There are over 1.1 million Realtors in the United States. So why in the world would anyone want to become a real estate agent in this over-saturated, ultra-competitive, seasoned agent-dominated world?
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We need not look any further than television as the driving catalyst to the allure of the real estate industry. Just flip to HGTV, and you can see “The Property Brothers” selling, remodeling and buying houses with ease.
But not everyone realizes that Drew Scott was a real estate agent for seven years before the first episode ever hit the air. We are enamored with the fast-paced, luxury-selling lives of Ryan Serhant and Fredrik Eklund from the “Million Dollar Listing” shows. We want those lives. We want that success.
Real estate is portrayed as a job where you make your own hours and work from home. Where you show a few houses on the weekend and pull in nice paydays. Where you can party every night and wake up at noon. TV does not show us the long, arduous path it can take to realize any success.
Starting out in this industry can be incredibly daunting; the money alone that you personally need to invest to start can be thousands of dollars. On top of that, once you find an agency, be prepared to spend thousands of more dollars every year in insurance, membership dues, office fees, MLS dues, etc.
Gathering leads is going to be the next task, and unless you have some friends or family who are ready to buy or sell, you will most likely be driving around low-income buyers, renters and window shoppers leading to little or no money but a lot of time and gas.
You might be asking why the hell I’m here doing this. Why would I put myself through something that isn’t what it seems?
For me, I truly believe that there is no ceiling on what can be accomplished in this business. If you put in the time and work, you could have all the success in the world.
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I have long-term aspirations. You can’t expect anything overnight or over a week or a year. So you need to derive some enjoyment out of it in the meantime to keep yourself from burning out.
There is no comparison to the feeling of having someone rely on you to help them find their home and put their faith and their trust in you to accomplish a massive task for them. There is no comparison to the adrenaline rush of negotiating a deal and getting an offer accepted.
There is no comparison to the feeling of thanks and appreciation from your client for a job well-done. There is no better sense of satisfaction than getting handed that commission check at the closing table.
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You can’t put a monetary value on most of this. You either enjoy it, or you don’t. You thrive off it, or you don’t. You are fulfilled by it, or you’re not. I can’t say how long it takes because I still don’t know. But success is out there, and I want it.
So maybe one day you’ll see me on TV doing something someone else will think he or she can easily do. Something that I didn’t work my tail off to achieve — that was handed to me on a silver platter. But perception is not reality, and everything seems a little different looking through the picture box.
Mike Biundo Jr. is a New Hampshire Realtor, who works for Innovative Realty, Innovativerealtyteam.com. You can follow him on Facebook.