Start as a Part -Time Agent while working a full time job?

[Jordan Decuir]

What is the best way for someone who is currently working a full-time, 9-6 job to begin working part time as an agent, with the hopes of building a book of business over time to transition to a full-time career as a RE agent? Is the key to focus on obtaining listings as opposed to buyers?

[Jeff Copeland]

On the contrary - I believe working with buyers is a quicker and easier way to build your business quickly. Listings are highly competitive and tough to win as a new agent. 

Whereas a buyer with cash (or a mortgage pre-approval) in hand is a paycheck waiting to be cashed for a realtor (I'm not suggesting you view your clients as a potential paycheck...quite the opposite - put their best interests first, and the commission will come). 

While it's true to some extent that you have to "list to last" as an agent. You also have to start  out somewhere. Working as a buyer's agent is a great place to start. You can get closings under your belt a lot quicker, and volume creates volume, as in transactions often lead to more transactions.

Work with 10 buyers on finding them a home, and those ten transaction may lead to you 1-2 new listings and several more buyers, both through referrals and just by being active and visible in your market.

Working with buyers is time consuming. But so are listing presentations. Ultimately you want and need to do both. But chasing listings, rather than working with buyers, is one reason many new agents fail to make it more than a year.

Another observation - buy and hold investors are great buyers to work with. They'll buy one property, and as soon as you find them another one that makes since, they'll buy more!

Yet another tip - Hosting open houses for other agents (i.e. the listing agent) is a great way to connect with potential buyers.  And "bank-owned open houses" in highly visible and easily accessible locations tend to stimulate the most buyer foot traffic. You don't need to sell them the house you're holding open...the conversation usually goes something like:

Open House Buyer: "This house is ugly/overpriced/in an awful location".

You: "I know! I agree! (It's not my listing, I'm just doing a favor for the listing agent). Anyway...Tell me a little bit more about what you're looking for. I think I may know of a listing that might be perfect for you!" And the relationship begins...