For The Love Of Real Estate
A career in real estate is a wonderful and rewarding path. But, many people enter the industry not really knowing what to expect. For some new agents, their “experience” with real estate comes from watching house-flipping shows on TV and thinking, “Hey, I could do that! Easy!”
Seasoned agents hearing this might laugh. They know that being a successful agent means putting in the hard work to reap the rewards. But longtime agents and rookies alike share a love of real estate. And what’s not to love?
In real estate, there are limitless opportunities and endless reasons to fall in love with being an agent. Whether you’re someone who enjoys helping people, someone who has always wanted to be in charge of your own business and life, or simply someone who likes looking around in lots of houses, real estate has something for everyone.
If you’re thinking of becoming an agent or are an agent who would like to recruit others to their team or brokerage, we want to share seven reasons why real estate is a great career opportunity unlike any other.
1. Low Cost Of Entry For The Opportunity To Be Self-Employed
If you’re looking for the least expensive self-employment opportunity on the planet, you’ve found it.
The cost to enter real estate varies by state, but you can usually plan on spending around $2,500 on pre-exam education, exam fees, license fees, and a sales agent application. That’s it. That’s all you need to start your real estate business or career. This initial investment is lower compared to similar professions, like insurance agents, who on average pay over $5,000 to get started; CPAs, who spend about $18,000; and attorneys, who enter their field having paid at least $120,000 on education, exams, and licensing.
Starting your own business for less than $3k? No brainer.
2. No Financial Ceiling
In real estate, you get to decide your salary. Think about it, when you work a job that comes with a fixed income—whether that’s an annual salary or an hourly rate—you are limiting yourself to that level of income. You’re letting other people tell you what you’re worth and how much you should make. Sure, you could pick up a side hustle or hope for a windfall, but chances are that your salary represents the boundary of what you can take home. It’s your financial ceiling.
In real estate, if you build a strong enough foundation, there is no financial ceiling. Now, don’t think that those rewards will come easy. The truth is you won’t be able to set that big goal or reach it quickly unless you put in the hard work. But given the right tools and determination, no one will be able to set your salary ceiling except for you. Go, get after it!
3. Flexibility To Choose Your Approach
Surgeons follow specific steps every time they perform open heart surgery (and thank goodness). Educators have curriculums they have to teach to get students to pass tests. They don’t get much sway. In real estate, you get so much more freedom. You can customize your career around what you love and where you’re strongest.
Do you like chatting with other people and strolling new neighborhoods? Guess what, you’ll love door knocking. A person with an eye for design and color? Bet you could stage houses with the best of ‘em.
Even if you’re not the traditional extroverted agent that people think of, you can find a place in real estate. Are you a math whiz who wants to maximize investments? Man, what buyer wouldn’t want you on their side? Maybe you want to help marginalized communities get the information they need to take advantage of long-overlooked or unavailable opportunities. That big heart of yours is perfect for lead generation activities like seminars and education.
Whatever approach you take, most real estate agents will share a love of helping people. Whether they’re using their marketing chops to showcase a listing on social media or digging deep into their emotional intelligence to soothe first-time buyers as they make the biggest financial decision of their lives, you’ll find that real estate has enough room to accommodate any skillset and approach.
4. Freedom To Choose Your Schedule
As the great Saint Dolly Parton said, working 9 to 5 is enough to drive someone crazy. Many people come to real estate to escape the cramped cubicle farm or because they want a schedule that allows them to be the kind of parent-figure that can help out at school fairs and pickup lines without having to ask permission from a boss.
In real estate, you have the freedom to decide what you’ll spend time on and what kind of time you’ll spend on the job. Still, don’t make a rookie mistake: many people fail to realize is that you can’t choose to spend no time on the job. If you choose limited hours, you have to be tougher on your time.
5. High Financial Return For Effort Given
Most people use time to cheat, meaning instead of working smarter, they work harder. You don’t have to put in more hours to make more money.
As a real estate agent, you choose the effort you put into each hour that you work, and you reap the benefits accordingly. If you work smarter and you prioritize, you can have a bigger, better career and most certainly a bigger and better life.
Giving up things that are important to you in the name of hustle culture does not put you on the path to success. Real state is a career that rewards those who know how to put high effort on the areas that matter the most.
6. Inside Opportunity To Invest
There are essentially two ways to make big money: investing in real estate or owning a business. Real estate agents get to do both, but when it comes to investing, they have the inside scoop.
Agents know everything about a property before anyone else does. Every good deal that anyone ever gets in the real estate industry is first passed through an agent’s hands. There is a difference between being in the real estate business and being in the listing and selling business. Good agents will understand that with every property for sale there is an opportunity to invest for themselves. Of course, if you don’t choose to invest, you have the opportunity to list and make a commission, building your businesses. Real estate is a win-win either way.
7. You Get To Help People With Their Greatest Asset Purchase
The average net worth of someone who rents their home is $6,300. The average net worth of a homeowner is $255,000. Homeownership is the ultimate equity builder.
As an agent, you are not just selling people houses. You are selling them forced savings. Retirement. Control over their lifestyle. Security. You can guide people toward not only the biggest purchase of their lives, but the one that will bring them the most fulfillment. A house provides a roof over your head and place to settle into and make your own. It offers financial security and wealth-building opportunities. An agent is the person who makes this all possible. You can relieve pain points and make people’s dreams come true.
Bonus! Scratch Your Curiosity Itch
Every experienced real estate agent has gone into a house and discovered something fascinating. Being a real estate agent allows you to glimpse into peoples’ lives and understand them in a way other professions don’t. Seeing homes and what’s inside them feeds the innate investigative quality that most people who get into the industry have.
Everything in a house is a clue to who the inhabitant is. Maybe you tour a vacant house that you are thinking about listing. Maybe you find over fifty pairs of blue jeans in the closet. Maybe this doesn’t seem too odd, but still, you can’t stop thinking about why a person needs that many pairs of jeans. Maybe you find out later that the occupant was an undercover FBI investigator, which immediately makes you picture someone always dressing innocuously, aka in blue jeans. Maybe this story is true. Whatever you find in your tours as an agent, you get to see the way people live by way of their homes first-hand.
A career in real estate may not be for everyone. But for those who are passionate, want to achieve their wildest dreams, and want to help others along their path toward homeownership, it's perfect.
What are some reasons you love your career as an agent? Let us know on our Facebook page. And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more exciting articles.