Becoming a real estate agent

[Alex Rojesky]

Curious on people thoughts of jumping fully in after obtaining your RE license, or keep your current job and work as a part time agent until your commission earnings make sense to jump in full time? I'm currently in a low expense living situation and have the opportunity to save around 6 months salary to make that full time jump right away. If your passion is to become an agent, what's the best path to take? Assume all the obvious when answering.. hard working, ambition, self starter, the will to be successful. Thanks!

[Nick G.]

Hey there @Alex Rojesky. Questions like this are impossible to answer without knowing your whole situation, but here's a few thoughts. 

Personally, I jumped in headfirst, simply because my philosophy is that oftentimes when you leave yourself a Plan B, it never lets you truly and solely focus on making Plan A successful. Obviously there are varied views on this, that's just mine. 

It's worth noting that becoming a successful real estate agent means understanding (or learning fast) how to create and run a successful business, the exact same way you would start a business in the car industry, tech industry, or any other. Most new agents are clueless about that, which is why something like ~75% drop out in the first few years.

However, I noticed in the past month that you appeared to be exploring buying your first property (by the way, FHA all the way for you, period.) Making a major job change may possibly jeopardize or hurt your ability to qualify your income, since lenders typically need to see two years employment in the same industry. You will really want to check on this before doing anything.

Lastly, consider this: the job of a skilled agent, at least in the litigious state of California I work in, is akin to a quasi-attorney. If you ever needed a proper attorney to represent you in court, would you opt for an attorney who did it part-time, or an attorney to whom day in and day out; it's his absolute bread and butter? The answer is pretty obvious, but it's important to know, because people you help will generally feel the same way. You may, in fact, even be doing them a disservice as a part-time agent if you are not working as hard for them as another knowledgeable full-time agent would be able to.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably stick with my current job full time until I had bought my first property. Feel free to earn your license during this time and start visiting brokerages around you to try and find the one that offers the best and most comprehensive new agent training. Don't pay any attention to commission percentages whatsoever for your first year, what you need to focus on is your skill-set and knowledge so you don't screw over innocent people. 

When you find a broker you like, don't try to start working as an agent right away, just spend some time going to the weekly meetings and getting a feel for the real estate agent business and that particular office. Finally, if you decide you're happy with what you've found, I would ensure that I had six months in reserves of my now-higher living expenses, plus at least a few thousand dollars for start-up costs as an agent, and then become a full-time agent.

Hope that insight helps.