Hello,

I'm studying to become a real estate salesperson. I'm 18 years of age and I'm a freshman going into college.

I was just wondering: how young is too young?

Most of the real estate agents that I've seen generally have a lot of experience and a few years in this industry. As for me, I have absolutely no experience in the real estate industry and this will be my first job, since my previous work experience comes from mostly volunteering.

Would clients automatically assume that I am too young to represent them or not experienced enough to sell their homes? Is it possible to succeed at this age and level as a real estate agent, especially in today's real estate market?

On the other hand, I love dealing with people and I love being busy and always occupied. As far as I can see, I have an edge in technology and I don't see what can stop me, aside from lack of experience and age.

Would like to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

We all started at some age, if you are old enough to have the license in your state then you are old enough to get started.

I agree with Mr. Foreclosure. You can do this. It is important to learn and absorb as much as possible from mentors and those more mature agents that you speak of. And it's good that you recognize that your age could be a topic of discussion during presentations and meetings. Prepare a response to any questions about your age like you must do about how long you've been selling real estate and I think you'll be fine. Remember that first time home buyers are the single largest segment of home buyers and many of them are young too.

Great answers.

Yeah, sometimes I just think that home buyers/sellers would automatically go to someone more experienced and mature in the field, rather than choosing one who is newly on the block.

For example, when buying a computer, you'd want to find a salesperson who has the experience in electronics and knows what they are talking about, rather than one who was just hired, no?

But as long as it is possible, I don't see why I can't. Thanks.

You will never know what you can accomplish until you try. You can do it, and be successful if you apply yourself.

Whenever you start, you will be new to the business in the beginning, so it is better younger than older. May be some clients will underestimate you in the beginning but it will be a very small part of them. So go ahead and good luck!

That might be true, but it is also how you go about presenting yourself and the knowlegde you do know. A lot of buyers and sellers today are very informed and have done their homework. Most of them want someone to be there to guide then and hold their hand through it all. As long as you show your understanding of the basics and steps involved in selling or buying a house they will see that and feel good about working with you. Let's take your above answer regarding buyer at computer store. I see a lot of young kids working at computer stores and selling and advising customers in regards to what to get. It does not seem to be a problem that these kids appear to be in their late teens to early 20's. I bet half of these kids might not know as much as you think they do. But they do have the basic knowledge and understanding of what the product has to offer.This shows to the customer, Heck, most of the time the consumer knows pretty much what they want. All they are looking for is for someone to say that they agree with them. I use to work in the automotive industry and a lot of times a customer would come up to me asking about this brand and that brand and which was better. Most of the time there was really no difference, but if I saw that the customer was really leaning towards one product more then the other. I would simply recommend what the census on the two products were and let them know that the product they wanted was also a very good choice and if they wanted to buy it. That it would also be a good way to go. Remember access the needs and inform and then guide them to the sale.. Just some quick thoughts of mine.

Your mind is limiting what you BELIEVE is possible. Retrain your mind that anything is possible and you will achieve your dreams.

When I do triathlons it's mostly all mental. 90 percent of the time the mind will quit before the body does.

Working on becoming mentally stronger will help you deal with the fear and rejection that is to come on the path to success.

Thanks. Good advice all around.
I guess I was too quick to second guess my abilities.

I was the youngest agent in my office when I first started for a long time. At first it was hard, as I felt like some people did not take me seriously at all. But as I gained more experience, I realized being young was an advantage - I knew a lot about computers so could take advantage of things like email campaigns and creating my own brochures. Many of the other agents struggled just to send emails to each other!

I think anyone can start a real estate career at any age - I know plenty of older agents who started past retirement and doing very well. It's all about your motivation to succeed.

Yes. Exactly what I was worried about, where people wouldn't take me seriously.
I think they will think that I'm just in it for the fun of it and that I won't give my complete effort and just go with another salesperson instead.

I started at 18 and at 26 opened my own brokerage.

I got my license at 18 and worked as a licensed assistant while I was in college, you can gain all of the experience it takes other agents 10 years to get by working with a very established agent as an assistant.

I started in the business at 21 in a new town in which I knew no one.

Was it easy? Nope. Took a lot of effort to get my name out there, but it is certainly do-able.

Will there be some customers who might be concerned about your 'youth and inexperience' when they first meet you? No doubt about that. For most of them, you'll quickly be able to put their minds at ease by sitting down and walking them through a summary of buyers closing costs or a hypothetical sellers net... off the top of your head, that is, without cheat sheets, or by explaining the impact of the latest legislation, homebuyers credits, or interest rate changes (again without a cheat sheet.)

The truth is that many 'gray haired' agents may look experienced and knowledgeable, but appearances can be deceiving.

You'll do great! If you lose a few along the way so what? We ALL lose a few along the way for one reason or the other. There's no need to work with people we really don't trust or who don't trust us.

Good luck!

Also, many RE Agents have a target client group - which for you may be the younger buyers. Although not on purpose I tend to attract clients that are in my age group (late 20's) and I do just as much business as my "seasoned" counterparts. Everyone has to find their niche.

I do think you can do this at 18, but I think you are going to have to tackle the age thing directly and become the 'whiz kid' - you seriously are probably going to have to learn more than the average agent in order to get and retain as many clients.

This is not a bad thing, it's just something to know from the beginning, because people don't see 18 as the same as 25. (Most of us still remember the idiotic things we did at 18 that we didn't do at 25 - not that 25 didn't also have its share of distinguishing moments. :)

You'll need to build a knowledge base as fast as possible (about contract language, home valuation, staging, how to help people pick the right home & get financing without getting taken to the cleaners, that kind of thing) to be able to relieve those concerns and build up a trust factor.

It's also going to be a huge help if you can find a good mentor - some stuff you can learn from research, some you just have to learn in the field and a good mentor can give you the benefit of their field experience.

Hope this helps, I agree with the people who said you can do what you set your mind to, just tackle the age thing head on.

Also, get some monthly (at least) marketing going to your sphere and clients and automate it so it always goes out, regardless of how busy (or not) you are. That will pay off hugely in the long term, but start EARLY, you'll already be doing something most of your competitors are not.

Best wishes!

Irene Dorang
www.ToolsForRealEstate.com

I'm 21 and I've been in the industry for about 2 years. The biggest drawback in my mind of being young in this industry is the fact that my social circle is not at a point in life where they're buying homes. I do find that at open houses I tend to click with the younger generation of buyers rather than older. But if you have confidence and you've done your part in learning what you need to know then your age won't hold you back. Will starting at this age be more difficult than at 30? Quite possibly yes. But confidence and knowledge will pull you through.

Also, networking proves to be more difficult because of your age group. But again if you're out door knocking, holding open houses, cold calling, etc. you'll do just fine.

One other thing I wanted to say. Some young agents make the mistake of trying to hide your age. Don't do it. It's not possible. No matter how hard you try, 99% of people's first thoughts when meeting you are going to be, "How old is this guy/gal? Doesn't look old enought to be selling houses...". If I had a dollar for every time someone said, "Aren't you too young to be selling houses?" to me I'd already be a millionaire. You need to put a positive spin on your age and not try to hide it. If someone questions it rebuttle with a comment about how energetic you are at this age, or the fact that you have no distractions like children or a wife, real estate is your life, blah blah. You're completely free to work as much as you want and people know that at this age you probably have the energy to do it.

Also, a good point made above is to gain as much knowledge as possible as quickly as possible. If you are very knowledgeable most people will very quickly forget about how young you look.

Thanks everyone for the great advice!

If youre professional and knowledgeable it won't matter. Period.

Sometimes they ask when I meet new people for the first time if I'm the agent's assistant.

I was quite young when I started selling real estate. I started out in December of 1996 and landed my first listing appointment through a FSBO a month later in January 1997. When they asked me how long I'd been in the business, I replied that I was entering my 2nd year :whistle: It was technically true and it made them feel a lot more comfortable.

You have to do what you can when you're starting out. You can always tell the prospect things like since you're starting out, you'll have much more time to focus on their needs as opposed to an agent that's bogged down with dozens of demanding clients or you can tell them that you're willing to work so much harder as you need to establish yourself. You can say that you're much more in touch with the technical side of real estate -- there are loads of different angles you can play on. Everyone had to start out with no experience so get them to empathize with a few well worded analogies that they'll relate to. Don't worry about your age -- if you have the necessary skills, you'll do fine!

I also got my license when I was 18. I started real estate school two weeks after moving to Orlando. It will be very difficult in the beginning.

I am now 22 and other agents still ask me how old I am and for how long I have been doing this.

Good luck with doing both school and real estate at the same time. I am currently on my last semester of school and don't have any free time.

My advice is to just give it your all and try to learn as much as you can from other agents.

[quote]If youre professional and knowledgeable it won't matter. Period.[/quote]

The problem is I'm not knowledgeable at all! I've just started, haha.

I started when I was 21 too and landed my first sale one month later from a buyer who was looking for an ethical realtor on craigslist. I responded with a heartfelt e-mail and she trusted to sell her a home. I was in school getting my Bachelor's in Business with a concentration in real estate. It was challenging and difficult to balance at times and I didn't realize that I had to put in a lot of time into selling real estate to become successful.

Fast forward to now, August 2008 one of the worst markets in my area.....I've worked hard building relationships, utilizing the internet and technology to be more effecient, built confidence, and continued to learn the changing conditions of this business. I'm proud to say that I recently got congratulated by the president of my company for exceeding $100k in gross commissions, I have an assistant, continuous stream of clients, and have time to play.

Point is it doesn't matter how old you are, if you take this business seriously, work extremely hard in the beginning, maintain a postive mindset, love what you're doing, have a high level of integrity and continue to be innovative, you will succeed. GO FOR IT!!

I WISH I had started RE when I was 18 , I started when I was 20 (Now 22) and know that one year brings much expirance in our field.

ah, nice.