The day in the life of a Realtor

When I was just 6 years old, my mom began selling Real Estate. I can remember going on her appointments with her and just thinking she had the BEST job in the world. She had no set hours, and her day seemed to consist of driving clients around and showing them houses. That sounded good to me, even at 6-years old. The older I got, the more appealing her career looked. She constantly had extra time to spend with my brothers and I and the money seemed to be good.

At the young age of 18, straight out of High school I decided to follow in the “family business” and immediately enrolled in the courses needed to become a licensed agent. I also began working for top producing agents to get hands on learning. After working very hard to get my license, I finally passed and became a licensed Realtor.

I never in my life realized that being an agent takes some actual work and it isn’t just made up of driving clients around and finding them houses. I never in my life thought that I would have to actually seek out people who wanted to buy a home; I assumed they came and found you. Boy was I wrong. It always looked so easy for the agents that I worked for. They constantly had clients calling them and were constantly closing deals. What I didn’t know was prior to their success they actual had to put in countless hours and efforts.

Most agents will spend their time marketing themselves, trying to get name recognition in a certain area. While others may get out and prospect and meet people, by holding open houses or door knocking. Everyone has a different way of doing things and whatever your method maybe, you have to make sure you have a plan of action. Your broker can assist you in this.

If you plan on getting into the market full time, and using it as your sole source of income, you may want to set a savings and a budget before you get into it full force. This will save you in a case in which you don’t sell anything for the first couple of months.

Just like with any business, timing is everything. When I say timing is everything, I don’t mean the timing of how the market is doing; I mean your personal timing. Are you ready to put in a lot more hours than you imagined? Are you willing and able to sacrifice your nights and maybe even weekends to show prospective buyers or hold open houses? Real Estate can be a very profitable business for you, if you put in the effort.

Ive realized during this “tough market” that the more work you put in now, the more it will benefit you when the market picks up. I believe for the agents that you see in the office every day, the ones who are sticking to it and not giving up, will become tremendously successful when the market picks up.

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