I think that starting a career as a real estate agent without an existing income is financial suicide.

I have read many posts on this forum and others by long time agents that say part time agents rarely make it and you should only start out by giving it your all. The fact is that most agents part time or full time dont make it.

To save up a years income and then just blow it your first year waiting for your new business to pick up is just irresponsible and a waste of money!

The fact is that MOST business's in this country are started part time and only go full time when it supports it! Why shouls real estate be any different?

I am not an agent yet, but I own and have owned several successful business's over the last 15 yrs that were started part time. One agent I have used in the past is a full time police officer and consistently makes over $20K yearly part time. When he retires he will go full time and Im sure his income will go up accordingly, but for now he is building his sphere of influence.

I think it really depends on what your job is if you can start being a part time agent. If you tend to have full days off during the week that are predictable like for example a firefighter then it could be done. Or if you can have afternoons off or mornings off it could work. I'm a farmer and a realtor, but as a farmer I'm very flexible. But even then I find I don't want to really work with buyers in the summer unless they are really good ones. No one tells me to be anywhere. But for example a teacher. No it wouldn't work even though a teacher can have 2 and a half months of in the summer. That's sometimes longer then one deal takes to go from under contract to closed.

I hear you that it would be more difficult to succeed if working a 9-5 but it is possible. The officer I know works 7-330 and he is obviously not available physically during the day to show/list but he does accept phone calls/texts and is able to fax/email during work hours, so he is able to conduct business.

To start out with, if this is all a part time agent is able to do, then so be it. At least they are getting there feet wet and are learning on every transaction they complete. I just dont understand why I see other agents saying you cant do this part time?

I know competition sucks! But in almost any business there are part timers that take away from the big guys.

How can he also be attentive to being the Cop that the TaxPayers are paying him for ?

I suppose that's no worse than being in the Donut Shop. I'm not here to change the world.

I won't argue this, I'll just keep it simple. You do this part time, you will fail. You are not "competition" for the full time agents, just another bad practitioner we have to pick up the pieces after when you don't have time to do the job right. A few, very few, highly talented individuals will move on to a full time career after a part time start in real estate. You are most likely NOT in that group. The overwhelming, and I mean 95% plus majority of part time agents, come and go, maybe do a few bad deals, then move on to mediocrity in the next field they "dabble" in.

I do agree about your 95% statement that most will come and go but I dont agree where you say "You do this part time, you will fail". My agent has proven that wrong. I am sure many top producers have started out part time. Not many people have a years income saved up to be able to start full time. Believe me I DO have the money to do it if I needed to but Why would I? When I am ready to get my licence I will do it while also running my other business.

Also you say "You are not "competition" for the full time agents, just another bad practitioner we have to pick up the pieces after when you don't have time to do the job right. Another untrue statement. ANY listing or buyer in your area is a potential client. If a part timer gets the business then that is one less client that might have called your number. How can you say that they are not "competition"?

Not everyone has the the finances, as you said.

Myself, I'm trying to bank as much money as I can before taking the state exam, which should be sometime in April. After that, I plan on staying on at my current job part time to keep some cash flow going until I feel I can sustain myself.

I figure working 4-5 days in RE versus 6-7 for a short while isn't your standard part-time start.

I'm sure neudot would disagree, of course.

Because to be considered competition, you would have to some chance to beat me out for a listing. Trust me, not happening. If your mother was listing her house, and we both did our presentations, you'd be an unhappy son with free time on your hands.

For me, being a part timer is not effective if you are not belong into the team. Having team is very helpful especially if you are only a part time agent.

You can have part time agents that have no other job and you can be a full time agent while holding down another job.

The best thing about being in real estate is that you can work very flexible hours. There area lot of thing you can do as an agent that can be done at 2am.

That being said if your are holding another job you need the flexibility to be available to clients to show houses or make offers when they want to. But the most important thing is that you are willing to working on your real estate business at least 40 hrs a week despite holding down another position.

Some of our local Franchise Offices have rules that require their Agents to be Full Time Practitioners. One just let someone go because she wanted to be a Part-Time RN, so she had to leave and go to a competitor. Few Offices allow someone to just hang their License there just on the off-chance that they may someday get a Listing or make a Sale.

I think Vermont is maybe a bit different from other parts of the Country. Prospective Licensees don't interview the Brokers, as some on this Forum suggest is par for the course, the Brokers interview the Applicants. Some Offices still, despite the bad market, employ performance quotas.

Part-timers, nice people that they might be, would probably never stand a chance in meeting a Quota for Listings or Sales, and would be seen as dead wood.

This debate is never going to be resolved, just like the one about what kind of car to drive.

Fact is, there are incompetent full time agents, there are very capable and excellent part time agents. There are idiots on both sides (in fact, I think a LOT of agents are idiots...lol)

But the key question is: are you going to be available during key times? Will you be available during normal business hours to talk to title agents, mortgage brokers, and attorneys? Are you going to be available when buyers need to talk to you?

Or, are you going to be strictly a listing agent? A listing agent with good inventory could do it part time if there is ample support staff at the office to handle everything for you. You can do a lot of your marketing during "off hours" (posting stuff on websites, social media, etc.)

However, getting any salable listings as a part time agent is difficult, let alone listing enough pay your expenses and leave you with money left over to live on.

The only requirements my broker has is if you want floor time you have to do two open houses per month and attend meetings and caravan. No quotas, and floor time is not required; it's an option.

Dave

I'm with Perky, this debate will never be settled, but who cares if you start full time or part-time, it's if you make it to the finish line of a successful career.

When I entered real estate sales it was part-time, part-time because I was an executive with a blue chip corporation and 60 hours was the low average week. But it's possible to adapt and adjust.

Two points I want to make. First, part-time allows you to find out if real estate sales is right for you without driving the train off the track. Too many newcomers have too many misconceptions about the business, active part-time will allow them to test drive the career.

Secondly, as I've said too many times before, most full-timers are really part-timers. In my particular area, 5% did 90% of the business followed by 15% that did most of the remaining 10%.

When I first joined the business back when dinosaurs roamed the earth the guy I called my mentor that started as an agent in 1909
told me the old saying, "one third are coming, and one third are going, and one third are making the money, you decide what third you want to be in by what you do." And that applies full-time, or part-time.

I agree it will never be settled. There will always be part timers and there will always be the full timers that dont want any part timers to give it a shot. As for me I will probably wait until I relocate in a couple years to give it my shot, but when I do I will have more than one income stream to offset the slow start.

Nonsense, I hope everybody starts part time. When I'm up against that type of agent, they lose, I win. And don't think for a minute I don't stress that in my listing presentation. I explain to the seller that the FIRST question they should ask any agent walking in to their home should be: Are you a full time agent? Or a dabbler? And I characterize part timers that way on purpose, because that is generally what they are. I have never lost a listing to a part timer, and I probably never will. The argument may go on, but the numbers are the numbers. 90%+ of all part time agents fail and leave the business. Which is not unusual in any area of life. Those who grab a job by the balls and become the best (the few) always trump those who "play it safe" (the many). In that respect, real estate is no different than anything else.