Diving into real estate head first can be a much greater challenge than some would think. If you’ve been considering a career change for some time and finally passed your exam and decided to pull the trigger, make sure you take a breath and survey your situation. When you switch careers and get a long-term job in a field such Public Relations, or a trade such as working as an electrician, you rest somewhat assured that you will receive enough monthly income to pay the rent and purchase groceries. Even if you end up in a short term contract position, when the contract ends you can rely on employment insurance (EI) to cover your expenses until you find a new job.
As a real estate agent, like those part of Diamantidis Group even if you get a job with a reputable brokerage, there’s no guarantee that you will make any money. You are not paid to sit at a desk and perform a particular task, rather, you are reliant on commissions for sales that you personally need to go out and bag. If you are not a self motivating person, chances are the competitive culture of real estate sales will eat you alive.
Not that it’s not worth giving it a shot if you are particularly passionate about real estate. If you spend your days dreaming of gorgeous properties and have a penchant for describing the strong selling points of homes, then you should pursue a career as a real estate agent with everything you’ve got. However, any real estate agent who’s come up in the current cut throat market will give you the same advice: don’t quit your day job, at least not right off the bat.
Securing that first commission can take a lot of grit, hustle and hard work. Some agents have their first sale served to them on a silver platter by facilitating a transaction involving friends or family members, and use this sale as a spring board to launch into their new career. Kudos if you’ve managed to make that sweet first sale without relying on nepotism, however, it may take a while to hook your next big fish, so you might want to learn about AccessEasyFunds and their commission advance services to help fill in the gap while you’re getting your feet wet.
If commission advance services aren’t your cup of tea, you may want to hang on to a part-time day job as you navigate the early stages of real estate sales. Succeeding as a real estate agent relies on developing and working a social network more than anything else, so you can always push your career forward by socializing and networking in between whatever obligations you have with regards to your nine to five.
Partnering with a more experienced agent can be another great way to get tapped into a social network where you can schmooze and hustle. Mentorship lends itself extremely well to the socially based career of real estate agent. A mentor can also help you master the subtleties of finessing social interactions with clients and nailing a script that you can modify from one property to the next.
If real estate is your passion, then give it a shot, just make sure you plan ahead so that you’re not overwhelmed by what can be an extremely frustrating and competitive field.