Should I stay, or should I go?
I am a licensed real estate agent out of Beaverton, OR. I am now going on my second year with the firm that I started with when I first got my license. Our annual transactions as a company for buyers/listings in real estate are low (2-5 deals per year) by most standards in real estate. We deal mostly in the public sector, doing corporate housing for all bureaus of the Gov. I am still trying to get my first transaction/client, and ultimately my goal is build leverage from my initial deals to generate more leads and more business to make a full transition into running my own RE practice.
Recently I have been contacted by several firms who are interested in meeting (I have two meetings scheduled for next week) and possibly joining their team. This would obviously mean that I would need to leave my current job in pursuit of the change.
My ultimate goal like many other Realtors is to become successful enough to have my own office, and hire my own employees. And in the short term I need to find a way to increase my annual income. The reason I am striving for more income is so that I can save my mothers house from going into auction. I am not able to to get a favorable loan at this point, like many others due to my unfavorable debt to income ratio. I would be willing to partner, however I have not had the opportunity to do so at this point.
My question is for anyone who has insight, or has been through the experience of making the decision whether to move from a small family practice, to a larger more reputable firm?
Some of my pros and cons for leaving current employer versus staying;
Pros
Greater growth potential as self employed Realtor;
More access to marketing tools;
Can start building RE business off of the affiliatIon of a more reputable firm;
More practice by repetition;
Learning opportunities in the public sector (government contracting for corporate housing)
Cons
Leaving a more secure job (hourly wage, health benefits, PTO, etc.) ;
Starting over, and not being considered for a conventional loan as a new 1099 earner;
Will not get to travel for work anymore;
Stable work environment with people that I enjoy working with
Thanks for taking the time to read/answer my 234235290 word essay :)