All Forum Posts by: Johnny L.

I know that you concern about earning money being an agent. What is priceless is the advantage that you'll gain as agent / investor. I'm also going that route, I have a family of 5 that depends on me, I understand the importance of having current income. If you can obtain your realtor license by all means go for it.

As with anything in real estate the name of the game is location location location.  I am a Realtor in a rural area where the top agents bring in about 100k annually.  The average agent might make 30k though.  The average sale price for homes stays around 50-80k for most home in the area.  The real question is what do you really make?  There are a lot of expenses in this busines.  Someone netting 30k a year might be bringing in more like 55-60k in gross commissions.  Just because that's what you brought in doesn't mean that's what you make!

    The best advice I can give to someone just breaking into the business is get out there!  Let people know you exist.  I always tell our new agents to make sure you hand out at least five business cards every day!  Sometimes taking the laptop to the local coffee shop is another inexpensive piece of advertising  you can do. Do the people you volunteer with know you're in the business?  Just some thoughts.  

@Johnny L. There's far too many variables to have a median income. I can tell you there are agents that think they work full time, but in reality though they may show up at an office, they sit at a desk for 8 hours, but do nothing to list or sell real estate. On the other hand, I've seen agents that focused strictly on listing, never came into the office and were top producers. 

If you are going to work as an agent, work on being the best agent you can be. Know your market, the inventory and what is available, etc. Find the niche you are interested in and become an expert. When people call you, call them back. If you get really busy, hire someone to keep you organized, run your escrows, take out flyers, signs, etc. to listings. Customer service is the KEY to earning a good income. Don't think about how much money you want to make, just about taking care of your clients, and the money comes. At the same time, weed out people quickly that aren't buyers or won't be listing with you, but do it in a way so that when they're ready they'll come back if possible. Good luck! 

 Single most important piece of advice is to keep advertising. Spend the money on building your brand. You have to be in front of people over and over and over again. The phone will not ring unless you keep spending the money to get yourself out there.

The good news is that successful Realtors come in all colors, sizes and personality types.  The bad news is that it is difficult to predict which will be 'successful' and which won't make it to their 2nd anniversary in the business.

Here is the best advice that I can give you: get up, get dressed, go to work.

In other words, treat it like a REAL JOB.  Set your alarm, beat your manager in to the office in the morning, dress sharp, listen intently to the experienced agents.  If you do these things, you will be ahead of 90% of the other agents out there and those experienced agents/managers will send business your way to encourage you (I know that I always send a hard working rookie business whenever I can because I want to see them succeed).

Plan to have little to no income for 6 months, maybe more.  Don't spend a lot on advertising initially but instead tell everyone you know and meet that you are actively building your business and ask them 'who do you know that is getting ready to buy or sell a home?'.

Pick up the phone and start making phone calls.  Friends, family, classmates, former co-workers.  Expired listings, for sale by owners, absentee owners, cold call a neighborhood.

Best of luck to you, Johnny!  It is a career that rewards those who work their tail off.  : )

@Johnny L.

Try "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" by Gary Keller. It's a great start. I can send you a copy if you want. 

@Johnny L.

The best thing about being a Real Estate Agent is your inventory is limitless. You can make a good living without having to own the house and with no risk on your part. It was a perfect transition for me into REI.

Sure you will end up driving people around in your car showing them houses but never sell them one, take listings from unmotivated seller's that never sell, but there are plenty of ways to spin your wheels in real estate investing too.

@Johnny L.

You can make a lot of money in this industry if you work hard. Many agents are pulling in 6 figure incomes. But there are also many agents who are not making much if anything.

It is really about how hard you work, how smart you work & how much money you are willing to put back into your business. You will need to spend a lot of money on advertising if you want to get your name out there as much as possible.

@Johnny L.

I love the opportunities of a real estate agent. It's not complicated, and there are plenty of successful people to model your business after. Your success is directly proportional to what types of activities you do and how hard you work. If you are interested in chatting more about it, let me know.