So here's my situation.

I'm 22 and a recent graduate from a very prestigious university where most of my classmates (who are not becoming monks/stoners or grad students) are working as bankers or consultants in NY. The thing is, I have absolutely no interest in banking or consulting.

I can definitely see myself in a sales-related job. I've always felt like I have the temperament to be good in a sales position of some sort. I mean, yeah, I have the skills that a well-educated college grad is expected to have (reading, writing, comprehending, doing math all at high levels), but because I've been in college for four years I haven't had much exposure to the real world.

So the thing is - I know this definitely handicaps me. I know it doesn't really take a college degree to succeed as an agent. But I feel like in addition to my academic ability I'm also good on streets, i.e. talking to people, getting people to listen, reading people, being persuasive, professional, persistent, that sort of thing.

I am asking for advice on a list of all the things I should be doing to get started in this. I have no prior experience in real estate but I have been looking into classes and I can start any time and get licensed in about a month. I can read and learn stuff real fast.

I'm living in Queens, NYC. I'm tutoring on the side to pay the bills. I get $40/hr which means I don't have to work that many hours to support myself and have plenty of time to take classes and get licensed, etc.

My question is: Am I crazy to be doing this in these rough times? I would like advice - like a list of things I should be doing.

I was offered a position as an agent trainee (in spite of my lack of experience) at a firm on Wall Street but a week later they said due to the bad economy they couldn't hire me. I'm still looking at other places.

So my questions:

1) With the bad economy and all, am I crazy to be doing this when I have no experience? Are places in NYC really still hiring stone-cold rookies like me? If so, which ones (in particular) should I look at?
2) I'm thinking about taking classes from http://www.nyrei.com/. Are they any good?
3) Which books should I read? What should I be doing to get me up to speed (if at all possible)?

I'm new, I'm young, and I'm fresh. But I'm determined and I will work hard. Pretend I'm your son or something. What would you say to me?

If all else fails I'm registered to take my LSATs December and go to law school next year. If the economy sucks then stay in school - that's what everyone's telling me.

Thanks in advance for any help, y'all.

My advice is don't waste your 200k college education on a real estate career. Go to law school or become a dentist.

My husband with the masters degree says go for it, me Mom here, "did my son just lose his mind". Continue your education, and since real estate interest you read everything about real estate. Then look at all the avenues in real estate, you know maybe real estate law is also a road to look at down the road. You have plenty of time because in the the real world of real estate, being hired, no wrong you hang your license at the brokeage no paycheck every two weeks. Back when the market started to perk up new agents still were living off of credit cards their first yr. This is a business and you have to treat it like a business, so money up front and lots of hours working to get the results. All the best to you :)

Have you considered commercial real estate? That way you're in real estate and your ivy league education has a better chance of being used.

All the below companies are big players nationally/worldwide and have offices in Manhattan:

Jones Lang Lasalle
Studley
CB Richard Ellis
Grubb & Ellis
Binswanger

Also, being a dentist is not a bad option. My dad was a dentist and also had his broker's license - he focused on land syndicate deals and did very well.

Good luck!

[quote=El Luchador]Have you considered commercial real estate? That way you're in real estate and your ivy league education has a better chance of being used.
/[quote]
Why education has a better chance of being used in commercial real estate?

Commercial has alot more financing and number crunching involved than residential.

Law school can be very rewarding and if you have the option then do it. In SC you can act as an agent if youre a lawyer so you can do all sorts of things with your education then. And yes, lots of higher eductated folks work for big commercial companies. In any case it is imperative that you already be thinking about contacts as you go along the way. Get every number and name remotely related to your interests, in ANY state and keep them and stay in contact. A brief phone call is all it takes. If I wouldve done this when i was in school I'd be freakin loaded.

When you talking about working for a big commercial companies, do you mean working as an employee or as independent contractor as in residential real estate? I am thinking about commercial but do not want to be an employee.

Let me clarify my comments - I should have said that an Ivy League education has a better chance of opening a door for you in commercial real estate, rather than saying has a better chance of being used.

The reason I say this is because it's no secret that most residential companies will hire just about anyone, whereas a commercial firm (probably more so in Manhattan), tend to be very selective in who they hire.

Regarding being a W-2 employee or an independent contractor with a commercial company, it will vary from company to company. One example, it may depend on if you are working for strictly a commercial brokerage firm or for an institutional property owner. Even within this example you will see variations.

here's a couple other companies that may be of interest in NYC:

Vornado
Thor Equities

Thanks everyone for the responses. This is very helpful.

My plan is to look into those commercial firms and also take the LSAT this December.

Another simple question:

If I work as a residential rental agent at a firm in SoHo, is it reasonable to expect that I will be able to support myself immediately? By "support myself" I mean $2000+ per month which is all I need to live on since I live at a cheap place in Queens.

I have heard horror stories about agents not able to close their first deal for the first few months. Are they just incompetent, lazy, or is it just that bad initially until you get the ball rolling?

I forgot to mention - Tishman Speyer is another very large commercial real estate company with properties around the world. They are headquarteed in Manhattan.

Sorry, can't answer your most recent posting.

in real estate, being successful is all about networking and personal contacts. knocking on doors looking for residential listings won't do it in this market, especially for a college grad. I agree that commercial real estate is probably better for a recent college grad with good financial analysis skills.

"first few months"

If you became liscensed TOMMORROW and had a buyer you were showing properties to ,put an offer in,and got an accepted contract, it would take 45 to 60 days to get to closing.

That's the BEST case scenario. You ask well then how do brokers/agents survive? It's because after awhile you have transactions in various stages of going to closing. Some will close and some will fall out of contract.

For commercial projects times to closing are generally 6 months or more and on the big projects can take years to get to the land closing phase.

This is why you need about 4 to 6 months reserves minimum to pay for business start up costs and survive until you build up more capital with closings.

You could try to work for a commercial firm that pays salary plus commission (the commission split will be low because they are paying you a salary) Example you make 100k on a sale they keep 75 to 80k and you get 20k.You can also take a commercial job where they allow a draw for the first few months and then you pay it back with a closing.

Right now though big commercial firms are hurting because there advertising and marketing costs are the same for there corporate clients but sales are down.

Recently cb richard ellis,grubbs and ellis,cushman and wakefield,all reported lower earnings from low sales volume.

So even rentals in the city would take 45-60 days to finalize? Certainly 45-60 days is a reasonable time-frame to expect for houses in the 'burbs from first showing to closing. But I'd imagine in NYC - beginning to end apartment rental process shouldn't take nearly that long. Am I wrong?

Personally I HATE property management of anykind.

If you are going to do rentals then make sure your firm allows it.Some brokerages do not allow property management and it is not covered by there E and O policy because of the high litigation occurances that happen frequently.

When doing rentals you need to decide if you are going to just fill out the contract or provide ongoing property management and keep daily records etc.

If you are going to work this niche then the natural path would be to list the properties for sale of these apartment building owners.

Sure you can get some fast small income from it but it's a hassle.

You may want to look at graduate real estate programs or CCIM. If you go the graduate program route, look at Cornell. They have the best program in real estate in the country.