I think you can do okay working RE part time. But it's HARD! I have a very flexible job, and sometimes I get calls on my listings that I have to leave now to show, not in a few hours.

Also, I have Buyers that want me to preview listings before I show to them, so I have to set aside time to preview, then contact the buyer to show to them if it fits what they are looking for. All this leaves little time for prospecting. I'd like to be busier in RE, buy who knows when I would fit the extra work in.

I would like to leave my job, but I have been here 16 years, and my boss is looking at retiring, so I have a sense of loyalty to him and don't want to leave him at a time that it would make no sense to replace me. Thankfully, given that, he has no problem, and even gets excited for me when I get a call that I must leave for.

Like I say, I do okay, not great. The only way I will be great is when I can leave my "job" completely, and go to full time RE.

By the way, I don't tell any of my clients that I work a job as well. Nobody has asked, and as long as I am available when they need/want me, I don't feel the need to tell them. There are some people who know, because they know me from my job, but of those people, nobody has asked me to help with their real estate needs. I think because they too believe that the same money would be better spent with someone who works RE full time, rather than a "dabbler" (not that I'm a dabbler, but that's the appearance of a part time agent)

This is an interesting discussion. I think there are plenty of agents that work "part time" but actually work more than a lot of so called full time agents. So many full time agents spend time driving to and from the office, hanging out by the coffee machine, playing around online, going out to lunch with others in the office, getting caught up in the it's John's birthday today and Jane's selling girl scout cookies for her daughter over there, etc, that the amount of real work with/for customers is minimal.

While many part time agents spend most of their real estate time working on well, real estate. I guess Im saying I agree with the original poster that with the technology out there today, you can accomplish a lot working just part time unless your running a really big operation.

[sorry dude, no promotional content allowed here; feel free to share in the products & services forum.]

Once again, thank you all for all the feedback and opinions!

I also want to touch on the fact that this does not only apply to people that work with jobs and careers.

I know several real estate agents and brokers that have made a good amount of money in real estate and have opened up a business, invested in others (venture capital), invested in real estate and managed their properties and even worked as ''consultants'' in other fields.

I think that it's possibly and it takes a lot of time and patience, it also forces you to decide what is more important to you? Having a beer and watching the game after your ''day job'' or going into the office and building your real estate business.

BOTTOM LINE IS THAT EVENTUALLY I WILL BE IN REAL ESTATE FULL TIME!

I'll agree with Paul. In my area there were alot of "full time" agents that spent most of their time on Realtor Association functions and parties, hanging around the offices. Sure they had great networking with other agents, but how does that help you really sell homes and properties. Now they are out of the business.

A question for all you full time real estate agents:

HOW MUCH TIME A WEEK WOULD YOU SAY YOU DEVOTE STRICTLY TO REAL ESTATE RELATED TASKS?

9am to 530 or 6pm monday - friday. what i consider normal business hours. i will go on appointments outside of that, but if it is possible to schedule the appt durring business hours, then i do that.

the secret to this business is client aquisition. the more business you have the more you will make. servicing should take the minority of your time if you have the proper systems in place.

Estatereal, so what do you do exactly for 40 hours a week?

much prospecting

about 3 hours of prospecting a day along with appointments and client servicing. i just increased my prospecting to 4 hours per day a week or 2 ago.

helping people realize that they can sell their home in todays market takes quite a bit of time. i help them with that problem. most of my sellers have tried selling in the past and did not sell. about 4 hours per day goes into admin, marketing, paperwork, all of the non income producing activities that many agents focus most of their time on. the reality is that the only thing that increases the money we will make is prospecting. everything else follows...

Estatereal, can you define prospecting please?

Realtor514,

prospecting to me is working to find people who need your services. when i prospect i am looking for people who need my help.

another word for prospecing could be advertising. different methods of advertising get different results. for instance...i mail a postcard tellng somone that i can help them...good.

i call that person and ask them questions...better.

mail and call...best

the point of any prospecting is to get a face to face appt with somoene that you can help.

i could literally talk for hours about prospecting. reald lucky's post ...forget the exact title, but it is called something like.... i make 100 contacts per day .....he is successful because he has mastered the art of prospecting. you will get a lot out of that post.

the biggest help that i can give anyone in regards to prospecting is that you need to become disciplined! the more consistent you are the better results you will get. most people dont prospect daily at certain times. that is the biggest secret i can give...more important even that saying the best things.....

if i had 2 options

have my dialogue 100% spot on and prospect 5 hours a week

or

have my dialogue 50% spot on and prospect 10 hours a week


i would take the 50 and 10!

start now and be regular and you will be at 100% before you know it!

http://www.attractionmarketingdoctor.com/archived-articles/prospector/

this is not my video, but i just googled and found this...it makes sense

prospect = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_anbEJsr6s = satisfied clients!

this page looked good at first glance...got a few good sayings off of this

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/377/notes/chapt07/index.htm

from the page above>>>>
"THE CONCEPT OF PROSPECTING
A salesperson without prospects is out of business.
A salesperson without prospects can no more close a sale than a surgeon without a patient can operate.
Presenting a professional appearance, giving an impressive presentation and closing like a master are not enough to prevent failure if too little attention is given to prospecting.
You must have someone to whom to tell your story -- someone who wants to buy and can buy.
If your closing ratio is lower than you like, the major problem may be that you don't have enough good prospects -- not that you are a poor closer.
Prospects are everywhere - find the best "

Thank you all!

I really like the advice, feedback and interest you all put in this thread.

Real estate is like any other business, it's a numbers game:

''the more people you contact, the more business you will get''.

I have also heard things like ''try to meet and hand out at least five business cards everyday''.

I want to start doing this and talking to strangers...