I started my real estate career when I was 22 years old and had just graduated from college. Prior to that, I had been a lifeguard and pool manager at a local country club and also had waited tables and served drinks at a restaurant & bar. That was the extent of my work experience. I also had no personal experience as a buyer or seller. I told my parents that I wanted to get my real estate license and become an agent. I think they were surprised and concerned, and my dad asked me who I knew that needed to buy or sell a house? The truthful answer was nobody. Many of my friends were still in school or maybe just starting their first real jobs, and therefore were not going to be in the market. And, my parent's friends that I grew up with knew me as the lifeguard at the pool, not someone they were ready to take seriously when it came to a large asset, like their house. But, ignorance is bliss to a certain degree, and I dove into the business full time. 17+ years later, I'm still a full time agent.
It absolutely can be done at a young age, even though it is not a very conventional "first" career path that younger people follow. Just because it can be done doesn't mean that it can be done easily. Real estate is hard business to be successful with. I was very aware of the same concerns that you are when I started, and it took me longer to get my first couple of sales compared to older agents that started at the same time as me. My broker and other established agents all suggested that I target the first-time buyer market because I was young and recently graduated from the university, so I had a personal connection to the neighborhoods in that part of the city. They said I'd be better off working with buyers over sellers. That turned out to be terrible advice. Young first-time buyers don't want another young person that's never bought, sold, built or owned a house. They want someone like their parents to guide them along the pathway to homeownership, to hold their hand, and to reassure them. I couldn't that. I didn't like working with them and they probably didn't like me. I did great with older people instead, and many of my clients my first and second year in the business were in their 60s or 70s, or older. There was a mutual respect there. They liked seeing a young person that worked hard, and I appreciated the wisdom and life experience that they shared or that I witnessed working with them. They didn't need their hand held. It wasn't their first home sale or purchase. They lived in nicer neighborhoods, took better care of their houses, were available to meet during normal business hours compared to evenings and weekends, and they didn't care if I was the #1 agent in my office, or how many assistants and buyer's agents I didn't have. Instead, they cared a lot about my market knowledge, what the other houses for sale near theirs look like in person, what marketing I was doing, what the contracts they'd sign said and meant, and how I was looking out for their best interests. Several of those earlier customers ended up referring their adult children to me, followed by their grandchildren. All that said, if I had just taken the advice of everyone around me or bought into my dad's fear that I wouldn't have an outlet for business, I would have probably sold a couple houses after a year or so, then would have gotten out of the business entirely, just like a lot of new agents to. As a young person, I had more time to learn the business, the contracts, the inventory, the new developments. I could work weekends, evenings, 7 days a week, and was usually happy to do so. And, I wasn't reliant on all of my business coming from people that I already knew, from family friends, neighbors, former coworkers. While it took me about 4 or 5 months to make my first sale, I ended up selling 21 houses my first year.
Don't ignore your concerns or fears altogether, or dwell on them either. Instead, study the market harder, become more knowledgeable, ask questions and advice from experts in your market, and it won't be long before you are one of them too.
