Fellow BPer’s I need some help with my situation. Any ideas, thoughts or opinions are welcomed. I am trying to decide if the time is right to quit the 9-5 job and jump into Real Estate full time.

In May 0f 2014 I acquired my Realtors license with the idea that we could buy and sell our own investments and look at houses more freely on our own schedule. I ended up helping my brother buy a house that year and made my first commission check (yay!). Fast forward to February of this year and my director at my 9-5 job approached me and asked if I would help him sell his house since he was moving out of the country. I said of course I would help him, who doesn't want to sell a $400K house and make a commission check. Well, the house sold in the first weekend and I was hooked! I learned how to make cold calls and negotiate my commission percentage to leverage listings other agents couldn't get. I made some good connections, received a few referrals, worked craigslist & Zillow for FSBO adds and hustled every day. Since that first listing I have closed on 25 client homes; year to date with 3 currently under contract and about 2 more in the process that will likely go under contract by the weekend. That is $3,000,000 in Real Estate closed, $530,000 under contract with an average of about 2.5% commission overall! I am now showing houses 4-6 nights/days per week. My lunch breaks most days consist of showing clients houses, taking videos of potential rentals for investors and responding to voicemails. I made more money by the end of October this year being a Realtor than a full 12 months salary plus bonuses at my 9-5. My life and the life of my girlfriend has changed dramatically. We live and invest together and she has made sacrifices to accommodate the new busy lifestyle. I am basically never home and free weekends are few and far between. She is an amazing partner and I couldn't do this without her. BTW she also works a full time day job.

I know most of you think this is a no-brainer, quit the job and focus on being an agent but it is not that easy. Here is why.

About 1/3 of my leads come from people at my day job. There are about 450 people in my office and someone is always looking to buy/sell or both. The other problem is loans for buy and holds. We own two rentals now with plans for many more. I can currently get approved for loans easily because of the W2 income but once I quit the loans will go on hold till I can show 2 full years of commissioned income. That means no more loans till 2017. Yikes! We have some cash but not enough to buy one decent rental currently.

The truth is I hate my job but love the company. I have peaked at my position and I sit here bored every day for 8 hours. They are very flexible with me and never say anything (yet) about the long lunches, disappearing here and there for phone calls and everything else. My actual work schedule is 7-3:30 which allows getting in more showings at night. Again, the flexibility is here but I can only get so much real estate related work done during the day while here. I get my work done so I don’t feel I am stealing from the company but I am not motivated to go that extra mile.

I have a serious passion for real estate investing and I believe being a Realtor is the logical step to grow that side of the business. The flexible hours and potential for higher income are why I think that. I don’t want to be a realtor forever but I also won’t make anywhere close to six figures working my current day job and I won’t for several years to come. I feel confident I can make 6 figures a year being a realtor if I hustle & hustle. Also, leaving the day job means leaving benefits and the security of a paycheck every two weeks behind. I am most concerned about not having insurance but I am sure I can buy that on the open market.

If you were me what would you do? This isn’t a cry for help just seeking advice for the largest potential career choice I have ever made.

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Is it time to quit my day job? Advice needed.

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