Been unemployed since March. Become an agent?

[Trey Knight]

Hey all, 

I'm reaching out for some guidance.  I have been working in the film industry for several years now and have done extremely well.  I have a couple of businesses that are tied to it and both have done well.  Since March 13th our entire industry has been shut down and it's not looking great for reopening.  My wife and I were getting ready to sell our live in flip and buy a vacation rental, but we are grounded for now.  I am a fanboy for real estate.  Zillow is my Facebook.  I have treated real estate as my side hustle, but I may need a new main hustle.  I have 2 kids and my wife is a stay at home mom. To survive I need to make 50-60k a year.  What jobs should I seek in real estate for an immediate income of 5-6k a month? I live outside of Atlanta.  Thank you!

[Russell Brazil]

If you are unemployed and short on cash, being an agents gonna be tough. You will need a few thousand just to get licensed, and like any small business, you are going to have operating costs whether you are producing revenue or not. 87% of agents fail out of the business altogether which is in line with 90% of small businesses failing. The #1 reason for that, is not being properly capitalized.  

If you have available start up costs, and can go a year before earning your first commission, which is common go for it. But if the goal is money now to support the family, being an agent is probably not the way to go. I think in year 1 I probably made $8k with business expenses in the $15k ramge, so a net loss of $7 or $8k.