working part time as a agent

[Stephanie Anson]

I am a real estate investor and working on get my RE license. I have interviewed with a couple of agencies and it seems like people want you to quit your full time job for real estate. I only want to start this part time. Does anyone know a broker that may be willing for someone to work part time/ nights and weekends?

[Ralph S.]

Joel has some good points as to why it is this way. I did this, though, for a few years, averaging only 3-5 transactions per year (my own buys/sells, and friends, family and referrals), so I'll appoach my answer from a different perspective and maybe be a little more direct.

You'll be an agent with a newly minted license. You've met the minimum, and I mean minimum, requirements for education and passed your test. You have no experience other than your own in buying or selling a property, and never written a binding contract for others. You won't know all the ins and outs, you haven't got a support network behind you, and as part time you probably won't be to very many of the Tue morning training sessions.

You've joined a group with a very high failure rate, and worse, you only want to fail part time.

Full time agents will sometimes view you as competition, other times dred the endless array of newby questions you're sure to have (like, where do they keep the company letterhead? What do you mean I have to buy it myself? I'll never use 1,000 sheets! Can't I just get a couple sheets from you? I'll pay for it.) Others will view you as just another newbie, over your head and gone in a few months having done, really, nothing. Your broker will be in fear of you making some basic, innocent and costly mistake, reflecting poorly on him/her and the office, and being, in general, a high maintenance agent where they can expect less than average financial return from your efforts. Don't expect to find yourself with keys to the office or on desk duty anytime soon.
Potential clients will shun you as if you have the plague. Would you, Stephanie, if you were to buy or sell, use a part time agent with no or even little experience? Is twisting the arms of family and friends your plan to start? On the other hand, coming from outside the agent world, in your world you know of people who need to buy or sell, and thus at least there is the promise of bringing in clients that might have otherwise gone elsewhere.

That's a tough nut to crack. Even for those wanting to be full time, overcoming the lack of experience and getting their first deals behind them is the toughest.

But, with that being said, here is the approach I took (and I'll have to admit, I had a little advantage - a degree in RE and had just gotten my brokers license, and had several years of buy/fix/hold behind me). You have to be a catch like any other job. Someone they want. In the interview, you have to know the issues of being new, and show you know what they are and how you'll overcome them. Take the approach that they want you and you won't make all their worst fears come true.

Look for a large franchise office (lots of agents, better to make friends and find a mentor or two). Don't pick a company owned office, and not an independant (where you'll get the least help of all). Best if you already know an agent or two who can break the ice with the broker. A company that will have an internet based "quick start" type of training program for new agents. Ask, at the very beginning, about new agent training. Don't appear as though you need them to take a chance, find them and say I chose this office because....

I was going to (and did) spend hundreds of hours going through the office files - reviewing and learning how they wrote contracts, what clauses they used and how they were written. Which title offices were chosen. Which inspection companies they used, collected business cards, building my knowledge base of local customs and the market. Learned who in the office was going to be my friend, and who to avoid. Tons of experience in those files, not just how to, but names and numbers of service providers, prices for this and that. All without asking a single question. Impress upon them that you intend on being, and have a plan to be, lower maintenance than other first timers.

I knew I would have to produce, even if not much. Doing it as myself, for myself isn't an option when you're talking to someone you're asking to take a chance with you. I had at least intend (and I did) to bring in some business.

I had to realize I was the least experienced agent on the block. Reality. So, I gave back. My first three commissions, (and one was my own property), were referrals to other experienced agents in the office. All I got was the referral fee, and the opportunity to get an experienced agent to guide me through the process and answer questions. I paid them and gave them the credit in exchange for unlimited Q&A. It was never about commissions, it was about learning and getting experience (well, access to the MLS was a big thing, too). On the point of referrals, I made more that way than by actually doing transactions. I had to admit to myself that in the interests of everyone, even my bro-in-law, sister-in-laws cousin, etc., that a full time experienced agent was heads and tails better than using me. Doing this also went a long way to my being accepted by the other agents in the office, getting the best mentoring from the best agents, who no longer looked at me as being a bother.

First, there were points of light at the end of the tunnel. The first time a contract was reviewed without changes, then the, "oh, you did this right" when I knew to change a printed phrase in a contract and replace it with my own wording. My turning point, however, was when my broker, after the nth time I came with a contract I wanted her to review, said, "Ralph, you don't need me to review these anymore, you know this." The best, though, was when a closing agent at the title company who I had closed with several times, came into the room and explained that they were unexpectedly short handed, and asked if I would handle the closing myself. Realize that being able to walk the walk is a long way from getting a license, especially if you only do it part time. Too many think once they get the license, they're in and they can do it. Not so.

I wouldn't trade my experience, and am glad I did it. Might even do it again. I have kept up with the CE, so it's only a matter of sending money to the state.

But then, if all you want is MLS access and the ability to do your own, I agree with Realtyman. Save yourself from yourself.

Good luck.