Seriously considering getting my real estate license

[tkdkidsmom]

I would be trying to supplement DH's income.  Anyone experienced RE sales willing to give a potential newbie some advice? I am in a suburb of Chicago, and I do have prior experience working as an underwriter for a mortgage lender so I understand the finance side of things.  

 

My biggest questions are;

 

Is it  home school friendly?

Can this be somewhat profitable if only done on a part-time basis?

What kind of upfront/start-up costs will I be looking at after I obtain my licence?

 

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

[Arcadia]

I am not in Real Estate but we have been house hunting for years. There are two "kinds" of agents we meet. One does part-time, weekends only. The agent would only show houses on weekends and the agents we know make a good supplementary income but not a stable or regular income. Their overhead cost is mainly gasoline cost driving around.

The other kind we know does the whole works, arranging for the house to be cleaned after owners have moved out, staging the house, often showing the house on weekdays as well as open house weekends. They tend to do it on a full time basis and tend to have a bigger, more showy office space. Sometimes they do rentals as well.

[Scrub Jay]

Following. I'm curious about this as well.

[Mom in High Heels]

I was an agent in TN, and while I liked some aspects of the job, I don't think I'd do it again.  I made decent money, as I generally sold 2-3 houses a month, but it was a ton of work and there was no guarantee of a paycheck until there was a closing, which could be anywhere from a month to 3 months after a contract was written.  It was also stressful.  We had many agents who tried to be "part time," but honestly, you're at the mercy of the client.  They will call you any time they see something they might be interested in and are frequently sitting in front of said property and want to see it right then.  I had people call me on the 4th of July because they saw a sign in front of a house and wanted to go in.  I told them I was not available at that moment, and they were quite huffy about it, but that was too bad.  People called at all hours!  I felt like I was attached to my phone.  A lot of clients feel like they own you.  

 

Here are the pros and cons IME

 

Pros:

 

-Money.  If I sold a house (we lived in a low COL area), I made about $1500-2500 per house (after my broker took his share)

-Getting to see inside people's houses (I'm nosey like that)

-I could take Indy with me if I had to.  He was only 3-5 at the time and was in pre-school M-F, but on the weekends I would have to take him if James Bond couldn't be home.  I explained it to the client and no one ever had a problem with it.  He also got quite good at showing houses.  :)

-I got to meet a lot of builders and handymen, who gave me help if I needed it (and I even got a free privacy fence on my own home because I sold so many with houses by a certain builder), and I learned a lot about the process of building a home.

-Some of my clients were wonderful people and I enjoyed working with them

 

 

Cons:

 

-High overhead.  In addition to paying for the classes (mine were about $3000), I had to pay licensing fees and dues to be in the NAR (not a lot, but still), business cards, advertising, and GAS (this was a biggie)

-People called at all hours!

-No guarantee of a paycheck until the paperwork is signed.  You can work for weeks with a client, show them houses, run all over town and then have them decide NOT to buy anything

-It's really hard to break into the real estate thing.  In our area of TN, something like 95% of all Realtors quit after the first year

-Competition is STIFF.  There are so many Realtors, all trying to get the same clients

-Some clients are just jerks

 

 

I made it through my first year and sold just under $1 million in property, which is good, considering our median home price was $125K, but I worked my tail off.  The second year, I joined a team, which is a group of 2-6+ Realtors (there were 4 on my team), usually headed by a broker (but not the main company broker).  Our team broker had been in the business for over 20 years and represented several builders, which was great because we could do shifts in model homes for open houses, or just pick a random house and do an open house on Sat or Sun.  My second year I sold $2 million, and my third year I sold $3.5 million.  I made a lot of money that last year, but again, I worked my tail off.  It was NOT part time.  I had months where I would have no closings, and then I'd have 3-4 the next month.  

 

I'm not trying to discourage you in any way, I'm just trying to give you a real look at what it was like for me.  For the most part, I enjoyed the job, especially after I joined the team, but it was a lot of work and a lot of stress.  I might think about doing it again, but not until Han Solo is much older.

[PrincessMommy]

I've been good friends with 2 realtors and my observations are similar to what Mom in High Heels experienced.  One friend was a fellow homeschool mom with older kids, and the other is/was a stay at home mom with 2 kids.  My homeschool friend only did it about 2-3 yrs or so and never really made what she'd hoped. It was always part-time and she just couldn't give it the time it required.  Currently, my good neighbor became a realtor about 3 months ago.  She still hasn't sold/rented a thing.  She's very discouraged.  They need the extra income and all she's doing is spending more money on babysitting (schools out) and gas.    I know it took me about 6-8months to find a house - and that was going nearly 1x per week to look at houses.  That realtor worked her butt off.  I felt bad wasting her time, but we just couldn't find anything good.   It seems that people are not in a big hurry to buy a house - and we're particular about what we want.

 

I think if I needed to help supplement the family income I'd look in another direction.  Is it something you want to do long-term - meaning you don't mind investing to learn a new career/skill?  Or, is this clearly going to be temporary? 

 

 

[tkdkidsmom]

Yes, please tell me the "cons".  They are more important than the "Pros" IMHO.  

 

I am not in need of a steady weekly paycheck at the moment.  It will be more of a way to relieve some of my DH's stress level if I can contribute a little something every few months.  So waiting for closings would be ok.  I do think I'd be doing this long-term (with more hours) as my children get older, but right now I would need to keep to part-time hours.  

 

Thanks for the input so far.  Keep it coming.  :001_smile:

[Tranquility7]

I think the PPs have a lot of good insights.

 

I was the daughter of a realtor and we also have been working with a realtor the last eight months trying to find a house.  Honestly, you could not pay me enough to ever consider being a realtor. 

 

I was a junior in high school when my mom became a realtor.  I will honestly tell you that over the years I developed a lot of resentment about it, mainly because I felt like I ***never*** had her undivided attention.  Buyers often want to jump on a house they want to see, not be put off for two days.  During college I’d visit and we’d have plans, but we would constantly have things interrupted because customers would call and want to see a house… didn’t matter if it was Christmas Eve… or if I was in town for Spring Break… She could ask for someone to cover for her, but if she did that and a sale resulted, she’d have to split the commission with that person even if all they did was show one house for her.  She would visit me while I was in grad school and we’d be sitting at breakfast having a nice quiet time together, then her phone would ring with some real estate crisis and she would be on the phone ALL MORNING.  We’d finally get out of the house and her phone would ring again as we were wandering the halls of a museum together.

 

Even if  you want to be “part timeâ€, if it nearly impossible for the realtor to decide when those part time hours are and still be successful.  A realtor’s time is not her own.  The fact of the matter is, a realtor has to be ready all the time, and if she isn’t, she won’t last long.  Customers will just find someone else to help them.  I know this from experience as a customer, too.  We have been looking for a house for eight months, and homes in our market that are priced well are gone almost immediately.  When we saw something online, we called our realtor and wanted to see it that day, because if we didn’t, it could be gone the next.  Trust me, customers are NOT happy when a house they are really interested in is bought out from under them because their realtor couldn’t show it to them yet.

 

Also, despite the fact that we really like our realtor and wanted to work with her, we ended up finding a FSBO that had sellers who did not want to work with her.  So now we are buying a house without our realtor even involved… She will still get a commission when she sells our house, but my point is, she worked for us to buy, and she’s not getting anything for that.  That is just the way the business goes sometimes. 

 

To seriously consider real estate, I think you should ask yourself periodically throughout your days and weeks, What if a customer called me right now and needed my time immediately?  When you are on your way to a family gathering, ask yourself what you would do if the customers you’d been showing homes to for nine months called and wanted to write a contract right then?  When you are planning to take your kids on a picnic, what would you do if the your seller whose closing is in less than a week calls you and tells you that there is sewage backing up into their basement and what do they do?  What if your child’s birthday is Saturday, and a potential buyer called you on Thursday and said they were coming to town Friday and wanted you to show them houses all weekend and hopefully write a contract for something Sunday night?  What if you are making Christmas cookies with your kids and a closing scheduled in two days blows up because of a shoddy repair job?  Are you ready to interrupt what you are doing to manage the crisis?

 

Speaking from experience, your kids probably won’t understand why those phone calls and errands are more important than they are.  Even at 16, I understood it “intellectuallyâ€, but it still really hurt and I felt constantly like I was second (or third or fourth).  And I had a GREAT mom!  It’s just the nature of being a realtor.

 

If you are super sociable, enjoy managing negotiations and conflicts between people, and you *and your family* don't mind having your plans constantly changed and interrupted, then real estate might be a good fit for you.  Otherwise, I personally wouldn't even consider it.  I’m sorry to be such a downer, but having been on the kid’s side of it, I’m just giving you my honest opinion…

[Scrub Jay]

What about realtors who just sell houses? Is there such a thing? I would think setting up showings would be part time and schedule friendly?

[sparrow]

What about realtors who just sell houses? Is there such a thing? I would think setting up showings would be part time and schedule friendly?

 

I'm not a realtor, but from what I've seen from the realtors I know, it's schedule friendly for the *client* not the realtor.  When we bought our last house, our realtor would line up 6-8 houses for us to look at, because we were coming in from out of town. That would take us all day and we were only one of her clients.

[Scrub Jay]

I'm not a realtor, but from what I've seen from the realtors I know, it's schedule friendly for the *client* not the realtor. When we bought our last house, our realtor would line up 6-8 houses for us to look at, because we were coming in from out of town. That would take us all day and we were only one of her clients.

But that would be a buyers realtor. I'm talking about a realtor who only sells (if that even exists).

 

Yes, it totally makes sense that if you are helping a person find a house that you would basically be at their beck and call.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Honestly, I look specifically for real estate agents who are not working part-time and who do not  have family obligations during normal business hours. I expect both the buying and listing agents to be available for both showings and phone calls/emails during normal business hours, as well as a reasonable amount of time on evenings and weekends.

 

 

 

[Mom in High Heels]

But that would be a buyers realtor. I'm talking about a realtor who only sells (if that even exists).

 

Yes, it totally makes sense that if you are helping a person find a house that you would basically be at their beck and call.

 

To be honest, I've never met a Realtor who *just* listed.  If your sign is out front and a buyer is standing in front of it, they WILL call you, unless they have a Realtor already.  If they don't you can tell them you're just the listing agent, but that could be very discouraging to buyers.  Also, what if you have a seller who also wants to buy a new house?  They may not want to work with 2 different Realtors (I wouldn't) and would likely just go with the another Realtor who is willing to do both.  

 

ETA:  Many brokers (and you will have to work under a broker) would probably not want to work with a listing agent only.  They expect certain things from their agents, and many require you to take at least 2-3 "floor" shifts a week.  This means you would be at the office for a 3-5 hour shift and be expected to work with anyone (buyer or seller) who came in the door.

[Arcadia]

But that would be a buyers realtor. I'm talking about a realtor who only sells (if that even exists).

If you (general) work as a selling agent for condominium developers, than you could be deskbound at the new condo's sales office seven days a week and make decent money. My area has plenty of high price condos so it is possible to make a good supplement income from doing that. What I understand is that they do get a basic income just manning the sales office. Once a condo is sold out, they get deployed to the next new condo. It is not part time though.

[LMV]

But that would be a buyers realtor. I'm talking about a realtor who only sells (if that even exists).

 

Yes, it totally makes sense that if you are helping a person find a house that you would basically be at their beck and call.

 

If you are the listing agent for a home you do not make any money until the home sells.  Hence, it is in your best interest to be available and to accommodate the schedule of potential buyers of the homes you are listing.   

[Happy]

I got my license three years ago...right in the middle of one of the worst RE markets in history. Oh boy! 

 

I wish I'd done this years ago! I certainly wish I could have been working while my guys were in high school (and the market was good.). I would have cheerfully put them to work helping with marketing--stuffing envelopes, hanging door hangers in the neighborhood, and such. If I were really into it, I'd have bought a fixer and let them learn how to fix and flip.

 

However...it might not have been as homeschool friendly as I imagine. I don't know...

 

I find I work at my computer or on the phone most mornings. Activity picks up as the day progresses. I try to schedule appointments for late mornings or in the afternoons. I do show houses or meet with people in the evenings sometimes. I usually pick one day a week as an off day. Yes, I'll work, but hopefully not do appointments. We go to church on Sunday mornings, but I'll happily show houses on a Sunday afternoon if needed. The flexibility works well for our life. I have a laptop and smartphone and can send and receive emails from both--which means last week at the beach, I could keep 'working.'

 

My biggest expenses are marketing expenses...dues for being in the local women's club and chamber of commerce, mailings I do, website costs....after that are all the dues and fees. Yearly MLS dues, monthly Supra key dues, quarterly office dues, realtor.com.....my overhead is more than I really planned on at first.

 

Finally comes clothing (my homeschool mom outfits of jeans and teeshirts don't cut it. :) ) and gas. I'm still driving my 'mom van' and in this industry a 'nicer' car is a symbol of your success. I'm saving to buy something with cash.

 

I work with a terrific local broker (not a national chain like Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Keller Williams, etc.) I wanted direct access to my broker. I've been pleased by his training and mentoring of my career. Another upside to this broker is he takes a smaller cut of commissions than other companies so I get to keep a bit more. Plus we all work from our homes and don't pay a monthly 'office' fee....those can kill you. We get together for training and social times so we have an opportunity to learn from each other. He also nurtures part time agents--many large companies do not want anything to do with part timers.

 

You will be self employed--not a surprise for me. That's how I've lived most of my life. You must save for taxes and pay your own health insurance. I generally plan on 1/3 for taxes, 1/3 for marketing and expenses, and 1/3 to spend how I want. Income can be streaky--in January, I brought in 10K. In February, 0. In March, a few hundred. Since then it's been much nicer....3-5K a month. I fully expect to double and eventually triple that in the next two years or so.

 

My husband got his license right after I did, but his job changed soon after. He doesn't have much time to cultivate his RE business. We hope in a couple of years he can retire and  we will do RE as our sole support.

 

Right now--my commissions are for extras...my sons were impressed when my second deal bought new flat screen TVs for the family. We just came back from a beach vacation with the entire family that my work paid for. :) We've also upgraded all our kitchen appliances...etc.  The income has been a blessing.

 

I continued to do RE even while I did cancer treatments last year. I mostly worked with sellers and that worked very well for those months. This year has been full of buyers...

 

Edited to add...One of the hardest aspects is emotional...when someone you've known forever doesn't use you to list their house. When you work with a buyer for weeks and they decide not to buy right now...or worse, let some family member pressure them into using another agent. It can be a TOUGH business. That is why many agents have a tough demeanor...

 

I find negotiating to be kinda fun, on the other hand.

 

PM me with questions. I love my work!  Another big plus--making friends with clients. Tonight dh and I are having dinner with some former clients at the house I helped them find and acquire. :)

[tkdkidsmom]

 

To seriously consider real estate, I think you should ask yourself periodically throughout your days and weeks, What if a customer called me right now and needed my time immediately?  When you are on your way to a family gathering, ask yourself what you would do if the customers you’d been showing homes to for nine months called and wanted to write a contract right then?  When you are planning to take your kids on a picnic, what would you do if the your seller whose closing is in less than a week calls you and tells you that there is sewage backing up into their basement and what do they do?  What if your child’s birthday is Saturday, and a potential buyer called you on Thursday and said they were coming to town Friday and wanted you to show them houses all weekend and hopefully write a contract for something Sunday night?  What if you are making Christmas cookies with your kids and a closing scheduled in two days blows up because of a shoddy repair job?  Are you ready to interrupt what you are doing to manage the crisis?

 

 

I really appreciate your honesty.  I will definitely think, pray and discuss with my DH all the great points you have shared. Being able to set reasonable boundaries is important to me.

[tkdkidsmom]

 

My biggest expenses are marketing expenses...dues for being in the local women's club and chamber of commerce, mailings I do, website costs....after that are all the dues and fees. Yearly MLS dues, monthly Supra key dues, quarterly office dues, realtor.com.....my overhead is more than I really planned on at first.

 

These are just some of the items I need to find out more about.  

 

My mom was in real estate when I was a kid.  I helped her study for her state exam, answered the phones and set appointments for showings when she become a broker.  Unfortunately not long after she opened her office interest rates began to skyrocket- I believe they reached 18%. Her career in that field did not last too much longer after the economy tanked.  All this to say I do know it can be a very unpredictable way to earn a paycheck.  But I still feel drawn to it.

[Samiam]

I've not read all the responses, but here's my experience.  DH did real estate for about 2 years.

 

1. It's not up to YOU for scheduling, it's up to your CLIENT.  If they want to meet on a Saturday, you need to meet on  Saturday.  Or any other time they can do it.  Because you do have to cater to the client, as they can choose from hundreds/thousands of agents,  if you don't service them.  Plan on taking calls on your family outings, vacation, parties...you name it, clients call all the time, any time and expect you to take the call or call RIGHT back.   Don't do it?? They likely won't recommend you to their friends, and word of mouth is the best and cheapest form of advertising.

 

2.  This is a HUGE purchase in a client's life.  Therefore they are picky/crazy/overbearing.  Understandably so....on the other hand, it can be annoying as the agent.  And be aware, the seller's consider it YOUR fault if their house does not sell quick enough. 

 

3.  No agent choose to only list....an agent takes any business they can get and that means the listing agent and the buying agent.

 

4.  Paychecks are not guaranteed, meaning NEVER count on the pay until it's in your hand.  Closings are commonly rescheduled, etc.  

 

5.  There's a ton of expenses for an agent.  Most agents work under a broker, and thus the broker gives you the "rights' to their office, their business name, and in turn, you pay the broker a piece of your commission.  On top of that, there's advertising fees to list your properties in various publications (and did you know that agents pay out of pocket for those For Sale signs in yards!), licensing, gas expense, etc etc etc.  Expenses add up quickly.  Oh, don't forget a nice business wardrobe.  

 

6.  Part time agents rarely make enough to cover expenses....the less you work, the less clients you get, thus the less $$$ you make.    

 

Real Estate is a profitable career for some....those that hustle, bustle, and perhaps were able to get a good running start prior to the economy mess a few years ago.  Those that were already bustling were able to stay afloat....those that struggled prior to that, likely went another career direction.