Hi,

First of all, this forum is wonderful!! : )

I've been the Office Manager/Bookkeeper for a small, family-owned drycleaner for the past 16 years. Prior to that, I was a bookkeeper for a health club, and an accounting assistant for a printing company. But WAAAAAAY back when, right out of high school, I wanted to sell Real Estate. The "working nights and weekends" put me off, as I had a boyfriend and didn't want to give up my free time. Then I got married, had babies and, well, those 'babies' are now 17 and 14. : ) I feel the time is right for a change...and I'm seriously considering my first choice -- Real Estate.

I'll be 48 this year. Is it too late for me to start a totally different career? I've bought and sold my own houses (with the help of a wonderful agent, of course!), am good with numbers, and get along great with people. I've just never been in sales before. Thinking ahead, I've already ordered Jennifer's "Sell With Soul" book. Have I also mentioned I'm enthusiastic?!?!

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

Sue

Oh my goodness, no! When I read the topic I expected you to say you were in your 70s or something. The average Realtor in 2006 was 57 years old; you've still got 9 years before you're even average.

I think you should go for it!

If real estate is what you want to do, then go for it! Just make sure that you understand what kind of business you are getting yourself into first, sales. Also, make sure you put aside some money to keep your family going until you get off the ground in this business. Expect about a year or two before you are actually making any money. Most importantly, have a plan.

You're only too old if you think you're too old - go for it!

Warning, I am a newbie, do not take my advice

Ok. Just share with you my thinking.
I am 44 years old. Had been an engineer all my life, 20 years,
in silicon valley. The engineering job is good payying, butvery demanding here,
long hours, 300+ emails a day plus work. I don't think I can do
this when I am 50, plus a lot of engineering jobs are now being
outsourced to India. I have made the decision to switch to real
estate because I see a lot of succesful agents in their 60s. I figure it's better start now then later! I had always liked real estate.

Do make sure you have money set a side, from what I hear and read, the first year is tough. 80 percent drop out the first year. Make sure you can tough it out. I belive if your passion is there, and I am, very, I think money will follow.

Just my 1/2 cents.

You should definitely go for it. My advice is to read as much as you can on marketing and sales. I highly recommend "Mastering the Art of Selling Real Estate" by Tom Hopkins. Also the marketing package from MarkMckee.com. Together, you'll spend about $60, but it's worth it. I wish I'd had this stuff when I started three years ago. Good luck!

Go for it! I on the other hand may be a bit young to start, but I still want to get into real estate.

Thanks everyone! I'm going to attend a Real Estate career night in 2 weeks at Hondros College here in the Cleveland area. I'll also be meeting with the agent who sold me my first house 20 years ago (where did THAT time go??). She's helped me over the years buying and selling, knew me before kids, and raised 5 children of her own. So between her experince and the input I receive here and at the career night, I should be able to make a wise decision. My husband will flip when he hears about the "have 1-2 years wages put aside", as we don't have that NOW and I'm working full-time. I don't want money to stop me from pursuing this -- does that sound foolish?? I do have a part-time "work-from-home" job that brings in $400-$800 per month, depending on the time of year. I'll always have that to fall back on.

Decisions, decisions....

Sue

Hey Elecat.. remember that Life Begins in 40 so surely you can go for your goal!

That's right, it does!!

Elecat, what do you do for your "work at home" part-time job? Just curious on how you're bringing in that extra cash by working at home.

I work for a company that audits moving invoices for companies
who relocate their employees. I do preliminary audit work from
home, then enter the data onto their server. I'm paid per-audit,
and am busiest when YOU'RE the busiest -- moving season. Right
now, it's slow, and I may only have 60-70 audits a month. In
the summer and fall months, it's well over 100. More with
special projects. As long as they're in business, I'll always
have that extra income...but it's not enough to live on by
itself.

41 Here. Started when I was 21. Did real estate for about 5 years then got a bit of a dream offer from Apple Computer and took it.

Did the high tech stuff in Silicon Valley with that first gig at Apple then did some things with Radius, Media100, Digital Origin and AutoDesk. Finally quit the rat race and returned to real estate in the late '90s.

What is my point? Do what you want to do, when you want to do it.

I find that being a bit older, mature, whatever you want to call it has made me a much better real estate professional.

My time with various hi-tech firms has taught me how much I hate working the corporate grinder, while learning a great deal about how to run a business and create effective teams. Not to mention all the technology skills I have collected that really give me an edge as an agent.

So, all that experience you have had doing other things is only going to make you better at being an agent.

R

Robert,

Thank you so much! I think I needed to hear that. Honestly, what scares me the most is having the 6-12 months income saved up. I don't have that...not by a long shot. I'll have to keep working part-time at the other jobs to keep the bills paid. The one part-time job, that I do from home, is very flexible. My current full-time job, I could reduce to 2-3 days a week (my job-share partner would pick up the slack)...this would give me several days to build my 'business'. It's funny, but I never thought of being a real estate agent as having my own business. That makes it more attractive to me...and also scarier!