When I am not on ActiveRain, I also like to check out the Real Estate page I set up on my Google News page.
Today, I saw an article there about a young man, Rich Lewetzow, who has gotten his Real Estate license and has his first listing. The thing that makes this unusual is that he is an 18 year old high school senior who will graduate in June. He has decided to work for a couple of years before going to college.
As I read the article, Real Estate Rarity; A Realtor at age 18, I could not help but think that this young man has many of the qualities that will make him successful in the business: perseverance, confidence, determination. I think the biggest things that he has going against him are his age and his lack of personal experience. With time, those issues will go away.
But I was surprised at the anger toward Real Estate Agents in the comments section of the article. You would think I would be over this by now, but it never fails to surprise me. I wonder if Rich has seen these comments?
Working every day for my clients--some days for 12 or 14 hours--and putting my own money on the table to get deals done, I find it dismaying how little is understood about what we do. This is not easy money. For every transaction that goes easily and smoothly (and these still require a lot of work and coordination), there are 10 that make extreme demands on our time and efforts. This is not a complaint...I realize that I can walk away anytime. This is what I signed up for when I became a Realtor. That doesn't mean it is easy.
It is interesting, and sad, that for the amount of work that we do, we are constantly made to defend our industry and our income. You might hear a grumbling about how much an accountant charges, but you would never ask him/her to buy you a new refrigerator or give you part of his/her fee toward your tax bill. As Realtors, we are asked to do things like this regularly to make deals happen.
I hope that this young man goes in to this with some good personal financing and a strong work ethic. It is neither inexpensive nor easy to get your business up and running and to keep it going between transactions closing. Those of us in the business for the long haul know that it is rewarding and that there is usually one of those 'smooth' transactions around the bend, but it is not always easy and it is not always fun.
Good luck, Rich, like the rest of us, you will need it!
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