I need away to jump into real estate sales full time
Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 25 posts · 2 votes
I need away to jump into real estate sales full time
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Realtor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2017 · 228 posts · 174 votes
7y@Joseph A Henke If you want to jump ship into a nebulous career, especially with a kid in the picture, cut expenses to near zero and build a runway fund to make sure you dont run out of money before you succeed. All expenses for 6-12 months is a good start.
The MLS is a great tool for allowing you to watch a market to see how it works. See a deal pop up and go under contract in a few hours? That property was probably a good deal. See one sitting on the market for 6 months? Probably overpriced with an owner who needs to sell at a certain number or isn't motivated. Get specific on a zip code and property type, then learn your trade.
Driving for dollars and then gumshoeing your way to find their contact info is a surefire way to find a deal eventually. It is a grueling process, especially if you are calling them. Mailers take a lot of the exhaustion out of the search, but the costs add up.
Networking is huge and gives you access to deals. Do it always, but be genuine.
Depending on what you are trying to do, get a mentor to accelerate your efforts.
Reach out if you want to discuss further.
11 Replies
- Property Manager · Chattanooga, TN · Member since 2018 · 179 posts · 92 votes7y
I'm not in St. Louis, but one of the first bits of advice on most REI articles directed at newbies is to not quit your day job. The first deal is always the hardest. After that, they get easier and easier, so I've heard. I wouldn't quit your day job if you didn't have to. You'll have to hustle to get your rental business off the ground, but it's been done before and people continue to do it successfully if they stick with it. Good luck!
- Realtor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2017 · 228 posts · 174 votes7y
@Joseph A Henke If you want to jump ship into a nebulous career, especially with a kid in the picture, cut expenses to near zero and build a runway fund to make sure you dont run out of money before you succeed. All expenses for 6-12 months is a good start.
The MLS is a great tool for allowing you to watch a market to see how it works. See a deal pop up and go under contract in a few hours? That property was probably a good deal. See one sitting on the market for 6 months? Probably overpriced with an owner who needs to sell at a certain number or isn't motivated. Get specific on a zip code and property type, then learn your trade.
Driving for dollars and then gumshoeing your way to find their contact info is a surefire way to find a deal eventually. It is a grueling process, especially if you are calling them. Mailers take a lot of the exhaustion out of the search, but the costs add up.
Networking is huge and gives you access to deals. Do it always, but be genuine.
Depending on what you are trying to do, get a mentor to accelerate your efforts.
Reach out if you want to discuss further.
- Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 25 posts · 2 votes6y
Thank you all for your comments on this post. Kyle I really like your advice and I am working towards saving up enough cash to lift off. I just attained my Missouri Real Estate Salesperson License so I am going to be getting to work.
- 6yAbel CurielBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
Originally posted by @Joseph A Henke:
Thank you all for your comments on this post. Kyle I really like your advice and I am working towards saving up enough cash to lift off. I just attained my Missouri Real Estate Salesperson License so I am going to be getting to work.
Congratulations on passing your exam!
I think you've received excellent advice thus far! Saving 6-12 months is crucial as it can take a few months before closing that first deal EVEN IF you have a prospective buyer/seller the day you obtain your license.
Here is what I usually suggest for a new agent:
1. Make a list of EVERYONE in your personal circle! Friends, family members, co-workers (current and past), neighbors, and anyone else in your sphere of influence from social and spiritual gatherings.
2. Call, text, and email them to let them know you're in the business and you'd like to know 'Who do you know that is interested in buying, selling or investing in Real Estate'.
3. Follow up with your personal circle 4-8X per year.
** A bonus piece of advice that I received from a 20-year RE sales veteran (in a Home Depot parking lot of all places) - Don't ever count on a single CENT until it is in your bank account.
Best of luck to you moving forward!
Abel
REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews - Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 25 posts · 2 votes6y
@Abel Curiel thank you for this advice it is much appreciated. I am actually going through the process of getting all of my personal sphere into a database right now. Do you recommend any type of CRM to make following up easier?
- Real Estate Investor · Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes6y
@Joseph A Henke, hi and welcome to BP!
First, I have to ask.... Is "Jospeh" really how you spell your name? It just looks a little too close to "Joseph" for me not to ask, and I've never heard of Jospeh yet, but it would be really cool if you were the first person of that name I "met."
I held a real estate license for about 2 years and worked it during the summer while I taught high school the other 9 months. I will say this: it is HARD, GRUELING WORK! Have I discouraged you yet? I hope not...
This is more about a reality check. I worked for 3 months hard, then took it back to nights and weekends only during the rest of the years. I did about 3-4 deals per year, enough to make some decent extra income, but no where near what I'd need to survive.
Keep in mind: the commission sounds fat, but after you take out the Broker's split, pay you E&O insurance, Realtor dues, MLS access dues, ads, and self-employment taxes, realistically you're only getting around 30-50% of your 3% split. Really, it stinks how much goes out the door. Just to be sure you're getting my numbers: let's say you are the Selling agent on a $250,000 house, and a cooperating Buyer's agent splits the commission with you. So you get 3% of $250,000 = $7,500. Woo, hoo, payday! Not so fast. Reduce that by AT LEAST 50% for all the expenses mentioned above. Now it's more like $3,000 give or take. You can see how much effort it takes to match your $40,000 salary today. You would have to sell about one $250,000 home each month just to break even with where you are today. If your employer is paying benefits like health insurance, retirement match, dental, vision, disability insurance, etc. increase your $40,000 salary by about 25% to cover that part of your compensation package.
Real estate agents follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of the commissions to 20% of the agents. Only about 5% are the super-seller agents that make over 6-figures. The rest bump around between $30,000 - $70,000 a year. One full time lady in my office was excited to finally hit $30,000 in take home pay after her 3rd year.
Keep in mind: you will be competing with people who have been doing this for years, have teams, have name recognition, have buyers and sellers lists, etc. I'm not saying you can't do it, but forget about a 40-hour work week. Try 60 hour weeks, for starters. Maybe 70 or more.
I would definitely set back a minimum of 6 months of expenses. It took me 3 months to get my first check.
Good luck, and I hope this helps.
- Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 301 posts · 99 votes6y
@Jospeh A Henke first of all congrats for thinking outside of the box and don’t let anyone discourage you for taking the bull by the horns and creating an enterprise. My advice would be to create your business structure from the ground up with all the important pieces in place. It’s like a new born healthy baby that has all its body parts to sustain its growth but just not developed yet. If you create your structure and work it from end to end yourself, when each piece becomes enough for you to pass on, you can bring in your virtual assistants to take over and you can move into other areas of development. Notice I used the word enterprise. You need to always manage your business from the 10k ft level so that you can work all pieces and make adjustments as needed. So much more my friend. Reach out if interested and best of luck!
- 6yAbel CurielBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
@Jospeh A Henke
Great to hear you’ve got the list ready to go. I use KV Core. In the past, I’ve used seize the market and liondesk.
If you’re looking to limit costs, Microsoft excel/ google sheets should suffice. You’d just have to set some kind of reminders (perhaps google calendar) for follow ups.
REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews - Realtor · Santa Clara · Member since 2020 · 5 posts · 1 vote6y
Hey Joseph,
I am a Real Estate Agent from California. Do not quit your job. You can find a seasoned Realtor who would not mind you joining his or her team. That way, you can stage open houses over the weekend to start gaining potential clients. You can follow-up and connect with clients in the evenings during the week. Be active in your community and let your sphere of influence know that you have a real estate business. Soon, you will have enough business to quit your job - whatever you do, be consistent. Good luck!
- Lender · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2017 · 63 posts · 38 votes6y
@Joseph A Henke I agree with @Melvina Fredson-Cole about joining a larger team as a buyer's agent. Most successful teams will be able to get you up and running in 30~45 days so you should have at least 3 months of expenses saved up or even more if you want to be conservative.
You might also want to consider joining a larger office that promotes/allows agents to hold other agent's listing open. Finding buyers at open houses is a great way for part time agents to start generating some business. I'm at Keller Williams in Kirkwood and there is never a shortage of houses to hold open. Most of the brokerages here should allow to do this. It is more a matter of how many listings the office has and will the listing agent allow you to hold it open.
Shoot me a PM if you ever want to talk. I promise that I am not one of those KW recruiting agents. It's never been my thing. I was lucky enough to have experienced agents help me out when I started in 2011 and would love to return the favor.
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