Becoming a realtor

[Robert Hinzman]

I am looking into becoming a realtor to help get my feet wet in the real estate industry. Any tips / life hacks / important things to know before I pull the trigger on getting my license that I need to know? Thanks in advance!

[Jonathan Bombaci]

That's along the lines of what I was going to say. Alot of brokers will say we only want "FULL TIME" Agents. My arguement was how do you define "Full Time". If that was that real estate is your only source of income then Goodbye! But most of the time it would be around being able to manage clients and work 30+ hours a week. When I started in real estate, part-time, I was able to work from home in the finance industry. So I was able to meet "Full Time" agent expectations while having a "day job". 

For that reason when people are talking about trying being a realtor I say don't quit your day job until you know it's what you like to do. It can easily take 3-6 months to get your first commission and there is no hourly pay. Then it can be well over a year before you get a steady stream of clients to substitute a portion of your w2 job. 

That being said when you have your license set yourself up for success by joining the most successful real estate team in your area. That team should have lots of agents, plenty of training, admins, listing specialists, a team manager, professional photographer, and much more. You'll be able to use those amenities to substitute your time when you have to be doing your day job. The commission will be alot less (40-60%) but your goal is to learn the industry and you can be successful in that environment without being "Full Time". If you have a showing or inspection during the day you can pay an agent or admin a small $ amount to step into that roll and you'll know that they're well trained since thats what teams do well. 

Best of luck. I became a "part-time" agent to learn the industry and build my confidence for investing and my wife and I bought 24 doors in 18 months which pushed us over the line into financial freedom. By doing so I found my passion in helping others buy properties, particularly the househackers and newbie investors. So now I'm building a team to do just that, even though I technically don't need to work anymore. 

Real estate is a heck of a ride, Enjoy it!