A Career in Real Estate… How Hard Could It Be? The Difficulties of Selling Real Estate.
Posted on: May 23, 2007
Pass one simple test and the world is your oyster. No more boss telling you what to do. No more overtime or working on holidays. Show up when you feel like it and earn unlimited income. Be your own boss for a change. How hard could it be?
Maybe you detected a note of sarcasm in my catchy opening paragraph, or maybe you’ve seen ads like this in the “Help Wanted” section of the newspaper. Either way you’d be right. Selling homes for a living can either be the perfect fit or an experiment in frustration. The one sure thing is it’s not for everybody. With over 85% attrition in the first two years, the odds are against you the day you start. If you have been contemplating a career in residential real estate, read on. Maybe I can save you some time and money. Maybe you’ll give me a call, and we can all earn more money together. Who knows?
What makes for a successful career in this profession? In three decades of selling, I have literally seen hundreds of agents come and go in the business. This has allowed me to draw some conclusions. Let’s get some of the negatives out of the way. Why do intelligent, well meaning people flounder in this business and move on to other interests? By the way, I don’t think the word “failure” really applies to this circumstance.
First, it seems many were not prepared for the long and irregular hours necessary to start their own businesses. Having been brought up in a more structured environment, most new practitioners have an unconscious desire to punch out at 5:00, or take the weekends off. This doesn’t work in real estate. I have seen many successful agents working 60 or more hours a week at the start of their careers. As for weekends and evenings, you need to go where the buyers and sellers are. As luck would have it, they all have 9-5 jobs and have the weekends off.
Secondly, the income is inconsistent, unpredictable, and without benefits. In what we might call a “regular job,” people become used to being paid on a regular basis. It may not be a lot, but at least you can depend upon it. In real estate, if you were to sell a house today, it could be 4-6 weeks before a check comes your way. Most new brokers don’t sell a house right away, so add the time it takes to get the pump primed and you can see the problem. In the meantime, your bills keep coming in. As for paid vacations and health benefits, as Tony Soprano might say, fuhgeduhbowdit.
Finally, in any sales environment you have a thing called rejection. You must take a certain number of “no’s” to get a “yes.” Unfortunately, after a period of time the negatives can outweigh the positives psychologically. Having a thick skin is a must. People are not rejecting you personally, only your services at this particular time. If you take rejection personally, this is not the career for you.
How about the positives? Who is the most likely to thrive in real estate sales?
Stay tuned, because tomorrow I’ll post these points.
Click here to read the next post: The Qualities of a Successful Real Estate Broker.
Don McCredie, G.R.I., CRS, is the owner of portlandrealestate.com. He is a Life Member of the Million Dollar Club and a past REALTOR of the Year for the Portland Metropolitan Association of REALTORS. Currently, he serves as the Broker/Owner of EXIT Acclaim Realty, and can be reached at 1-800-203-9898.