Recently in another area a visitor to Active Rain asked if real estate is a rewarding career.  That got me to thinking about how many people have told me they think they should do what I do.  So here is the answer I gave.

Is there anyone on the planet who has not had at least a fleeting thought of becoming a Realtor?  It is obviously, according to folks not in the business, a gravy job.  Right?  You just drive around looking at beautiful homes with your friends.  You then spend about an hour to write up a contract.  Call your friends with the good news that they have bought a home, then sit back to wait for settlement where you get a check for $13, 286.22!  Easy money.  Oh yes, you have to pay for a couple of gallons of gas, but you made four thousand dollars an hour, so what's a little car money?

Not so fast.......

This is a self screening career. I was told that only 1 to 2% of folks who take the classes to become Realtors stay in the business for more than 18 months. Then of that 2% only one in four stays in the business more than 5 years. 

If you are thinking about getting into real estate there are some questions you should ask yourself.

1. Are you able to survive for several months making almost NO money? For most agents it takes a year or two to build up to a moderate income. You should have a minimum of 6 months living expenses set aside before you "give up your day job".

2. Do you have the discipline to be your own boss? Your manager or Broker will help you with some training and other encouragement and support, but it will be up to you to get up every day and do the things that have to be done to be successful.

3. Do you really like people? Can you give yourself away in order to get what you want back?

4. Are you tough enough? You have to be prepared for lots of rejection, some of it intentional and some of it completely unintended. Your best friend probably knows three or four Realtors. Only one of you is going to be his agent.

5. Do you have the skills and ability to do the job. You will have to take the classes and pass the tests. You don't have to be a genius, but you do need good writing, reading and math skills.

6. Are you computer savvy? The internet is becoming hugely important to Realtors and their customers. (But here you are talking to us on the net, so you probably have a good start on that!)

Those are just a few things to think about. If you want to consider becoming a Realtor you might ask to shadow an agent for a day or two, or at least interview several agents. You have made a start on that by asking this question.

Why don't you go ahead and take the classes? It doesn't cost a great deal of money and will give you some good information that you will be able to use to do your own investments, or buy your next home. If you like what you see take the exam. There are Brokerages that offer to train you. Interview carefully to see who seems to be the best fit for you. For some people working as an assistant to an established agent is a great way to test drive the career while still bringing in a small paycheck.

Then if you decide this is a career path for you, you can set up your business under a good Broker. 

Now back to that $13,000 something that everybody knows you get at settlement.  After you split it four ways, (you, your broker, the other agent and his broker) you end up with $4000 if you are very lucky.  You'll spend half of that on expenses, taxes and advertising.  ($2000 left to take home)  If you're pretty talented and work hard you can probably repeat that 6 or 7 times in the first year.  With any luck you'll probably make as much as the kid who stuffs your hamburger in the bag so you can hustle on to your next appointment at 7 o'clock this evening.

If you can hang in there, eating hamburgers and pizza for a year or two, you should be able to work up to a good average income comparable to teachers, Med Techs, and retailers.  Slog it out for another couple years and get an assistant or two working for you and you can make some serious money.

So, is it rewarding? You Betcha!  Is it fun? Most of the time.  Is it for everyone?  Not on your life!