Uncategorized June 23, 2017

At the crossroads of your real estate career?

Another year has ended. You have received your invoices for next year. (i.e. Realtor dues, MLS dues, E&O dues, etc) Evaluated the money you spent vs. the money you earned. You determine whether the passion is still there or if it ever was. And you say to yourself, “SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?”

This is a question nearly every Realtor asks themselves at the end of every year. The answer may be easier than you think with a quick analyzation of where you are in your real estate career. Let us look at some points to consider:

1. How much money did I make? Sure you may have made some large commissions on one or two transactions, but look at the number of transactions you made. Was it less than five, and if so, if the price point and/or commission rate of your market area is reduce or the even by just 10% and you did the same number of transactions, can you afford to live on 10% less. And you know that your expenses will not be reduced.

2. Is my lifestyle or business winding down? If you are contemplating retirement and you are just living on past customers, you can be in this business forever, but is it really what you want?

3. As a part-timer, do I really do not have time to service my clients? Without a doubt, buyers and sellers deserve, no, require, a full-time agent in this most important life-changing decision.

4. Do I still have a passion for the business? Passion is the key to success in anything one does, but especially in real estate.

5. Do I have a business plan for next year or will I continue to take business as it comes? If there is no plan, there is no business.

6. Can I take my business to another level? It all starts with re-inventing your real estate business through business and social networking, and if you are willing to “get it”.

There are probably many other questions you need to ask and answer, as well as the the possibility of having your license sent back to the Real Estate Commission. This, in turn, prohibits you from earning any commission dollars from those you have worked with and those who you know may buy or sell, ever, and requires you to start all over again (licensing schooling and testing) if you decide to re-enter the industry.

Consider placing your license in referral status. It keeps your license active to refer buyers and sellers to a full-time Realtor, while still earning a commission for the referral. It allows you to move on with your life whether with a new career or an easy retirement and again earning an income.

But if it is time to go, then it is time to go – but not completely. Do not hang onto a career that just doesn’t work for you in the capacity you are in now. Save the hundreds if not thousand of dollars in expenses to you. And do not prolong what the inevitable is anyway. And most of all don’t think that you failed, you are just taking a different direction in the business to allow you to do other things. You still will have the network, you still have the capacity to help those in need of housing, and most importantly, you can still earn a referral fee that if you work it right, can make you a good source of secondary income with very little expense. As a referral agent you are still in the business without being in the business.