BiggerPockets

IMO working as a realtor is only financially feasible if a) you have a spouse who serves as the primary bread winner and the Realtor gig is only to 'help ends meet' and/or you only need the part time income, b) you supplement it with investing, c) you're doing enough volume to afford an assistant (usually reserved for more experienced and successful agents) or d) you're servicing higher end clients ($500k+ priced homes - in which case you're sure to have an assistant).

Additionally, many agents make the mistake of working against market trends. In other words they take on a lot of buyers in a seller's market or vice versa. This only adds to the challenges in making a living as a realtor.

The way it's typically done, with the realtor job being a major (not necessarily 'primary') source of income and servicing first time home buyers (who require a lot of hand holding), it becomes a challenge that causes many agents to throw in the towel and seek more 'secure' employment.

Have seen part-timers that were exceptional but that is rare. A couple of examples were teachers that had summers free and a great network system. The one lady eventually gave up teaching and became a top producer and then went on to own her own company.

Any opinions on that would be appreciated.

John, are you wanting to be solely a real estate agent or are you interested in investing also?

I work full time in IT and also part time in Real Estate. I work as an agent and also for my own investment purposes. I don't have the luxury of 12 weeks off in the summer, but I do have the luxury of being able to answer my phone whenever it rings throughout the day. I assume you wouldn't have that luxury.

I would recommend finding a broker that does not charge you $100/month in fees on top of 30% or more of your commission. I am with a broker that charges less than $200/yr in fees and only a fraction of each commission check. I feel that is the best setup for a part timer.

I would talk to one of these brokers and get an idea of what all of your fees are (including local, state, and national real estate associations, mls access, broker fees, etc) and figure out how many houses you would have to sell in a year to break even and find out from the broker the likelihood of you doing it. I would guess, depending on the broker fees, selling 1 house a year will be pretty close to your break even point. Or you can consider how many houses you have to buy (if you are an investor) because that is an automatic 3% back for closing costs, renovations, etc that would be going to somebody else if you did not have a license (this was the primary reason I even got my license, so any of the deals I have closed representing others have all been a bonus).

My brother is a pilot and I am recommending he get his license to take advantage of his down time. Of course, it really depends on your market. The Houston area market has been pretty good for me. Being a teacher I think your network will be a huge asset, and they will all understand your time restrictions up front.

But yes, you can draft contracts, schedule showings, run comps, etc after the kids have gone to bed, but be prepared to lose many evenings and weekends to showings.

As far as earnings potential I believe NAR reports that agents make, on average, about $30,000/yr. I think it depends on your ultimate goal. Mine is focused on my own investments and the rest is just a bonus (or at least covers my expenses).

@John Jabson there is always a trade-off. You can't go to the beach with your family and fly kites if you are expected to hold a house open on Sundays.

In RE sales there is a sacrifice the family needs to be on board with. This is one of the first considerations for agents of all types. There is a considerable investment of time and there is expense for your car use, classes and licenses.

Teachers many times are naturally good at this but women have a more natural ability to work with the average home buyer. It really has a lot to do with emotions and less to do with the numbers and legalities. Having said this there are men that are top producers in residential so there are no absolutes.

If you are extroverted this business will come more naturally for you. Working with kids has to be taxing, and customers can be as unruly as your more difficult kids.

So if you were in my situation, would you put your time and energy into becoming a PT real estate agent and building that business OR would you educate yourself on wholesaling and start building that? I live in a rural area with 50,000 in my county. There is a big town of 100,000 about 40 minutes away, but it's very competitive. My immediate area is kind of backward, but there are quite a few good investment opportunities for rental properties and flips.

I'm just trying to find a way to fill my off-time so I can make some extra dough. I have experience in flipping (2 houses) and landlording (2 properties). Not real experienced but not a total newbie.

Thanks, Jeff S. Anyone else have an opinion on this?

Joel-I really don't know what you mean by "your own investments." I dont' have a ton of extra income to throw around. I only bring in an extra 1500 a month, net. Please explain what you mean by that. Isn't being a listing agent what an agent does, primarily?

Yeah, I have no desire to change careers. I just like real estate and would like to have a side income/job. That's my objective. I know alot of people in this county through being in the school district so I think I have a decent network going. At this point I'm just throwing around the idea of getting a RE license and see what happens.

I'd say go for it if you have the extra money to spend on licensing requirements/classes. If you sold your friends and family a couple of houses over the next couple/few years it would probably at least come close to paying off your expenses. Then if you could sell 1 every year or two you can keep up with the yearly costs until things started picking up. Trust me, it's not hard, and you probably have a better area of influence than I do. Also, if you want to invest more in real estate then you've got an automatic 3% on the front end (when you buy) and 3-6% on the back end (when you sell), minus broker fees. I would look for a 100% commission broker in your area (preferably one that provides some sort of training for new agents). I wouldn't pay 30% commission to a broker unless they were providing you with leads. Get your license and then tell everybody you know and everybody you meet here on out that you are a real estate agent.