Hellllooooo out there!

I'm considering a career in real estate and during my search for information, I happened to come across this really informative forum.

It seems to me that virtually all of the information on this site is geared towards sales as opposed to rentals. This makes perfect sense to me - most renters in most markets don't really have to deal with agents for rentals. Additionally, sales are higher margin no matter what market you're in.

However, my potential market - New York City - is a big rental market, and I'd like to being my career in the rental market. That being the case, who has experience with the NYC market? What cost considerations (other than education and licensing) should be taken when creating a business plan? Is it reasonable to expect that I will start generating income within 2 to 3 months?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide any insights!

I have NY real estate contacts who say that turnover is very quick in New York. 4 weeks tops. This makes it very lucrative for good agents. That being said, the trick will be to find landlords to list with you. Get a steady clientele of buildings to represent who are nearby to you so that you don't have to travel far to show each time. This will assure you success.

Also make sure to plan for spending on good collateral and promotional items. These will pay for themselves over time as you develop clientele.

Thanks for the info Kristi. I've been told by others that the number one way to get business is to get listings from landlords, even better if such listings are exclusives.

Question though - what do you mean by collateral in this instance?