Choosing real estate as a career looks pretty sweet. After all, most of the agents you see are driving nice cars, wearing flashing outfits, jetting off all over the world and man, oh man, are there ever a lot of people doing that. So, why not you?
I'm writing this for the high school kids that attended a job fair I was at recently so, if you're reading it, know that it's only for you if you're a teenager ;)
Being a Realtor® (don't forget that registered trade mark thingy when writing the word Realtor®...or else!) can be an amazing profession. No joke, you don't have a boss, you don't have set hours, you get to meet lots of people and, if you're successful, you get to make a ton of money. Why wouldn't everyone do it?
Well, because you get to be your own boss, you get to make your own hours and you have to talk to lots of people.
Let me explain. Being your own boss probably sounds amazing but it comes with a lot of work. Think back to grade 9. Your teacher sets a big exam and you have 2 weeks to study. The first 10 days you do nothing, the next 2 days you panic that you're not ready and the last couple of days you hit the books. Even if you ace the exam with that strategy it's stressful and stresses have a tendency of adding up over time. Now, think about having 20 exams and 4 days to study while 20 people have 50 questions and keep taking you away from. your studying. That's kind of what real estate feels like sometimes.
There's a term we use often; accountability. It means different things to different people but, in real estate, it means you have to be accountable to yourself and get your work done. People are counting on you!
It's even worse when people aren't actually counting on you and the work you're doing is speculative meaning it doesn't pay. You will work 100 hours doing marketing, meeting people, door knocking, phoning, working open houses, for every 1 hour you work with actual clients that may, or may not, choose you.
It's not fair to candy-coat being a Realtor® with a bunch of talk about how much money you can make. In fact, the moment you start to focus on the money is the moment you become a terrible Realtor®,
If you do decide it's a career you're interested in you need to get it very straight that you're in it to help people achieve their financial and housing goals with real estate as the tool. If you truly believe that and you honestly like to help other people you may be able to build a career in real estate.
My best advice though would be to get a mentor, work your absolute ass off for them. Do all the things they need you to do. Learn everything you can about the business BEFORE YOU COMMIT.
If you got this far and you would like to shadow me for a few days I'd be happy to show you what I know. (with parental approval obviously ;)
In the meantime check out my podcast KEEPING IT REAL The Vancouver and Area Residential Real Estate Podcast that Aims to Cut Through all the Bull$hit ;)
Book a time to chat with me here.
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