OK, first I wanna say hello to everyone on this forum and wish all of you a great day.

Now on to why I am here:

My name is Porfirio Bonet. I am 23 and I live in Miami, FL. I am posting here cause I am very interested in joining the real estate industry. It struck me the other day while I was working that I really dont want to work. Dont get me wrong.... I want to work, but I just dont think it is worth it to devote half my life right now (given my current schedule... 12 hours of my day is taken up by work) to something which is not my own, and on top of that the pay really sucks. What I mean by working for something that is not my own is the fact that I come here every day and bust my rear end for someone else's pride and joy who at any given moment can tell me to take a hike and have a nice day. I learned that at an early age and honestly I just dont wanna do that any more. I want to work as hard as I do for myself. My father really put things into persperctive for me the other day when he told me if I sold 2 houses in 1 year, I would make more money than working at my current job for the whole year. This side of the real estate business really apeals to me... the fact that I can work as hard as ever at my current job and make the same thing every check, but in real estate, the harder I work the more I can make.... sure some months might be tough but the good months are really good from what I have heard. So in a nutshell, that is basically why I want to work in real estate.

I am just curious as to how long it took most of you... from the time you decided that this was what you were gonna do.... to make your first sale, or just make some money for that matter. I have taken the course already and only have to take the state examm which I can schedule whenever. I know once I get my first check, the hunger form within will rise up and then its just a matter of time till I make my mark in this industry. Any comments or guidance will be greatly appreciated and I apologize for such a long post. I know that time= money. Thanks ahead of time guys!

This article addresses the "Is Real Estate for You?" question.

As far as how long before your first commission, that's very much dependent on your own new agent start-up planning and implementation.

Good luck. You can succeed.

Porfirio Not to rain on your parade, but let me let you in on a little something. Now I don’t live in Miami so I’m not sure what the average sales price is or what % commission you get. But look at this… Let’s say you sell a $500,000 home. Now not ever house you list you are going to sell. So the home is $500,000 lets say Commission is 6% that is going to be $30,000 now you will have to split that 50/50 with the other agent so your down to $15,000 Now depending on your brokerage you are going to have to give some of that to the office/ broker.. So lets say 50% as many new agent plans call for that. So now your down to $7500. Now you are responsible for taking out takes. I set aside 40% of all sales for taxes so 40% of $7500 is $3,000 so you are left with $4,500…… Yes I know your thinking WOW $4,500….. But in Real Estate you can’t look at today you have to look at tomorrow.. So if you make 1 sale at and keep $4500 in June you are going to have to plan on making it last. Till your next payday… And this is my golden rule of Real Estate They told it to me in class and I still remember it…. NEVER plan on commission money till it’s in your hand…… So many things can happen between a contract and a closing… Yes people will walk away from a closing table and not close the deal…. There is a lot of money to be made in Real Estate, but if you think it’s easy or your going to get rich quick you need to study up on it. I’m 23 also started selling when I was 22.. It has been very rewarding to me, but I have busted my back to get where I have gotten in the last year. You have to, no one will hand it to you. Real Estate is very competitive….. Really the point to this was yes you can make good money. But two $500,000 sales are only going to net you around $9,000. and you have to give it 100%.. Kinda funny really how commission starts out at $30,000 and you walk away with $4500 to spend..
Just make sure you research it and know what your getting into. The best way to make it is to be prepared…..

Soldhomes, thank you for your post. I found it very helpful. Since I dont really mind much.... I will say that my current job has me at 24k a year before taxes and I work from 8 AM to about 6 PM every day. Obviously I work very hard for close to nothing, so I have no problem with breaking my back to make some money. At least I can enjoy life and be outside from time to time meeting people instead of being locked up in this frickin office while the days just continue to pass me by. I like how you broke down how commission works and the average house in this area goes for about $500,000. And thats for some not-so-nice homes. Houses in my area usually go for more than $500,000. But still, if you were in my position, what would you do? Im guessing none of you will continue to break your backs EVERY DAY for close to nothing. At least in Real Estate, if you break your back and get things done.... you are rewarded accordingly. I have great people skills and I am very reliable and find myself to be the kind of person that people can trust and such. I think I can do great in the real estate industry with the people I already know and how I run things. I just honestly dont think I can continue to be someones puppet and stay sane.... I would much rather drive myself crazy than someone else driving me crazy. I know its not easy to make money in real estate but I am willing to pretty much do whatever it takes if it means for me to have the life I always wanted. Besides.... if making money in real estate was so easy... then everyone would be a realtor, lol. And I am still so young so at least I know I have the energy needed to put in the work. I just think that in the long run, starting now would be the best thing for me, and hey if it doesnt work out.... at least I can say that I tried.... which is more than a lot of people. Either way, thank you both for your posts so far..... your comments/thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Porfirio Sounds to me like you need to study and schedule that test…. You sound driven…. Just make sure to keep reading the forum and do a little research before you walk away from a paycheck for a payhope

Scheduled for Feb 19... my next day off. And I will be doing major research from now to then and even after. Hopefully a few months down the line I can make a post about some success. So you said you were 22 when you started. How tough was it for you to get started and did you have someone to kind of teach you the ropes... sort of like a mentor of some sort. I have talked to some successful realtors and one thing they always tell me is that to start of properly it is best to have a mentor thats willing to help you out and dedicate some time to showing you how its done. What do you think about that and through your personal experience do you think it is why to seek out someone like that?

" I am posting here cause I am very interested in joining the real estate industry. It struck me the other day while I was working that I really dont want to work. Dont get me wrong.... I want to work, but I just dont think it is worth it to devote half my life right now (given my current schedule... 12 hours of my day is taken up by work) to something which is not my own, and on top of that the pay really sucks."

I don't think you know what it means to have to run your own business. It's a 24/7 commitment - I am a realtor part-time and do websites as my mainstay. My part time job takes up most of my time - and considering not all customers will buy, nor do clients grow on trees, the amount of hours I put into my part time job sometimes well out do my regular job. The pay must be worth it right? Sometimes.

It's not easy money, the hours can truely suck (I have started at 8 in the morning, and got home in time to say goodnight to my children at 9 AND still get calls at home), and you have to have a relatively tough skin to people words and their actions. OH and another thing to think of - not all realtors are as nice as the ones on here, it can be quite the cut throat business. Why do I do real estate?? I love to look at homes, and even better I love to sell and there is only one field I can do both at the same time!

I have to ask - whats a "day off"???

Tanya if I knew what a day off was i'd tell ya... I have been through everything you said...

it's believed that 80% of agents fail in their first year and another 10% of the original 100 fail in the second year

if you asked those who fail, most would probably say that they wished they were better prepared and better capitalized before they started; only you know if those are issues for you

good luck

OK, first off, I wanna continue to thank all you guys for your responses. So far, they seem a little discouraging, but I won't let any of that get in my way. You guys sure are helpful but the feeling I get from some of you is that you almost want me to fail or are only telling me the negative things about being in the real estate business. I'm sure there are some positive things.... guess I'll just have to find them out on my own. And what I meant by day off, is that its president's day on monday so I dont have to go to my office job therefore giving me time to actually take the real estate exam when then are offering it. Hope you guys were able to understand that. And I dont know how things are in Central Wisconsin or Ohio for that matter but many, many people are moving to miami every single day and all those people need to live somewhere..... so I'm sure in this city..... customers do grow on trees. I'm pretty sure people are not flocking to Wisconsin on a daily basis so things will be a little different for me then they are for you. All the statistics you people post here are really informative but if you guys think that by you guys telling me how 'hard' it is and how much 'work' I am gonna have to put into this is gonna scare me away, then think again cause like I said earlier..... I wont let it get in my way. Sure, you can call me ignorant or whatever you want, but deep down inside I know I can make it.... and I guess in the end, that should be good enough for me. But take note.... write my name down. It surely will not be the last time you see it somewhere. I am sorry if you think I am giving you guys an attitude, it just kind of makes me mad the way you guys kind of look-down on me for trying to join you guys in the industry and asking for some advice. SO far, the only thing I can take from all this is that its a bad idea, lol. Either way, it cant be that difficult if my cousin made close to $250k last year and he is only 20 years old and not half as smart or organized as me, nor does he have the kind of skills I do. I guess it all goes to show how different things can be in different places. Like all things in life, its not about what you know, its about who you know and I think I know some very helpful people that will help. I know if I work hard and dont let little road blocks get in my way I can do it. Its not gonna be easy but that is expected.

Porf25........ I like your style I think your gonna be just fine......A positive thing is like you said you pretty much work for yourself so you can kinda do what you want when you want.. People will always try and tell you 50 different reasons why you can't do something, but the only reason you need to do something is .... "Because I want to"...... And yes fine a Really good mentor it is one of the best things you can do.... My mentor is my broker. He has sold for about 30 years and has ran into about everything you can see in the Business. He showed me what to do, but also let me take steps of my own.. Your mentor should work with you, but not stop you. It's like the story your parents tell you about Roots and wings.. You need a mentor to give you roots to help you grow, but also give you wings and let you fly..............

I don't think anyone here wants you to fail, they are just being honest about real estate. Evereyone here can sugar coat it and you then you will think it's just a cakewalk..real estate is HARD work and is far, far from a JOB. I have been working since 6:30 AM today and it's now after 7PM and I have atleast 2 more hours to go. No lunch break, I ate while working...picked my son up from school for a total of 20 minutes and back at it. You just have to be aware of what is ahead when getting into this business and the posts here have about nailed it. Work, work and then some more work!!

Good luck,
Angie

I think I am going to chime in on this.

Porf25, you should listen to what you are hearing on this forum. Nobody wants you to fail. We just want you to know the whole truth about the business before you jump right in. You sound very positive, which is a great thing. Motivation will get you further in this business. There will be times where you will get burnt out from clients and prospecting, but if you have the motivation to keep going, it will definitely help you.

Your comment about many people moving to Miami everyday is helpful, but almost irrelevant. The more business in a certain area, the more real estate professionals in that area trying to obtain those clients. I am a Realtor in Las Vegas. We are one of the fastest growing cities in the entire country! I believe about 8,000 people move here every month and about 3,000 people move out every month. That makes a positive number of 5,000+ more residents in Las Vegas every month! We also have about 16,000+ real estate agents here in Las Vegas! About half of them are probably active and they are all fighting for the same clients. My point is where there is more business, there are more professionals trying to obtain that business. Do not think that customers/clients grow on trees! Good solid ready, willing, and able clients are hard to come by. When you do get some of those clients, just make sure you put your best foot forward. I wish you the best of luck and keep reading this forum for some of the best information.

By the way, you asked about getting a mentor. When you decide on choosing a company to work with, make sure you choose one that has great training! Training is the most important factor when you are new. Don't worry about the commission split with your broker as much as getting trained well. Usually the larger franchises with the big names have the best training and support systems. Plus name recognition is always great. Just something for you to think about.

I certainly don't want you to fail. I think people are telling you what the reality is. I had the same thought when I read your sentence " It struck me the other day while I was working that I really dont want to work. Dont get me wrong.... I want to work, but I just dont think it is worth it to devote half my life right now (given my current schedule... 12 hours of my day is taken up by work) to something which is not my own, and on top of that the pay really sucks." How would you like to work MORE than 12 hours a day and have the pay suck? That's how it is sometimes when you're self employed. I've been an independant contractor in various types of work for the past 20 something years. Sometimes I've added up the hours I've worked and divided the salary and thought I could have worked at retail for $8 an hour, gone home after 8 hours and at least gotten health benefits! I have gotten up before 7 missed lunch stopped for dinner and gone back to work after dinner for a few hours. I've been sick with the flu and HAD to get up and spend the day in front of my computer because if I "called in sick" nothing would get done. You know, when you work for yourself, you work for the meanest son of a ***** in the world! He/she just won't give you a day off!

I'm going to put my two cents in on this comment in particular. The fact that you are in FL is probably more of a PROBLEM for you than an asset.

I live in White Plains, NY. Just 20 miles north of Manhattan. The condo market here has boomed and people are literally FLOCKING here from NYC for the lower cost of living and the unique ability to live either an urban or suburban lifestyle depending on your neighborhood. There are also all sorts of lifestyles in between. Condos go from $350k to $2000k . The average house sells for $550k-$2000k - customers do indeed grow on trees.

Sounds great doesn't it? The trouble is that this atmosphere has attracted so many agents that they too GROW ON TREES. The market is so glutted with agents that the average new agent doesn't get one deal done their first year. The stats are clear. If you divide all the closings by the number of agents and multiply by 2 (two sides to each deal) you come up with 3 deals per year per agent county wide. Add to that the fact that 20% of the agents already control 80-90% of the market, that leaves 80% of us fighting over 10-20% of the market share - which narrows down to LESS than one deal a year per agent. The numbers are even more grim in my immediate area because it is the area with the most growth - it is also the area with the worst glut of agents.

These are hard numbers that you need in order to make a valid decision. In fact..if you look at the posts from different parts of the country I have noticed a pattern...the areas that have a ton of activity are the areas where the agents are having the HARDEST TIME. CA, FL, NY, NJ have a lot of desperate newbies. There's just too many agents. It's that simple. The stunning first year success stories are coming from the Mid-West and areas that are decidedly NOT real estate hotspots.

I busted my behind the first year and closed only 6 deals and that was considered "remarkable" for the area. The other problem was that all save one was a "low end deals". Only one house in the bunch. Most were coops and they range in price from $100k- 400k. The competition for customers and clients is so fierce that retail commissions are as low as 4%. To put this in perspective, if it was a coop at 4% (which happens all too often) before taxes I pocketed as little as $1000.
I had to take on additional work so I wasn't forced to sell my home.

Plus you have to pony up for marketing and your own health insurance and the like. I spent over $6000 in marketing alone. I also had to fork up $6000 BEFORE TAXES for health insurance. Most of what I made was swallowed up by health insurance and marketing.

The grass is always greener on the other side. You need to come down to earth and recognize that its a very tough business and many brokers just take on tons of new agents only to exploit them and make some quick money off of high splits. Can it be lucerative? Yes, very...but it takes many years to get there and I don't see any short cuts. The odds are stacked against you too.

Siberian, that's exactly what I was saying. My area is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. It is also one of the fastest growing cities for agent population too. The better the hotspot, the more agents trying to collect. Pretty obvious concept.

Also, this person is from FL. That is probably one of the areas feeling the most pain right now. I get listings everyday from FL agents desperate to unload listings. If they are emailing me listings in NY, they are obviously desperate.

I found out last year that truly the worst case scenario is being in a agent-glutted market during a SLOW DOWN. From Dec of last year until Nov. of this year literally NOTHING moved. Even experienced agents were tapping credit lines to pay their mortgages. Not funny. We have hit bottom and it has cleared out some of the excess inventory and excess agent population - a lot of people quit. Also, buyers are back. But the same is not true for FL. They overbuilt so wildly that it may take years for that market to recover. All of the market reports indicate that FL has a lot of pain left. The last thing I'd want to be is a new agent in FL right now.

Ok, I'm going to pull away here from what everyone else is saying.

Hard work, long hours, there is NO job no more rewarding than selling real estate IF you love it.
C'mon guys...this kid is 23 years old..there is no better time for him to try his hand at this and, if he's got the guts and the patience, he just may succeed. He didn't say he didn't want to work ... he said he didn't want to work for something that wasn't "his". And broker splits, taxes, and all...it would be HIS.

So Porf25, You're young...I say go for it now. Everything everyone posted is TRUE...I'm not saying it isn't. Save up some money (move back with your parents if you can!)work your butt off and give it TIME.

You may hate it...but then you'll know it's not for you. And then again, you may love it...warts and all.

I got my license when I was 22. I wish someone told me the negatives about the business before I jumped in head first! My first year was extremely difficult. These are pieces of advice to HELP you, not deter you away! If all you want to hear is the positives, go back to fantasyland.

Got mine when I was 22 as well 007 and I agree. I had a very good frist year, but I busted my @ss to get what i got

Ok, here's my biggest worry for you. It sounds as if your "day job" consists of long hours and poor pay. If things DON'T go well - how are you going to make ends meet? For example, I'm an adjunct professor. I teach about 12 hours a week and most of the "time" is preparing lectures. Sometimes I work up to 30 hours a week at this. However, apart from the 9-12 hours I am actually teaching I can choose my work hours. Therefore I am largely free to work with clients- free to go to appraisals, free to chase lawyers and contracts. If I have to prep a lecture at 3 AM - so be it...I can still manage both responsibilities. My question to you is how are you going to balence this? Because given where you are, I have to tell you that your first 2 years are going to very, very rough and you are going to desperately need a regular income. Your area is absolutely SATURATED with realtors. It is also an area that has been hard hit by the slump. That means more people chasing fewer deals. How are you going to support yourself until you get established without working 12 hours a day at your "day job"?

I don't think anyone said anything worth getting mad about... the thing is, it's one thing to hear that you need to be prepared to not make any money for months and months, but it's another thing entirely to experience it, and people have just been letting you know that you should expect things to work out like they do for most of us- the first year will be a fairly brutal experience, and you need to be prepared financially and emotionally for that.

For instance, how much money do you have in the bank? At your current salary, you are living on $2k a month, so you should have about $12k in the bank before you quit your job to live like you do now. I'd say that's a minimum; that's what I had (note the past tense!) and it was barely enough! Your money will drain away from you like you can't imagine right now; you'll spend at least $2k-$4k getting up and running with all the dues, a computer or two, signs, advertising, etc. Anyway, the point isn't that you can't do this -you can!- but that you need to be prepared to literally make NOTHING for six months or longer. And then it's not like in 6 months the money hose turns on and you are suddenly rolling in it; it's just that if things work out, you'll pull a commission or two around that time and buy yourself some more time.

You asked for specifics. I got my license in early October '06. About 3 weeks ago, I sold two homes in a week, one of which closes in a few days, knock on wood, and the other closes in a couple weeks, again knock on wood. I will get about $14k in commission from the two sales, pre-tax. I have a few other decent prospects, and I think I'll get at least one more sale from them in the next couple months. So, it looks like I should be able to survive another 6 months even with no sales, based on the money from these two. Knock on wood. But it was a near thing; I am down to about $3k in savings and was a couple weeks from selling a couple high-dollar personal items (guns and guitars) to make sure I didn't cut it too close.

So that's how it works. You might close a sale or two sooner, you might light the world on fire, but by far the most likely scenario is that you will scramble, hustle, flail, and either get lucky and make a sale or two early on, insuring you live to fight another day, or you also might NOT get a sale early on, in which case what will you do? That's the reality.

The trick is not to do well long-term; if you can stay in the biz and have any aptitude for it, the long-term prospects are good. The trick is to MAKE IT to the long term! So don't quit your day job until you have some savings...

Good luck!

-jeff

It all about do your home work. Talk to as many companies as you can. Find out who works better for you. Some companies cover your marketing and some don't. So companis give you a 50-50 split. Some like Keller Williams Realty give most new agents 70-30 split (70 to you). But You market yourself.

No matter what you do make sure you go with a company that offers more training. Real Estate is always chaging. You need to know all the new laws in your area. You need to know what other agents in your area did to be some of the best. Find out if they have a mintor program where you can shadow an agent and see how they do their craft.

Go to http://www.4saletours.com for more information about Keller Williams Realty.

I am interested in all that you folks have had to say in this thread. I am on the cusp of startup with a local broker, have had my exams passed since last August, and waiting for the opportune time to enter the field. I will be keeping my part time job, which has benefits and medical, and working my way in gradually. I have only found one broker who is supportive of this kind of startup.

I am glad to hear all the points you have made, good and not so good, and the caution. I am not expecting to perform miracles right off the bat, but have an amazing network in this rural Ontario community and am counting on that for professional visibility.

Glad to hear all the points raised, and also glad to hear that some people CAN make a success by starting in part time.

Porfirio I would recommend one thing. STAY ON THE WEB! Constantly post and learn in Forums, write a blog, start a website. If you do all of these things, you will succeed. GOOD LUCK!

I agree 100% with Conceps05's words. The market situation only change the way that you are going to use to be successful in your business. For a young agent with that raw energy and motivation, a strict discipline and preparation along with the support of a prestige company conduce inevitably to the success. If the market is depressing 25% you have to work as hard as this take to have your portion of the other 75% remaining. There is a proved statement in sales that certify: 20% of the sales representatives are selling 80% of the inventory while the 80% are selling just 20% of it. The human been nature (as everything on the Universe) have a tendency to the maximum of Entropy or minimum the Energy and that is the factor that to permit a real “warrior” to become first in a successful beginner and then in a Master Sales Agent. If you believe in you success you will have it. I warranty it!