I'm 22 in the Navy stationed in Hawai'i. I'm thinking about taking RE class and getting licensed here in Hawai'i. Of course I'm full time military however what I'm thinking about doing is real estate as a part time. I'm in the process of determining whether I will be approved to buy the condo I'm renting now. (which is 360,000) What I want to know is do you all think it would be a worthwhile endeavour for me to go ahead and get licensed in RE and start my own part time business? Pros, cons, ideas, suggestions, experience, etc. Any type of feedback/advice is extrememly welcomed. (I'm really thinking about doing this!)

Tony

Hey, top of the morning. I think its a great idea. I think I was about 22 and on active duty in the Navy when I went to RE school. Did pretty well actually. I never solicited my shipmates but they came to me with no problem. Since an agent is very much a self-employed indivual, its great to already have a great potential sphere of influence in the works. Also, the background you have in the military and your organization skills, attention to detail will definatly be invaluabe in this job. Whatever you do, dont let people try to tell you that you cant succeed as a part timer. That is total BS. My broker was a retired AF Major and a darn good one. You are dual careered. You just have to work your schedule around all your committments.

OK here is some BS. Part time agents generally suck, because they can't service their clients PROFESSIONALLY. Professionally means being where your client needs you WHEN your client needs you. Real estate is a 24/7 interrupt-driven career. That means you have to be able to drop what you are doing and put out fires whenever they flare up.

Most full-timers fail in this business. I would say that the VAST majority of part-timers come and go.

In fact, it is not a stretch to say that it is nearly impossible to be a good part-time agent.

And I have NEVER met one. I've met a ton of NICE people who ATTEMPT to be part-time agents. None of them are successful. And they're all royal pains in the ass about having the agents around them pick up their slack when they can't follow through on their duties because of their subdivided loyalties and time commitments.

Also I will add that military personalities are generally unsuitable for real estate. The military is based on order and discipline. Creativity and independence are stifled in favor of the smooth operation of a social machine. Good for defense and destruction. But bad for the disordered and arbitrary nature of real estate clients. Most military types will find they prefer pulling latrine duty to dealing with the type of buyers they must condescend to work with early in their careers.

I say hell ya!!
huge clientel. understand the VA loan and you will have more clients than you need. also as you are aware navy or armed forces stick with each other. I lost couple of deals where the client went with the other person because they served in the Armed Forces and I did not. One even cost the client extra points but he still took deal after I explain how I would save him money monthly. now thats dedication. So understand the VA loan and you will have promising career. My suggestion is understand loans since you will move around possibly through your career. Real Estate Agent your going to have to get relicensed in that state so may not be worth it.

thats right Golden Bear, but I took my constant relicensing with a sense of humor. I went to a RE school in Chicago that the owner wouldnt release anybody until they got 90 percent. Wouldnt ya know it, as soon as I had the RE graduation in hand, I got orders back to DC. I did it again and of course aced it all since it was fresh in my mind. I went to Comm college to take my Brokers Principles course and as soon as I finished that and got ready to sit for the test moved back to IL. I only had to take the test. Its not that much money and I shure got smart doing it over and over. I would pity him if he got orders to Texas though. I heard that pre-licensure and test is really a lot more work.

Navarac,
I dont think he is cleaning latrines too much lately. But more power to him. I have had to clean more than my share of latrines in my listings that werent quite fit for public consumption. Anchors aweigh.

Thanks for protecting this great land of ours. You have given every one us of the opportunity to pursue our dreams and enjoy freedom, so dont think of forgetting to pursue yours. Thats a yay vote!! May you prosper.

SailorKev
Returning to real estate after a 15 year haitus.

Well thanks for the kind words! OK I'm going to go ahead and do it. I have until January of 2007 to get this done so I'll enroll in the next real estate class that comes up. Cheers!