Can You Be a Real Estate Agent Part-Time?

Real estate is a huge industry, with over 15 million agents across the US. But is being a real estate agent always a full-time job, or can you be a real estate agent part-time? One of the key draws of the job to many people is the freedom to choose their own hours, but that freedom often comes at the price of long working hours.

We’ve put together this blog to expand on the concept of being a part-time realtor, explaining how you might become one and the consequences of choosing such a path.

What is a Part-Time Real Estate Agent?

The jobs of part-time realtors are pretty easy to understand – they’re essentially the same as other real estate agents, but they just don’t dedicate all of their time to real estate. This might be because they already have another part-time job, are studying, or supporting a family. Either way, they have many of the same responsibilities as a full-timer, but most likely in smaller swathes.

Can You Be a Part-Time Real Estate Agent?

In short, yes! All you need is a license and enough time to get the job done. However, it’s worth considering that as a part-time real estate agent, you’re less likely to work for yourself as a business owner. As a part-timer, it’s more likely that you’ll end up working for one of the over 100,000 brokerage firms across the US.

It’s also worth noting that the average part-time realtor will be working between 15-30 hours a week, which is still a fairly significant time commitment.

How to Become a Part-Time Real Estate Agent

Now that we know the answer to “Can you do real estate part-time?” is yes, let’s look at how the job is done.

Step 1: Get Your License

The first step is, of course, getting your professional real estate license. Now, this might sound like a massive undertaking, but in reality, it’s not actually that difficult. In fact, there are countless online schools for gaining your license.

You just need to prove your aptitude in some preliminary tests, then you can study and take the proper exams. After passing and receiving your license, you can register with your state and legally start selling.

Step 2: Join a Brokerage Firm

Next is the first example of where you’ll have to sell yourself – if you can’t do this, then you’re unlikely to find any success as a part-time real estate agent. You need to set up an interview with a local brokerage firm and convince them that you’ll be a useful member of the team, despite not working full-time.

This could take some trial and error, but it will set you up properly for the next step.

Step 3: Build a Network

Once you’ve gained your place in a firm, you can start to build a network of colleagues, creating partnerships with both full-time and part-time realtors. By doing this, you can gain some valuable knowledge of the local area, while also potentially setting yourself up to share listings with other agents.

Step 4: Create Your Plans

The next step is to create your very own plans of attack for the industry. Without a strong idea of the direction you’re planning to move in, you’ll find yourself at loose ends wherever you turn.

This includes a:

Business Plan: This should be your general plan for keeping track of your outgoings and planned incomings, along with how you believe you’re going to make your money. This can cover considering your target audience and dream-sell properties, while also paying mind to your brokerage split – the amount of money you’ll have to split with the firm you work for.

Marketing Plan: It’s tough to market yourself as a part-time realtor, so it’s important that you figure out the right way to approach advertising yourself and the properties under your watch. Things like email marketing and social media can be organized and taken care of in dedicated CRM platforms, while more traditional marketing strategies such as flyering and postcards can also be very effective. Find what you can offer, and make it clear.

Lead Generation Plan: Lead generation is essentially the name of the game when it comes to your real estate career. Again, a CRM system will come especially in handy here, allowing you to keep track of prospects and interactions with them, along with collating information as you grow your network. Planning the proper lead generation techniques will make a huge difference.

Step 5: Create Your Schedule

Remember, you’re a part-timer, so you need to create a schedule that suits the requirements accordingly. This means getting all your ducks in a row with your home life, contacting any other jobs you’re working to let them know that your schedule will be changing, and making sure you still have enough time to look after yourself.

If you’re set on doing this part-time, don’t let it absorb too much of your time, but also allow for a transitionary period where you work a little longer than you plan on doing later on.

Step 6: Find Your First Clients and Make a Deal!

This step is a little easier said than done, but it’s those first deals that will set you up with the momentum to carry on going. You can either try to close a deal by yourself using your three plans for taking on the industry, or you can try to work with another agent and split a commission with them.

The latter option isn’t the most profitable choice, but it’s a good place to start.

Pros and Cons of Being a Part-Time Real Estate Agent

Finally, we’re going to break down the benefits and drawbacks of being a part-time real estate agent in brass tax.

Pros:

• As a part-time realtor, you can have more freedom to focus on another job or your home life.
• You can make a good amount of extra cash with just one or two deals.
• Competition against other agents will likely be less profound than if you work as a full-time agent.

Cons:

• The freedom that comes with part-timing isn’t guaranteed, and being a part-time realtor doesn’t guarantee that you won’t have to work overtime.
• There is no part-time realtor salary, meaning you could struggle to make money.
• Many clients will feel apprehensive about working with a part-time agent, as they might feel there’s a lack of commitment on your end.
• Brokerage firms are unlikely to give you a desk in the office for free.

Conclusion

So can you be a real estate agent part-time? Yes, you can! However, while it may seem like an easy way to get rich quick, it’s not always as “part-time” as it first seems. It still requires a lot of hard work and preparation, so it’s not the kind of job to take lightly.

If you feel that you have the capacity to do the job alongside running the rest of your life, then by all means, dive in. Just be prepared to take on a little more than you expect to start out with – the spoils of the work will reveal themselves as time goes on.

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