I Officially Quit Today
I came to a final decision over the last week to go ahead and quit working as a Realtor with clients for good. I notified the clients of the last few listings I had left today. Then, I emailed my broker to let her know. It remains to be seen if I’ll keep my license for our own properties. It depends mostly on the fees versus benefits of receiving commissions on our purchases.
The brunt of the expenses involved in getting a license are behind me now. I will still be paying yearly fees, which add up to around $600, and monthly office fees (about $30+ per month) to keep my license with a broker. So, if we do enough in real estate investing that I make more than $1000 in commissions each year, it should still pay to keep my license.
There are also continuing education credits that must be satisfied, but I can take advantage of low cost or free classes when they come around. I believe I will have to take two classes per year to satisfy that requirement.
Another benefit to keeping my license is that I won’t have to pay an agent to list properties for me! I still will end up having to pay my broker a portion of what would me my “commission” on the sale of our properties. But, it would equal far less than if I had to pay an agent 6% of the total sales price.
Now, you must be wondering–what drove me to this decision? Oh, that’s an easy answer–time and money. I worked my little tail off this past year trying to make a go of the Realtor gig. There were many weeks where I worked 50-60 hours chasing leads, doing classes as necessary, and doing marketing. That 50-60 hours figure doesn’t include what I spent doing our investments, either. As far as money goes, I actually LOST money being an agent! That’s right! After all the fees, classes, gasoline and car costs, clothes (I had to purchase suits), marketing my listings and myself, I ended up in the negative–even though I closed a few deals!
And, I don’t know about you. But, I’m not willing to PAY to work THAT HARD at something I don’t love. And, I sincerely didn’t love it. In fact, I’m just not cut out for customer service. It’s one of those lessons you have to learn the hard way, I guess.
Trisha the Realtor, R.I.P.
“She just had to try”
10/27/2006 - 2/28/2008
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I think your niche is “developer”.
Does this mean the Empire building is over?
Moom - Thank you! You might be right about that–the thought totally revs my engines. Now, if this economic downturn would just correct itself. :-/
RichSlick - Oh, my goodness, NO! The license thing was something I did to aid us in our investing. My husband-to-be strongly suggested I take to the next level and try to work with clients as well. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I was a real estate investor several years before ever obtaining my license, though. And, I probably will be in REI until I die…or, until it kills me (but, that’s a technicality). In addition, I love business and entrepreneurialship, and will probably also always have multiple projects at once. I love making money, what can I say!
Good to hear that you’ve decided to seek your passion elsewhere. I’ve thought long and hard about being an agent, but the time (and, by the looks of things, money) involved in becoming a successful agent were just too much for me. I’m still in the “soul searching” stage of trying to find my calling. I’ve narrowed it down considerably, but still want to fine-tune a few things first.
Again, kudos to you!
Hi Trisha,
I think about getting my license from time to time, but just can’t bring myself to do it….. too many rules to abide by.
Luckily, one of my good investor friends has his license, and has made me his “assistant”. Works out well for both of us.
Steph
Steve - Thanks so much for the support! Well, maybe I tried it out for all of us…. I did give it 110%, too! BUT, I will say this–having my license is still a great tool for investing. If that’s all I use it for, I come out on top.
Steph - It’s going to take me a while to feel OK about pissing away a year of my life trying to work with clients. Good for you that your friend is a good partner for you on your deals! I wondered if you had your license or not, since sometimes you talk about the listing agent, but never the selling agent.
You know, when I started entertaining the idea of real estate investing my father told me to become a realtor so I would have access to the MLS. I took the classes, geared up for the test and not one broker would take me on PART TIME. I then educated myself further and realized I could develop a program to use for comps etc, and not have to be a realtor or deal with the headaches. I say Kudos to you and your decision!
FlipItBig.com - Thanks so much! You probably noticed I didn’t have ONE person say, “No, don’t quit–you’re doing the wrong thing!” Well, the other Realtors are just glad to get rid of the competition, I’m sure.
Realtor.com and other sites have really alleviated the need for access to the actual MLS sites. However, I really do learn LOTS about a neighborhood or a particular house just from my MLS access. It’s helped me tremendously when I go to look for the next deal. I love the ones where the listing agent screws something up–like on House 17, it wasn’t being shown like it should have because the listing agent put it under the wrong street address! Also, the private notes that the listing agent writes on the MLS is really valuable lots of times. The public doesn’t get to see that stuff. Also, I get full access to go walk through properties without having to involve anyone else. But, that’s just why I’m probably going to keep my license to use for ourselves only. Working with clients really is for the birds. It’s a very good way to starve!
This blog post has been included in the “Carnival of Money Stories #51″ at Life Lessons of a Military Wife. Hope you will drop by and read some of the many other wonderful entries received this week!