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Getting Started in Real Estate: Why Real Estate is a Rewarding Career Choice

So, you’re thinking about a career in real estate? You’re not alone. A career in real estate can be very rewarding, both financially and personally. The rewards come in many forms.. If you are thinking of making a change, or starting your working life, here are some things to consider about a career in real estate.

If you are looking for a career that is both financially and emotionally rewarding, real estate is definitely worth considering. If you are driven and motivated, the sky's the limit in terms of what you can achieve.

First and foremost, a career in real estate is a people business. You’re constantly interacting with clients, many of whom are going through one of the most important transactions of their lives. It’s immensely gratifying to be able to help them through that process and come away with not only a satisfied client but also a new friend.

A career in real estate is rewarding because you are helping people achieve their dreams. Whether it’s finding the perfect starter home or selling their family home of many years, you are playing an important role in making people’s dreams come true. Seeing the joy on your clients’ faces when they finally find (or sell) their perfect property is its own reward.

Another aspect of a career in real estate is the flexibility it affords. As your own boss, you can set your own hours and work around your other commitments. This flexibility is great for those with families or other commitments that make full-time employment difficult. Just keep in mind, flexible is not negotiable. You will still put in 40+ hours a week, the benefit is that it can be managed for your schedule.

Another reward of a career in real estate is the compensation. When you sell a property, you will receive a commission based on the sale price. The commission is typically split between the buyer’s and seller’s agents, but as a real estate agent, you will keep a percentage of the total commission. The more properties you sell, the more money you will make.Joining a team may be an excellent way

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to launch your career and the compensation will be different. Most really great teams offer training to help you get started.

While there is no guarantee of success in any career, real estate offers the potential to make a very good living. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median annual income for agents in 2021 was $54,330 and 35 hours a week.. The amount earned rose to $87,000 annually at 40+ hours a week. However, top earners in the field made over $250,000 per year. So, if you are looking for a career that has the potential to support you and your family comfortably, real estate is definitely worth considering.

The steps to getting started:

1. Get your license. In order to work as a real estate agent, you must have a valid real estate license. The requirements for getting a license vary from state to state, but generally involve completing a certain number of hours of coursework and passing an exam.

2. Join a real estate company. Once you have your license, you’ll need to find a company to work for. When choosing a company, look for one that has a good reputation and is well-established in your area. It’s also important to make sure that the company has the type of properties that you’re interested in working with.

3. Start building your clientele. One of the most important things you’ll need to do as a real estate agent is build up your clientele. There are lots of ways to do this, but some of the most common include networking, attending open houses, outreach to your spheres of influence and geo farming.

4. Stay up-to-date on industry changes. The real estate industry is constantly changing, so it’s important that you stay up-to-date on the latest news and trends. This will help you better serve your clients and make sure that you’re always ahead of the competition. 5. Mentorship / Coaching. This imperative to build an award winning career. Having consistency and accountability can be the difference between making six figures in year three or becoming part of the 87% that leave the business.

These are just a few of the things you need to do to get started in a real estate career. While it may seem like a lot at first, once you’ve taken the first steps, the rest will fall into place.

A career in real estate can be very rewarding! If you’re thinking about making the jump, just remember that you’ll need to get your license, find a good company to work for, start building your clientele, lean into your leadership and stay up-to-date on industry changes. With some hard work and dedication, you can be successful in this exciting industry!

Finally, real estate is a great way to build long-term wealth. Unlike most other professions, there is no limit to how much money you can make in real estate. With hard work and strategy, you can easily become a millionaire through your real estate business.

Join our facebook group for more great tips on getting started in the real estate industry. facebook.com/groups/realestatesuccess500doors

BY ROB GAUDIO

As a commissioned sales professional with unpredictable income, it can be a challenge to plan and manage your business or personal finances. Then add in the confusion of comingled bank accounts with reactionary spending habits. Does this sound familiar?

In my 30+ years as an entrepreneur and in consulting small business owners, I always start with the fundamentals of understanding and managing financials. First off, it’s important to operate from a Business Money Mindset. “You”, as a real agent, ARE a business. This is not just a profession or job, you are a “for-profit business”. So it’s critical that you think like one and act like one.

This starts by understanding how businesses operate financially, which includes the traditional Financial Statements: Profit & Loss, Balance

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Sheet, and Cash Flow. Each of these are important in understanding your financial performance and ultimately these are your financial scorecards.

Profit & Loss: Income (sales) – Expenses (spending) = Profits (savings) This is your “annual scorecard” on how much money you are saving and keeping. Profits are savings. It’s easy to make money, but can you save it?

Balance Sheet: Assets (cash, investments, etc) – Liabilities (debts) = Net Worth Your profits (savings) from last year are added to your assets (cash). This continues to build toward your net worth. The goal is to continue to build these assets each year. Eventually you can trade these assets by using the cash to invest or buy other assets (ie house).

Cash Flow: Money in – Money out This represents the flow of money with specific attention to dates. As you spend and receive, it gets measured. So you may expect a sale to come through, but until the payout lands into your bank account, it’s not measured. Your bank accounts need to have more money than what goes out. This may seem very basic, but it’s the very challenging when planning with unpredictable income. So it’s critical to have savings built up from prior years to cover any low periods.

Bookkeeping vs Forecasting This is where many small businesses fail in their financials. An entire year will go by, and they’ll look back in confusion over the low savings or even losses. They allocate their time towards sales and marketing and do not give enough priority to tracking their financial performance. Accurate and timely data are paramount to staying on top of your business.

Bookkeeping is historical only. By the time you look at this data, it’s too late. The money is already spent, and those months have flown by. Most people have heard of or use budgets, whether personal or for business. However, many do not really understand how to properly use them. Typically they get used for historical recording of past spending. However, that is only a portion of what is required for financial success. It starts with tracking your spending and in the appropriate classifications. For agents, it’s important to separately track your business spending (ie marketing, licensing fees, etc) and your personal spending. The more detailed your grouping, the more insight on how to measure performance, identify opportunities to cut, monitor trends, etc. When you are familiar with these groupings, it’s much easier to react in a timely manner.

The more important step is to use this historical spending in your budget and then create a forecast for the upcoming year into these spending buckets. Based on last year's spending, identify how much is necessary to spend in that same grouping. Allocate a monthly amount per grouping and subtotal the various groupings. These are your total expenses.

Then, estimate your sales. For your Profit & Loss forecast, you can estimate an annual amount. Sure you may not know when the sales will occur, but based on your historical data, you can roughly estimate expected income. Forecasting should always be conservative, so you need to allocate enough buffer for unexpected spending and lower than expected sales.

For your Cash Flow, you will break down the forecast into more detail by creating a monthly budget for the calendar year. Expenses can be fixed monthly, and some can vary month to month (ie marketing, training, fees) so some months will be higher and some lower. You may or may not have new cash coming in each month, so consider these highs and lows.

Additionally, it’s essential to remain timely with monthly upkeep and analysis. Each month record the bank activity and compare it to your forecast. Having eyes on this monthly allows for timely adjustments to cut spending or to increase investment as sales grow. Unexpected expenses come up in business and personal, so you need this accurate data in order to make these smart decisions.

Remember, you are a for-profit business. So let’s use the tools to keep score and celebrate those wins!

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