Hello BP, I am as new to the Real Estate game as they get.

[Hunter Perkinson]

Hello everyone, my name is Hunter Perkinson and I currently live in Fredericksburg, VA. I am a college student majoring in Business Administration with 3 more semesters left (Graduate in Spring 2016). I currently work and go to school full time but am looking to start what I feel will be my career. Real Estate investing is something I feel I am passionate about, although I have never done it. However, I would like to become familiar with the game and network first by becoming a real estate agent. I would also like to start now while I am still in school, but was worried about the difficulties of trying to balance my student requirements and the job requirements of a real estate agent. I want to begin learning now and not have to wait until I am out of school to get my feet wet. I do not have my license yet but have been looking at taking the class.

Does anyone think balancing college and a real estate job is doable? Or have any advice regarding starting out?

I am also worried about going from an hourly paid job to commission only. 

I am sure many of you have made that transition, so my question is, how did you cope with it? 

How do I know I will make a sale in time to pay my bills? 

Should I have a substantial amount of money saved to cover my starting out period that might result in no income due to a learning curve? 

Thank you to anyone who answers my questions and offers advice. I look forward to getting to know the real estate game and having this BP community as support. I have read through the E-book and read several other threads, and this really does seem like a great community of people who genuinely want to see each other succeed. 

Best Regards,

Hunter Perkinson

[Dawn Brenengen]

@Hunter Perkinson My usual advice to very young people who want to get started in the business is to look for an hourly paid job that is in a real estate related field.  You have to have some money in reserves to become an agent as the commission checks can be sporadic.  If you don't have enough of a cushion to ride out the lean times, you'll end up quitting too soon.

You could definitely get your license now, and my suggestion is to look for a job as an assistant to an already successful real estate agent.  Often, the agents who are in the older crowd look for young assistants to help with website content, social media, and the general running around they need to do.  If you are licensed, you become much more valuable to them.