All Forum Posts by: Rachel Ewald

@Michael K Gallagher I appreciate the response! My current job is quite low-wage, so I do my best to be mindful and judicious about how I spend my money. Aside from that, I actually feel I am fairly financially secure (I have a sizeable emergency budget set aside as well as various investment accounts). I have heard that the first year + for a new agent can be challenging financially. I have done a lot of learning in the past about house hacking/buying a multiple unit property and it is something I've wanted to do, but I have seen several people close to me dealing with major property repairs/expenses, and suppose I am just a little gun shy about buying my own property after having observed their experiences. 

I have considered trying to keep my current job as I go through the process of taking classes and getting a license, but my hours at my current job can be upward of 80/week or 20 hours/day in the summer, so I am unsure if it's wise to try to balance taking classes and/or potentially working as a new realtor with that sort of schedule. I just want to be realistic and set myself up for success before making any major decisions. In the long run, I would definitely be looking at working in real state full time; really the only things holding me back are the financial concerns about the first year or so and whether or not I would be able to find clients willing to work with me given the current market/being a new agent.

Again, I greatly appreciate your response/advice and will take into consideration all the suggestions you have offered!

@Brandon Goldsmith 

I appreciate the feedback! I actually feel I am fairly financially stable (have a sizeable emergency budget as well as various investment accounts), but my current work is low wage so I try to be very mindful & judicious of how I am spending my money. It's a fair point that there will never be a "perfect time" for a job change - I've been saying for over a year now that I was going to find a different job, but somehow there has always been a reason that it wasn't a good time for me to leave. I know that I have the desire and work ethic to excel in whatever career I pursue, but I want to be practical about available opportunities and set myself up for success before running headlong into a very different profession. 

@Jared Hottle 

I have actually considered some sales rep positions as I know they can be great opportunities. The issues I've been having with this are 1.) general lack of agriculturally-related sales rep opportunities in my area (which is what has been leading me to consider sales positions outside of my current industry) and 2.) relevant jobs open currently tend to require X number of years of sales experience, that I do not have (unless you count the typical retail jobs I held as a teen which most employers, understandably, do not). Excuse my ignorance, but would land sales not also require a real estate license? I'm not well versed in what differentiates land sales from selling real estate in the housing market as most real estate agents do. 

Thank you for your input, I'll definitely take your suggestions into consideration and continue looking into relevant sales positions as that seems to be a common suggestion.

@Russell Brazil 

Those statistics really help put things into perspective. I know that social media isn't necessarily a reliable or accurate representation of real-world circumstances, but I have seen what appears to be a lot of people getting a job in the real estate industry and have been wondering how so many new agents are finding success in a market where there seems to be a shortage. 

Curiously, I have seen an abundance of job postings by real estate agencies seeking both unlicensed and licensed real estate agents over the course of my job searching the past several months, and have wondered about that as well given the aforementioned conditions in the industry. I'm unsure if it's a common thing for agencies to constantly have job ads posted regardless of the actual need for new agents? I'd be interested to hear if you happen to know why this may be. I appreciate the response!

@Lucas Gillmore That's a great suggestion and I have considered various sales rep-type positions. The challenges to this that I've seen are 1.) honestly very few jobs of that type in this area related to ag, and 2.) many of them require X years of experience in sales that I do not have (unless you count the typical teen jobs in retail that I worked, which most companies, understandably, do not), which is partially what has driven me to consider a non-ag sales job. 

I actually find it curious how few job openings, in general, I see in agriculture & adjacent fields here in Ohio considering how much of the state is agriculturally dominated. Then again, a lot of farms are family-owned and operated with as minimal hired help as possible, and I think a lot of the hog/poultry farms might order & have products shipped straight from suppliers due to biosecurity concerns, as I never saw a salesperson on the hog farm I worked at for a short time. 

I appreciate the suggestions and will definitely continue to look into those as possible options!

@Matt Payne That's really helpful, thank you! I've always been a detail-oriented person and have been complimented on my work ethic in every job I've had, so I feel that I have the drive to go the extra mile. 

The information about KW's pre-licensing program is really helpful, especially as my current job makes it necessary for me to be careful about how I use my money. I very much appreciate the advice.

Hello all, 

I've had an interest in real estate investment for several years now (began learning/researching as a college freshman, now approaching 3 years that I've been done with school) but due to practical/financial limitations, have not had the opportunity to begin investing yet. 

I am currently working in agriculture as I graduated with a B.S. in essentially livestock science with an industry emphasis as well as an A.A. in small business/entrepreneurship. Due to a lack of relevant jobs in this industry/area and the industry having an unfortunate standard of severely overworking and under compensating employees, I'm considering pivoting and pursuing a different career path for a time, especially as I studied business in college. 

Given my longstanding interest in real estate, I am considering getting a real estate license and doing that for work for some time. I'm wondering if and how this might be beneficial in any future investing I may do, or if it could actually be detrimental in some ways I haven't yet foreseen. I do have an actual interest in real estate as a career and feel that I could excel as a realtor, but would like to hear some experiences/thoughts from other people. I feel like real estate agent has become an almost trendy job in recent years and have seen so many posts/comments about people working in the industry that I almost would tend to believe the industry was saturated if it weren't for the number of job ads I've seen recently. 

Thoughts/experiences/advice appreciated, TIA!

@Ryan Evans I think assisting someone with flips would be a great experience for me. I've seen my family do a huge amount of work on their current house, but of course that is only one property. I have a general idea of what aspect of the real estate world I'm interested in, but that may change as time progresses and I am exposed to different areas. Thank you for your time and advice!

@Rachel H. My stepfather has done more as a landlord than my mother, and actually still owns a single family home that he is planning to sell as soon as the current tenant leaves as that particular property has been a bit of a nightmare for him. I will certainly look into some local clubs. I feel that one of the biggest issues I'm facing is locating people who I can learn from, but I think that attending meetings will be immensely helpful with that. Thank you very much for your recommendations!

@Logan Jorns It certainly seems we're in similar scenarios. My parents aren't interested in "real estate investing", per se, but both are looking at properties in different areas. It's encouraging to see that your efforts are paying off already. I'll definitely have to look into meetings in my area and see if I can attend some. It can occasionally be difficult to make it to events in my home area when I attend school 2 hours away, although I suppose I could probably attend meetings in this area as well. I appreciate all the advice and recommendations immensely, thank you!