Dual Career Real Estate Agent?

[Erik Pierson]

I'm sure there's many people out there on the BP forums who either currently or have previously held a real estate license. I would love to hear from anyone who has worked as an agent as a 2nd job or side business. I currently have a "W-2" job that I work 40-50 hours a week. I love real estate and have been considering a career change but do not want to leave the security of my current job to pursue it if I don't have to. Even if I did not make it a career change I figure I could use the extra income and industry knowledge to help with investing. I met with a couple realtors to discuss the specifics of getting my license and ask some basic questions but I'm really curious to hear about your unbiased experience. How did you manage your time? How much longer did it take to get your name out there and build up a client base not doing it full time? If done successfully, is it worth the extra income? Does being in the industry help you on the investing side? Any feedback is appreciated!

(I'm located in the Northern Virginia area)

[Joaquin Camarasa]

I respectfully disagree with @Russell Brazil unless you have huge savings or any other sort of passive income coming in. I understand Rusell's point, as you grow you have to do it full time. There are too many aspects in the business you need to stay on top. 

When I started I was transitioning jobs so I did it full time for some months. At the beginning it is going to be slow. It will take time until your closest sphere (friends and family) thinks that you are capable to handle all the aspects of a transaction flawlessly. It will take also some time to build all the knowledge needed to be fully confident on the different objections you will face from your clients. It will take even more time for people you know and investors to respect you and refer you to others. All that time you might barely make any money. We are speaking of at least a year.

I would not recommend going full time. A slow and steady transition I believe is the safest way to go. 

However, I understand how others might think differently. If you decide to work in a team and get experience faster by giving up a big chunk of your commission is another possibility. I decided I wanted to grow on my own at my own pace. 

It is also lot about relationships and you do not build strong relationships within a small time frame. 

Another thing to have in consideration is that I do not personally do direct lead gen (Cold calling, door knocking, etc) it all comes from friends, friends of friends and social media. If you are planning to use direct lead gen, then yes full time is the only way to go.