Hello,

I am a teacher and plan to stay teaching but I am interested in being a real estate agent as a second career that I can do after school and in the summer. I have talked to a broker in my area and he is very optomistic in my choosing real estate and working for him. I am hard working and am willing to put in the time it takes to be trained and be successful.
My question is......... "Is real estate a good second career for a teacher?"
Any advice would be very beneficial. Thank you for your time.

In my experience, I have found that literally 100's of the Realtors in our network are teachers who have moved onto Real Estate as a second career. Be sure that you sign on with a good Broker who will mentor you and help get you started. Have summer's off with definately help too ;-)

Thank you Rob.

SEVERAL teachers have worked for me and they are usually quite good.

I highly suggest that in addition to a good Broker that will mentor you that you start out as an assistant to the most successful Realtor you can find who will let you work for them. That will be the fastest and most workable road to success. Just remember that about 95% of all new agents fail in the first 18 months and about 95% of those remaining fail in the next five years in any market!!!

The mentoring Broker and the employing Super Agent are your two best insurance policies that YOU will be one of the successful ones.

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My Personal Site: www.JodyHudson.com
Take care,
Jody
Delaware Beach Real Estate near Rehoboth Beach on The Atlantic Ocean Beaches.
Our Local Discussion Board is www.DelawareBeachBoard.com

I've known a couple of teachers who ended up quitting the teaching profession since they were so successful with real estate.

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Southwest Chicago Suburbs Real Estate is an affordable area with close access to downtown Chicago. Money Magazine says that Orland Park real estate is one of the best places to live in the U.S. Next door you can find Tinley Park homes for sale and get Orland Park amenities at a more affordable price.

Jody,

First of all I want to thank you for that great piece of advice. I have a question regarding working for a real estate agent as an assistant. Would a real estate agent want an assistant? And what would I be doing from them? And would they be paying me or would it be strictly voluntary? Either way I think it would be greatly beneficial.
thanks again

I want to start a thread about how assistants are paid. I have done it many ways but there may be a customary solution. Yes, a top agent will often want an assistant or associate, some want one with a license and some want one without a license and some want one or several of each. One of our local agents has about 25 assistants and associates. At one time I had about 30, many years ago. Now I have a partner.

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My Personal Site: www.JodyHudson.com
Take care,
Jody
Delaware Beach Real Estate near Rehoboth Beach on The Atlantic Ocean Beaches.
Our Local Discussion Board is www.DelawareBeachBoard.com

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I do feel compelled to throw a few thoughts at you, as follows.
1. You need to recognize -- and come to terms with -- one of the realities of the business: it is not, repeat not, a part time career. The key to success is hard work, more hard work, and even more hard work -- and this means a full time commitment or nothing. On average, it will take you two years before you'll know what you're doing or starting to make money at it. The idea that a $5000 commission (or whatever amount you name) is easily earned is a public misconception that our industry makes too little effort to dispell. Sure, luck plays its part, but there's an enormous amount of patience, persistence, and perseverance involved as well.
2. What you have to realize is that you're talking of going into business for yourself and everyone knows that a) you need money behind you for this and b) it will probably be five years before your profits are at the level you first reckoned they were going to be.
3. Ergo, you're kidding yourself if you think you're bound to make a few extra thousand dollars over the summer months -- and the brokers and agents who tell you otherwise are kidding you, too.
4. If only for these two main reasons, the Assistant suggestion is a good one. You'll have to find a top producing agent who's prepared to hire you, but this is not going to be all that difficult. The whole thrust in the real estate business nowadays is a team headed by a successful agent (who you can bet has been at it for several years, even if he/she did in fact start out on a part time basis) who "gets the papers signed" but relies on an assistant (or two or three ...) to prepare them and set up the relevant appointments. As one guru has put it so well: "If you don't have an Assistant these days, you are one."
5. But what your enagagement as an Assistant will help you understand is the truth about percentages. They vary from area to area and agent/brokerage to agent/brokerage, but in general:
a) You'll show twelve houses to get a buyer to purchase one of them.
b) You'll list four houses to get one of them sold -- and, like as not, it will be a fellow agent who brings the buyer to the table instead of yourself (and/or your team).
c) It will cost you at least $10,000 a year to be in the business -- and probably no more than 20% of agents earn more than that.
d) You have to make as many as 100 calls (by phone, in person, by door-to-door canvassing, via (expensive) direct mailing, or whatever other form of "call me" solicitation you use) to identify a single "live buyer or seller" -- and the odds are that it will take you six or more months to earn a commission out of it.

Am I being miserable, despondent, off-putting, negative, etc?
Perhaps as you may see it -- an opinion that may well be shared by many of my colleagues in this forum.
But I prefer to argue that I'm simply "telling it like it is." Real estate isn't a Get Rich Quick business. It's a long term affair that calls for an ongoing determination to make a success of it and a whole lot of learning along the way.

I'm now in my sixteenth year and I've enjoyed every minute of being in the business.
But I've certainly known summers when I didn't make a dime, no matter how many calls and contacts I made!

Duncan

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Real Estate in Canada's Niagara Peninsula

Duncan's comments make the real estate industry sound like a very tough nut to crack, and he's completely right. His honest portrayal of what it takes to make it are right on target.

I like the way you tell it like it is. I can always count on you for that. [That's a good thing.]

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