would choose to use an attractive agent their own age or younger. Why would you want the biggest financial decision of your life clouded by those goggles?

I used a 60 year old guy on the verge of retirement who acted like unlevel floors killed his entire family, it was great.

 

[Ichibanner]

See, I've never understood why people would choose to use an attractive agent their own age or younger. Why would you want the biggest financial decision of your life clouded by those goggles?

I used a 60 year old guy on the verge of retirement who acted like unlevel floors killed his entire family, it was great.

I don't think age was much of an issue. She had a decent head start on sales because my buddy was in the Navy and she got listed as a selling agent with the Navy family services office. She had LT's, LCDR's, CDR's, and Captains getting in touch with her when they were moving into the area and looking to buy.

She had a steady stream of military looking to buy and in touch with her. She might have earned $28k as a bartender and earns over $100k as a real estate agent.

 

[ralphc1]

People say it's for people who have failed at everythinv else in life. That 99% of the money goes to the top 1% of real estate agents

One step below a used car salesman.

 

[Boxingfan998]

I am in France but I think the profession is the same everywhere.
It's actually an incredibly complex profession if you want to be good at it, and not just sell houses, but explain the entire process to people who want to sell their own properties (involving legal issues, etc). The thing is plenty of people go into it without much knowledge and thus aren't very good.

But if you are good at it, the profession almost has the complexity of something like being a jurist or accountant, as you need to explain the real estate sale/purchase process in detail. To be good at it, like all sales, you need to be very good not only technically, but also socially.

As an introvert, I couldn't do it. But I've seen people be very successful working for real estate agencies.
It usually takes a dedicated person that is willing to take months if not years learning the inside of the industry, the real estate laws, etc, to be good at it.

So it's basically one of those Black & White professions out there. You have excellent Real Estate agents/brokers, and you have mediocre ones.
It's not like being an accountant, or general salaried person, which are legion, all paid the same, etc.
It takes guts to be an effective salesman in any industry, but those that are made for that job, make it big, much bigger than accountants for example.

But if you're an introvert, like me, accounting or working in IT dept for lower pay (but stable hours, calm environment) is superior.

 

[Cool Hand Luke]

I'll just stick with my fake estate license, thank you very much.

 

[GolovKing]

If you're going to be a career oriented person or care about money, you're going to have to accept doing something you don't love. Be thankful if you even have a job that you like, because most people don't

 

[GolovKing]

I am in France but I think the profession is the same everywhere.
It's actually an incredibly complex profession if you want to be good at it, and not just sell houses, but explain the entire process to people who want to sell their own properties (involving legal issues, etc). The thing is plenty of people go into it without much knowledge and thus aren't very good.

But if you are good at it, the profession almost has the complexity of something like being a jurist or accountant, as you need to explain the real estate sale/purchase process in detail. To be good at it, like all sales, you need to be very good not only technically, but also socially.

As an introvert, I couldn't do it. But I've seen people be very successful working for real estate agencies.
It usually takes a dedicated person that is willing to take months if not years learning the inside of the industry, the real estate laws, etc, to be good at it.

So it's basically one of those Black & White professions out there. You have excellent Real Estate agents/brokers, and you have mediocre ones.
It's not like being an accountant, or general salaried person, which are legion, all paid the same, etc.
It takes guts to be an effective salesman in any industry, but those that are made for that job, make it big, much bigger than accountants for example.

But if you're an introvert, like me, accounting or working in IT dept for lower pay (but stable hours, calm environment) is superior.

Yea I've thought about doing real estate myself but I think I'm too much of an introvert myself, and also not very good at bullshitting. I'm almost through with my degree in finance but I absolutely hate it and want to do something else. I've thought maybe accounting would be better

 

[TheNinja]

I think it really depends on the person's age and their reasons. Also, depends on the region. I mean in my area if California here the average house is like a million dollars, no joke. So even if you get 1.5% of it....you are still getting $15k for 1 sell. If you handle more of it and can get the typical 3% you are pulling in $30k for 1 house.

But I think you work a lot of evenings and weekends so that's tough too. It does seem to be a job that a lot ofpeople fall into when they can't or don't want to do anything else. I think it's easy to get into but hard to make money on and be good at.

 

[Oblivian]

Many agents are part time. Most of our agencies here require "floor time" split between the # of agents. I think they only do about 3 hour shifts too. With the # of agents that they have, some are only required to be in the office around 9 hours a week. Other than that, you are on your own time.

The problem with the part time agents is that they don't know shit typically. They do not have enough repetition to understand basic things like power of attorneys, how taxes are handled in the county, legal descriptions, etc. Honestly, they probably are not worth the money that they receive even though they aren't making much. They are good for the agency because more bodies = more chances at income. Overall though, it is a bit of a balance as you do not want an agent that can tarnish your name.

I've seen brand new agents that dive in headfirst that make a good income their first year. We have this lady that is recently divorced that was a seamstress. Once she divorced, she knew her little dress shop wasn't going to be enough. She's really hustled with it and I think she'll make a respectable income. She's only around 40 and already establishing herself so I wouldn't be shocked if this becomes a 6 figure job for her.

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

People say it's for people who have failed at everythinv else in life. That 99% of the money goes to the top 1% of real estate agents

Well, for a huge chunk of people who get in it sucks. They constantly spend their commissions, dont save shit for taxes, have very little consistency and usually rely on their looks or charm to get by.

Very, very few actually take the time to learn about the contractual or legal aspects cause they are on a team. The same people wont bother actually learning about structural, zoning, condo and townhouse logistics, etc.

So ya, there are a slew of people who get in cause they have no other options available. Then there are those who actually know what they are doing, what to look for, how to evade issues, etc.

The good thing is, most real estate boards are tightening up on education and consequences of fucking up. The bad thing is, theres just more teams that pop up which alleviates agents from even having to learn most of what it takes cause so much is done for them.

I think eventually there will be no need for agents as vr and robotics makes further strides. I give real estate agents another 10-15 years.

 

[panamaican]

As said, it boils down to how hard you work. I know very bright people who left other fields for real estate because they wanted more control over their time. It's going to be whatever you make of it. Also, make sure you build your personal network, referrals are important in that field.

 

[woodguyatl]

It's a profession that has few barriers to entry so it attracts a lot of people. I assume that like most professions your results are directly related to your effort.

Work ethic, connections, and some luck. For instance, a friend of mine is an executive in a big brown ATL based company. His wife is a hard worker who got into real estate. His connections and the transitory nature of C-level executives meant she immediately got access to clients buying $3 million homes. She worked her ass off to maximize those opportunities and grow her business.

 

[Mike]

A lot of people aren't living their dream so its whatever. Most of the people I know getting degrees or barging their way into unfamiliar fields just want to make more money. It's only a sad thing if you feel like you have to derive your self worth from doing something "special" as a career.

 

[bean88]

Here in the UK it’s a pretty basic professional where it’s usually companies (sometimes franchised) hiring people on fairly low wages to do the front end stuff, I doubt they make much commission wise as the employer would take most of it

They basically do basic admin work booking appointments and meeting you with the keys to the property and try to push their own mortgage advisers onto you, that’s about it in my experience

 

[zapataxiv]

I mean there's not a lot of formal prerequisites, and it's definitely a last effort thing for some folks, but you could say that about a lot of jobs.
"I'm a freelance programmer" would be the same, but doesn't come with as many prejudices.
If someone told me "I got my real estate license", I'd just ask "how come?" before judging them.
But even if it's an act of desperation, so what? Better than sitting on your ass I guess.

you are not wrong
pull yourself up by the bootstraps
oh you got that job and that's how you make money LOL ...
people will take shots at you no matter what you do

 

[Timetravel_0]

My sister got hers recently and has done really well. Thankfully, she's a member of a fundamentalist religious cult which gave her a good client base to build her business off of.

 

[HunterAcosta]

My sister got hers recently and has done really well. Thankfully, she's a member of a fundamentalist religious cult which gave her a good client base to build her business off of.

Which religious cult may I ask and is if “ Weird” or fairly normal as far as fundamentalist religious cults go ? And how deep has your sister drank the kool aid ?

 

[MindMelter]

People say it's for people who have failed at everythinv else in life. That 99% of the money goes to the top 1% of real estate agents

Hi Al

 

[Timetravel_0]

Which religious cult may I ask and is if “ Weird” or fairly normal as far as fundamentalist religious cults go ? And how deep has your sister drank the kool aid ?

Jehovah's Witnesses. I too was forced into it at birth but thankfully came to me senses. She is still a part of it.

 

[heavyarms21]

It's a profession that has few barriers to entry so it attracts a lot of people. I assume that like most professions your results are directly related to your effort.

Effort and personality. Real Estate is a people business, if you have shitty people and sales skills, it's not for you, Also you be knowledgeable about laws and regulations about the state when you buy and sell for your clients a top notch agent will be able to save of make a client anywhere from 10k-50k depending on the income of their clients and what's within their means.