Becoming an Agent

[Precious Thompson]

Any Advice for someone considering becoming an Real Estate Agent?

[Maggie L.]

Savings is important - 6 months of living plus expenses to start up your business (licensing, MLS fees, professional orgs, E&O insurance, basic materials like business cards and signs, plus marketing you plan to do) seems a reasonable estimate.

I'd spend some time thinking about what sort of agent you want to be - do you want to focus on investors, first time home buyers, certain geographic areas?  Some people don't have a niche, but instead use existing networks as a starting point e.g. schools, religious institutions, places where you volunteer, former places of employment.

Another important question to ask yourself is how much support you want from your brokerage.  Do you want go in for training from X-Xam 3 days a week your first month, or do you need a more flexible schedule?  Do you benefit from a classroom experience? These are important questions to ask yourself BEFORE you start looking for a broker.  

Spend some time thinking about where you want to work, and how you work best.  Somewhere with expectations about staffing the front desk may be a problem if the office is far from your home and your target market.  If you have trouble focusing on work at home, find out how much they charge for desk space.

A lot of people get their license and only work part time.  How much time are you realistically willing to give to real estate?  Blocking off time on your calendar is CRUCIAL for most people.  I probably spend a half hour most nights adding items to my calendar or moving things around to keep on top of my rehab/rentals, agent, and other obligations.  I work at Keller Williams (happy to discuss why if you're curious) and something I hear again and again from the successful agents is the importance of time blocking and following their calendar.

Most importantly, ask yourself if this is the right path for you.  Ask yourself how you feel about these situations http://www.inman.com/2014/04/04/an-open-letter-to-anyone-wanting-to-get-their-real-estate-license/