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I have my license but have never actually worked as an agent (took about seven/eight RE classes as electives for my B.A. degree in marketing) and since I have been working continuously since grad. in a full time job. I want to get my feet wet now that the industry is in a lull.
My "full-time" job consists of a four day work week. Therefore, I can work on RE related things on Fri, Sat and Sun and in the eve. all the other days.
I currently also work in retail during these times so I know I have the stamina for it (I plan to leave my retail job for RE).
However, I keep reading all these posts about how part-timers shouldn't even bother entering the market and that brokerages don't like part-timers. What brokerages have you noticed accept part-timers more readily? I don't "need" to have many many clients, but I DO want to put my license to good use since I enjoy the subject so much.
Dropping everything and working in RE full time isn't feasible at this time, nor is it something I will do because of loans and just bills in general...
Any constructive suggestions from people, that are or were also part-timers when they started, on how to make this work?
Thanks for your help.
Last edited by jb1234; 04-30-2009 at 10:40 PM..
Reason: Assistance in clarity
Sounds like you are willing to work full time. You mentioned 7 days a week. Showings at night in winter don't work too well, but there is a lot more to selling than just showing so you should find plenty to do..
Sounds like you are willing to work full time. You mentioned 7 days a week. Showings at night in winter don't work too well, but there is a lot more to selling than just showing so you should find plenty to do..
Basically yes. But with "alternate" hours. I basically am unavailable M thru Th from 9-6pm. Other than that, I am free. Especially on weekends. However, will brokers "see" that or consider that availability acceptable?
There is "part time" like the help that McDonalds hires to work the lunch rush, and then there is "seasonal" like the guys that plow parking lots when it snows.
Your making a very poor assumption if you think people that want to buy or sell houses can do what they need between 11am and 1pm (or three days plus nights).
RE is more like plowing parking lots. If it snows at 3AM you gotta plow at 3AM, and if snows again at 6AM you gotta go back at 6AM, and if you were hoping it snows all day Saturday it will inevitablly snow not a flake, but it will snow all day Tuesday.
You cannot do really only Fri Sat Sun and "evenings", you have to go out when clients need you -- especially in a non-stop world where email is ALL THE TIME...
Seasonal you can sorta do, but not as well as you think. If you try to be available for 3 months of so, inevitably the market will be 'dead' the first two months and then nonstop the last month and then you are stuck with clients who want you, but you are back to something else, and that "something else" has to be something that YOU are in control, not something where you will lose your job if you take too many calls...
There are better paying ways to make money part time. Work for that company that Warren Buffet bought into that sells kitchen stuff. Write a blog that has lots of ads for sex hotlines. Run your own sex hotline. Invent an iPhone application. Computerize medical schedules.
Your making a very poor assumption if you think people that want to buy or sell houses can do what they need between 11am and 1pm (or three days plus nights)..
I wasn't assuming. I asked a question. Hence the post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
There are better paying ways to make money part time. Work for that company that Warren Buffet bought into that sells kitchen stuff. Write a blog that has lots of ads for sex hotlines. Run your own sex hotline. Invent an iPhone application. Computerize medical schedules.
Obviously you weren't reading thoroughly. I am not looking for RE to be a part-time job for cash. That's why I have a full time job which I don't plan on leaving. My part-time retail job that I will be leaving - well, I'm there 'cause I've been there since college and I like the discount. What I want to do is put my license to good use because I ENJOY the subject.
Here is an assumption...obviously you have never worked in RE part-time. Am I correct? Otherwise you wouldn't have advised me to start a sex hotline (interesting type of people you obviously associate with).
Why are you answering my post? If you re-read, you will see that I asked for advice from people that have workedpart-time.
Eric#1 thank you for your post. It was helpful. I've noticed an intense amount of vitrol directed to people that inquire about working part-time. Thank you for not busting my chops for asking a question.
There is "part time" like the help that McDonalds hires to work the lunch rush, and then there is "seasonal" like the guys that plow parking lots when it snows.
Your making a very poor assumption if you think people that want to buy or sell houses can do what they need between 11am and 1pm (or three days plus nights).
RE is more like plowing parking lots. If it snows at 3AM you gotta plow at 3AM, and if snows again at 6AM you gotta go back at 6AM, and if you were hoping it snows all day Saturday it will inevitablly snow not a flake, but it will snow all day Tuesday.
You cannot do really only Fri Sat Sun and "evenings", you have to go out when clients need you -- especially in a non-stop world where email is ALL THE TIME...
Seasonal you can sorta do, but not as well as you think. If you try to be available for 3 months of so, inevitably the market will be 'dead' the first two months and then nonstop the last month and then you are stuck with clients who want you, but you are back to something else, and that "something else" has to be something that YOU are in control, not something where you will lose your job if you take too many calls...
There are better paying ways to make money part time. Work for that company that Warren Buffet bought into that sells kitchen stuff. Write a blog that has lots of ads for sex hotlines. Run your own sex hotline. Invent an iPhone application. Computerize medical schedules.
I know what you wanted to hear and I know you're looking for feedback but the quoted post is very accurate. Read again without getting angry or making assumptions and consider the points made. I agree with the post 100%.
I worked part-time my first year, BUT I did not have another job. I kept a low client load for personal reasons. So it was different because I was available at all times, I just worked with fewer clients.
I think the thing you need to figure out is how are you going to provide service for your clients. So Sunday night you write an offer and get it submitted. Monday afternoon, the seller counters. You are available after 6, but the client works the swing shift. How do you meet to go over the counter offer?
Or, you write an offer on Saturday and get it negotiated. The home inspector is only available Thursday at 1:00. Do you not go? How do your clients get into the house?
You have some logistical problems that you have to deal with that can't wait until your day off on Friday. That is what Chet is trying to get across. There is a phrase in real estate contracts "time is of the essense" that is legal and important. Your clients are counting on you to understand and help with deadlines.
You need to take a hard look at your schedule and decide if you can actually provide SERVICE to clients in the way they deserve. It's great that you enjoy real estate, but you don't want to see your clients in trouble because you can't get the earnest money deposited in time or you miss a deadline because you were working at your other job.
I know what you wanted to hear and I know you're looking for feedback but the quoted post is very accurate. Read again without getting angry or making assumptions and consider the points made. I agree with the post 100%.
I am already aware of the points made. I have read them before on previous posts from people intested in doing RE part-time, most from 2008 and some from 2007. I am not saying they are wrong. However, telling someone to make money by running their own sex line instead of being constructive and suggesting something else that could be done also in the field of RE if they feel sales is not what would be appropriate with my hours, is simply rude.
I worked part-time my first year, BUT I did not have another job. I kept a low client load for personal reasons. So it was different because I was available at all times, I just worked with fewer clients.
I think the thing you need to figure out is how are you going to provide service for your clients. So Sunday night you write an offer and get it submitted. Monday afternoon, the seller counters. You are available after 6, but the client works the swing shift. How do you meet to go over the counter offer?
Or, you write an offer on Saturday and get it negotiated. The home inspector is only available Thursday at 1:00. Do you not go? How do your clients get into the house?
You have some logistical problems that you have to deal with that can't wait until your day off on Friday. That is what Chet is trying to get across. There is a phrase in real estate contracts "time is of the essense" that is legal and important. Your clients are counting on you to understand and help with deadlines.
You need to take a hard look at your schedule and decide if you can actually provide SERVICE to clients in the way they deserve. It's great that you enjoy real estate, but you don't want to see your clients in trouble because you can't get the earnest money deposited in time or you miss a deadline because you were working at your other job.
Thanks for your recap Silverfall. I read on another forum that working in a team might help in those situations you described. If they were wrong, do you have any ideas on what else I could do in RE since sales wouldn't be convenient with my hours? I appreciate your assistance.
And I did work part time. When I was younger I did it when I had summers off from school. I learned a lot and did not make much money, so little in fact that I even had to quit teaching and get a different job. I thought if I worked FULL TIME as agent I could make more than as teacher, but after a while and realized I could make more money doing something different that used some of my specialized skills.
I did use the knowledge to help me make money owning and renting houses, and I also still occasionally represent a buyer if I know them (or their parents, when you have been around for 20+ years and people remember that you can help, it is nice), but I also rely a GREAT DEAL on the full time agents I know and they TRUST that I will help the buyer get a good deal while still making the whole transaction go as smoothly as possible. I do not "need" to do that, in that I still have a normal job that I rely on, but I know I am lucky to be able to do this.
The reason that those of us who do (or did) work full time discourage part timers is EXACTLY as others have pointed out -- to build a base of clients, most of whom will need your service INFREQUENTLY you need the flexibility to DROP EVERYTHING to devote full attention to them. If do this over and over you MAY find out that you are lucky enough to make some solid money, but more likely you will NOT. I was joking a little about their being far more lucrative part time opportunities, but only a little bit. Honestly only a tiny fraction of people that hold r e licenses make a decent living at it, and most of them do HUGE listing volume and hand off the grunt work to a team of worker bees that are mostly kidding themselves that they will EVER luck into the honcho's slot...
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