Transitioning into Real Estate as a Part Time Agent

You’re considering switching into real estate, but have your misgivings about plunging headlong into a full-time real estate career. Have you set your eyes on being a part-time real estate agent? Though there are countless part-time real estate agents out there, negotiating that transition is the tricky bit.

Transitioning into real estate as a part-time agent enables you to assess if it’s a suitable career for you. Besides, it gives you financial stability as you build your client base, lets you take care of licensing and business costs, and links you to valuable networks at your place of work.

In this piece, we will examine the pros and cons of transitioning into real estate as a part-time agent, steps to becoming a part-time agent, when to transition from being a part-time to a full-time real estate agent and tips to success as a part-time real estate agent. 

Pros of Part-Time Real Estate 

• Financial stability. Maintaining your full-time job enables you to pull through in uncertain times. The real estate industry is highly sensitive to the state of the economy, fluctuating whenever the economy experiences a recession. 

• Determining if a career in real estate is suitable for you. You have time to know if a career in real estate is for you. As a sales agent, you’ll need to be out there fixing appointments, showing potential clients properties for sale, cold calling, scheduling follow-up meetings, etc. Working part-time helps you test whether you possess the skill set and a matching personality for the industry.

• You get to maintain networks at your workplace. Your colleagues and their associates may prove valuable contacts that can become clients and have the potential to generate excellent referrals.

• You have to pursue an education in real estate before you get licensing. You’ll need to undertake a real estate pre-licensing course and pass a state licensing exam before practicing as a real estate professional. That means you’ll need income from your regular job to pay for your course, licensing, annual fees, and your monthly bills while you get through this stage.

• Initially, your engagement in kick-starting a career in real estate will involve much training when you are getting started, but that may take 2-4 hours a day. You’ll need to keep working to maintain your cash flow and make good use of the time.

• There are numerous opportunities to practice as a part-time agent. Search online for ”part-time real estate jobs near me,” and you’ll confirm that you can keep your full-time job while you get your feet wet in real estate. For instance, you can check out part-time real estate jobs with Keller Williams.

• Ordinarily, real estate income increases with experience and a wider clientele base, which needs time. You can take your time growing your networks and, subsequently, your income in real estate while retaining your regular job. Abandoning your job all of a sudden without a corresponding rise in income may leave you in financial straits. 

• By being self-employed, You’ll pay for insurance and other benefits out of pocket. The advantage of maintaining your full-time job means you still have access to insurance and other benefits while you grow your real estate business portfolio. 

• The stability of a full-time job offers a solid stepping stone into the unchartered waters of real estate; You’ll need money to finance your pre-licensing course, professional membership fees, and the logistics to hold appointments with potential buyers or sellers. Other typical costs you’ll have to meet are printing business cards, entertaining clients, and continuing education.

Cons of Part-Time Real Estate Agents

• Growing your real estate business requires time to meet clients. In an environment of cut-throat competition in some markets, rescheduling client appointments may prove detrimental as you could lose to a competitor. A full-time job limits the amount of time for the real estate business. 

• Fluctuating income; It’s difficult to project a steady income in real estate as clinching a business happens after a while, especially for a beginner. Worse still, some transactions depend on variables that are entirely out of your control. Through these transactions, you’ll become a better agent by learning invaluable lessons, whether the prospects materialize into business or fail. 

• You must be highly motivated to continue as a real estate agent. Sometimes a deal can crumble at the last minute for reasons beyond your control despite your considerable financial and emotional investment in pitching for the business. 

• You have a narrow client base at the start of your real estate career, yet you have limited time to prospect as you work part-time. You must be economical with the possible time to plan, prospect, organize showings, and follow up leads and transactions. You can work around this by hiring an assistant or collaborating with other agents in your area to assist follow-up on scheduled client meetings.  

• Recession impacts the real estate industry significantly. Such external factors could impede growth and affect your morale as a part-time real estate agent. 

Steps in Becoming a Part-time Real Estate Agent  

1. Assess the real estate market situation where you intend to practice.
2. Do a self-review; introspect to decide if you possess the qualities necessary to succeed in real estate sales. 
3. Count the financial cost necessary to launch a career in real estate; consider study fees, licensure, and practice costs.
4. Define a workable schedule that ensures you remain productive at your workplace while creating room to accommodate your new part-time role.
5. Research on licensing requirements and your eligibility.
6. Choose the right brokerage “to hang your license”; major national brokerage brands like Keller Williams are more accepting of part time agents and offer training.
7. Take your real estate licensing exam.
8. Join your local MLS board; MLS or Multiple Listing Service, which is a centralized database that allows you to view listed properties in the area and post properties for sale.
9. Hit the road running and begin selling and aggressively marketing your service.

When Do You Transition to Full-Time?

You can transition to full-time when you have savings to take you for at least 3 to 6 months’ worth of savings to cushion you if you don’t close a sale and to cater to your real estate costs licensing, and membership dues. 

You need to adjust your schedule gradually to make your full-time job part-time so that you invest more in real estate. 

Tips to Succeed as a Part-time Sales Agent

• Commit to succeeding; don’t be lukewarm because you’re a part-timer. Clients expect you to offer the best possible professional service. You’re not a part-time amateur but a full-time professional working part-time. 

• High-level time management; schedule your meetings when you are off-work on your primary job.

• Leverage by employing the use of an assistant. An online social media manager or a visual assistant who can handle calls for you while you work. You can also work closely with other agents to help around with clients who may be available when you are working.

• It’s recommended you get mentorship from an experienced agent. Mentorship is an easy way to learn industry best practices as a professional.

• Set a time when you’ll have completed transitioning into a full-time real estate career. Goal-setting drives activity and deals a critical blow to passivity when you are continually marking timing in a profession with little forward-movement. 

• Train hard by taking full advantage of available learning opportunities offline or online to improve your soft skills and awareness of industry news and trends. 

• Stash some savings that can take care of you for 3 to 6 months when you begin a full-time real estate career. The real estate market is slow and you could take a few months before a real deal closes, and you receive payment. 

• Explore the various hustles that can be financially rewarding in the real estate industry and use them to augment your income. These include becoming a notary, making referral fees by referring cash-based deals to real estate investors, and offering freelancing services in the real estate niche. 

Conclusion

The stability of a full-time job offers a solid stepping stone into the unchartered waters of real estate. Maintaining your position helps you absorb the extra costs that come with course work, licensing, and business expenses in real estate. You should handle the transition well to not jeopardize your full-time job as you grow into real estate as a part-time agent.