miko

Been tossing around the idea of taking the courses to become an agent. Anyone know the average income for agents in the Houston area? Thought maybe i could do it on the side for a while just for extra cash, but not sure how possible that is. Can being an agent be the first step to more profitable forms of real estate work?

:::OshnSoul:::

ugh. Had my experiences with them- most of them (i don't want to assume they are all the same way) can be deceitful, not telling everything, and sway you to buy a house, not really caring too much about anything but the money.
lol- we will never go through a real estate agent again, especially after our last one. We should have said No- We were selling FSBO & we got an offer, but they wanted the family friend to be the buyer's agent. Well, we ended up having to pay her (only 2%, though), but she also was a jabbermouth and she was always at bars. She asked my husband to meet her a 1/2 hour away in a bar parking lot just to pick up papers. Not cool.
Anywho, enough of my ranting, and I know not all agents are like that.
Not saying that you would be that way, but possibly also look into mortgage broker jobs, as well. They can also help get you a house/sell your house without extreme fees.
best of wishes- but DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO- not what others tell you you should do.
Real Estate can be fun with good pay, but you are always on the clock and can be a "survival of the fittest" type of gig.

miko

Thanks for the comments. I don't really know what's involved other than what me and you normally see as buyers and sellers so anything helps. I guess that's part of what i want to know before jumping into anything.

Rodney

It works differently in different states. To be a "real" agent you have to take real estate courses and pass a test. I think that there are agents without licenses, but they mainly work as salesmen for another agent who is the real agent of record on the deal and take a big cut of the commission for him/herself.

I've talked to a number of them. There are a lot of agents out there, but the ones who make any money are the ones who really grind at it: hunt up their own listings, start up as an independent business rather than part of an agency that they have to split the commissions with, etc. If you want to do it part-time, you probably can, but it may be a while before you make a sale; on the other hand, it's a good way to try the profession on for size.

There is a sleaze factor, oh yes, and a lot of flakes; but there are plenty of good agents out there as well.

As for moving into other real estate businesses, well, successful agents start their own agencies or work into forms of real estate that can be very lucrative, like selling luxury homes, leasing or selling commercial space, property management (only for the hard-nosed), and so on.

synic213

I've also been checking into this and I am curious to hear what you decide to do. Things I've found out are:

1)You can get your real estate license online! Fairly inexpensive compared to the college fees I'm used too, and it only takes a few months (if you study and pass all the exams the first time)
2)If you're going to venture out on your own (not linked to a laregr corporation) you should ahve at least one years salary saved up in advance, becaus eit can sometimes take at least that long to make a profit.
3)The more people you know, the better client base you can develop, the better off you'll do.

I'm considering getting my license and then just dabbling on the side. Even if I don't become an full time agent by trade, it's more than worth it to be able to represent yourself and family members during the sale of your own homes.

Bamrak

Here's what Salary.com had to say about the salary:


Real Estate Sales Agent 25th%ile Median 75th%ile
Houston, TX $31,501 $32,246 $41,016

DDDDave

Been in the RE business all my life. Civil engineer by schooling, now have my own development co. RE Broker, contractor, mortgage broker, appraiser.

You're on the right track. Take a few courses. See if you like the subject and pick up on it quick. If it's hard for you to learn or pick up, it won't be any fun doing it for a living. In FL, most of the big national outfits (C-21, ReMax, Prudential) will pay for your school if you come to work for them afterward. Not a bad deal at all. You have to start somewhere and small, busy agencies really don't want to take the trouble to train people. It takes time away from serving their clients. The big places have lots of part-time people and you can see if you like it or not. If you only do it part-time, you will only make part-time money. That is just a fact. People expect good service for the money they are paying you and if you are only available some time, they are usually not to happy.
Do you know anybody in the business? Offer to buy them lunch to discuss it with them. Remember, at one time, every successful agent was right where you are now.

Another angle is to take some classes to get some basic knowledge and then try to work for a very busy, successful agent as their assistant. You don't work on commission, but you get to see how deals are put together, and how the process works from contract to close. That is really important. You need to see a few deals fall apart and how to handle that. (BTW, I know assistants that make 50K.)

Not trying to stereotype here but 90% of residential is sold by women and 90% of commercial is done by men. With houses, if the woman buyer says no, the answer is no. It seems that women trust each others judgement more than a man. Once again, I don't want to get flamed but that has been my experience. BTW, I have sold lots of houses to men and women, but the women are just better at relating to women.

Now, I mostly pay commissions to agents/brokers who sell/lease my product. I don't like to pay 'dabblers'. I make people earn their money. You don't have to be the greatest; you do have to be positive, honest, and willing to work. The job is total self-motivation. As others have mentioned and as you already know, there are no lazy, successful RE people.

Good Luck in your endeavors.

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