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Updated about 9 years ago, 11/27/2015
Real Estate Career Question
So I decided that getting involved with real estate in a professional capacity would be very good for my education in REI. I'm looking at trying to get into either property managment or as a real estate assistant. So here's the crux of my problem, I have very little real estate experience and if you look at my resume the first two things to pop into any real estate agents head will be; he's over qualified and why is he applying ? I have a masters degree in public administration and a background in project coordinator / analyst type roles. I also have very little experience with real estate, I worked for my friends mother in high school (nearly 10 years ago) who was a real estate agent. That was mostly admin stuff, occasionally I would pull comps on the mls or input listings. I recently took a refreshers class on mls, so I'd be able to do most mls things within a few hours of being on the job. I'm also helping my best friend who's in seattle (im in tampa) with his REI business.
So my question(s) are the following? How do I overcome my lack of experience in real estate? How do I get real estate agents to take me seriously once they see I'm way over qualified? How do I get them to see that I'm not just some dude shotgunning job applications all over the place in hopes that something will / trying to fill a resume gap until something "better" comes along? I've thought about using a simple 1-2 paragraph introduction with my email (most the positions I'm seeing are on cg) explaining my motivation and then doing a quick elevator pitch with my top four skills (project management, social media, data analysis/excel number crunching, and cold calling experience). Thoughts?
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Why don't you just get your license? If you're buying or selling, you can recoup your investment very quickly via saved commissions.
Sometimes the more understated you come across the better. If your resume looks too strong it can be intimidating to some. Just sayin...................................................
@John Arendsen I understand that too strong of resume can make me look bad....how do I I overcome that? Short of just butchering it and leaving out lots of stuff...which seems unethical.
@Austin Davis Nothing unethical about being understated and modest. Sometimes the less information the more mystique.
@Austin Davis, BTW, were I to state all my accomplishments and attributes folks would consider me pretty vein and self aggrandizing.
My advice is to be honest. Let them know that you are starting fresh and ready to learn. You have business experience that would work great at any level. Look for an investor friendly agency so this way they understand the "history" I hope this helps. Good luck.
How can you be overqualified to be a real estate agent?
Are you saying you're actually getting turned down by real estate brokers to work there?
Typically, my understanding is the agent is working for the broker and the broker is getting a cut of everything they make. You're not on salary. And it doesn't cost the broker a thing if you take 6 months to get a sale.
So why would any broker not take you? And the fact that you're so educated isn't going to make them think you're overqualified. It should make them think you might have the ability to be extremely successful for them.
So am I missing something here? Why would a broker ever turn away a potential agent for having too much potential?
Are you looking for a job as a realtor where they pay you a salary?
Don't email and forget the resume. Resumes have little value. Resumes are like a report card. Think financial statement. Get out and start talking to people in person. This might be a fear you have to get over but you have to people calling, creating questions and curiosity.
Frank
First I think there is a little confusion, I'm not looking at trying to lead an agent jog. I'm trying to get in as an assistant with either a real estate agent or some other position in the real estate industry. Second, I'm not interested in getting my license at this time for personal reasons.
@Franklin Romine If I had contact numbers, I would be calling people. I've got a background in lead calling ( I used to work as a recruiter), so getting on the phone
isnt too hard for me. Most of the leads I'm finding are on craigslist.
Thank for the suggestions so far everyone.
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@Austin Davis, many assistant type jobs in the real estate industry require that the job holder eventually obtain a license. A non licensed assistant, whether in brokerage or property management, is limited in what they can do as an assistant. The person they are working for has to be very careful to limit their assistant to those activities specifically not requiring licensing.
If I was in the market for an assistant and saw your background, the only thing I would need to overcome is that if you moved on quickly I would not get value for my training time. However, if I am looking for short term help this may not be a problem. The fact that you don't want to obtain a license would be a red flag to me however.
Good luck - depending on what aspect of real estate you are interested in will determine the best type of company to work for.
- Don Konipol
I started by cold calling RE broker offices, telling the receptionist I am interested in being an assistant and asked which realtor(s) needed an assistant the most. Then I either left my contact info to be passed along or was transferred to the agent. I did this with no RE experience and nothing but confidence. Within a month I was working PT for multiple top producers. Didn't pay well but I learned a ton.
Originally posted by @Bill Florence:
I started by cold calling RE broker offices, telling the receptionist I am interested in being an assistant and asked which realtor(s) needed an assistant the most. Then I either left my contact info to be passed along or was transferred to the agent. I did this with no RE experience and nothing but confidence. Within a month I was working PT for multiple top producers. Didn't pay well but I learned a ton.
Thats a good idea, thanks for the tip.
Originally posted by @John Arendsen:
@Austin Davis Nothing unethical about being understated and modest. Sometimes the less information the more mystique.
My thoughts exactly. I also have useless degrees that I spent 100k to get and have not used one day in my life. After graduating it was hard for me to get a job UNTIL I took my degrees off of my resume and BOOM, Job. During my life I had to do this several times, during hard times, even with my degrees I have worked as a pizza delivery guy and a security guard. The down side is that you might end up being managed by some schmuck with way less qualifications than you but hey, you work yo learn not to learn right? Besides that won't be your end all be all job anyways. I think that it may be better to appear to be more of an entry-level type of guy rather that sophisticated educated person. Sucks to say but this is the world we live in. You have a better chance that way because that way you appear in their eyes as "moldable". People get intimidated easily. What I would also recommend would be to find someone who is doing what you want to do and put in some serious work for them free of charge. Sweat Equity Baby!!!