Real Estate Agents

Solomonre0

Hello,

To anyone who is or has been a real estate agent can you tell me about your experience with the job. Your likes. Your dislikes. What got you interested in the field. Any work/training that makes you a better agent. I think that this job field may interest me, but don't know where to start or where to find good information on it (other than google).

Thanks!

cobracars

If you have another means of support while you are starting out you can do fine. It may take you a few weeks or a few months to get your own listing or your own buyer to show around. Once an offer is made on a house it may take 60 days or more til the closing, and then you finally get paid. Up to that point you have zero income.

Typical money aspect might be something like this. You join an office that belongs to a licensed broker. You work for them as an agent. You cold-call, knock on doors, ask friends and family if anyone is interested in putting their house on the market. Once someone decides to list their home with you, you start to the process of developing a sales brochure on the home and you market and advertise it. Other realtors bring their buyers and make an offer (you hope). After an offer is accepted you follow thru with the paperwork and home inspection until the closing date. When THE DAY finally comes the lawyers have a couple hundred pages of documents for the buyer and seller to read and sign. The commision for the sale goes half to the owner of your office and half to the owner of the buyer's agent's office. Of the half your broker gets, you probably get half of that.

So, a $200k home might have a realtor's commission of 5%. ($10k). Your broker gets $5k, the other broker gets $5k. Your broker (boss) splits their half with you, so you get $2500. After taxes you will probably have about $1750 net cash in pocket. Not bad money for a house that sells rather quickly, but imagine if it takes a year to sell that house. Can you go a year on just $1750? Remember you will have to have a decent car for taking buyers around to show them houses and you will have to pay for the gas while they are looking.

The whole key to being successful is to have several listings at the same time so you are always selling at least one or two a month. If you bring a buyer to your own listing and your office doesn't have to split the commission you get to keep 50% instead of 25%.

I was a realtor in the late 80's to early 90's until I opened a different business. Your financial arrangement with your broker/boss may be different. Back then we wrote contracts for listings at 6% commission but it can vary with location, list price, etc.