I will treat this as my business, not a job. I will not be an employee, so the more involved in the business I am, the better I will do financially. We will be more like a real estate team really.

As a single mom, I cannot wait tables all night since I have no one at home to watch my son. Right now, learning the business WHILE making some extra money with which to prepare myself for "the big leap" is a smart move (IMHO).

You also can look at being an assistant as a business. You are an independent contractor and set your own rules, rates, etc. There are plenty of VA's out there doing just that (virtual assistants) and doing quite well. Overall, I do not feel that is for me. I truly want to have a career/business in real estate. At least for me, starting out "assisting" was a great opportunity that I couldn't pass up.

Everyone is different and everyone has different goals. Mine is to have a balanced life of career and family. Ultimately, my son will always come first. I feel working for myself is the best way to ensure that.

It sure is innovative! I wish I could figure out how to get thousands of agents to fork over 6% of their hard earned commission to the mother ship, while at the same time they do all the advertising for me! What a deal. I wish I had a dollar for everytime somebody asked me if I was Keller or Mr Williams! They had never heard of it. They would say who is that??? Ain't that Hank Williams Brother? No..just a guy in a black suit in Austin handing out kool-aid by the tanker load. Sorry to all the KW fans out there. I just like a company who spits out a little of their profits on advertising instead of making there agents explain who they are. You know, like Re-Max, Cen21, Banker, to name a few. BigC

It's a tough business for sure. Make sure you have enough capital saved at the start to make it until you can get established. However, it's also a GREAT business because generally your rewards are on par with your efforts.

There is huge income potential in this business. I love working in the real estate industry. I would ask yourself what you are most passionate about and go with that!