The Pros and Cons of Being a Real Estate Agent

Are you considering becoming a real estate agent, but not sure whether it’s worth it? We’ve put together this blog to break down some of the pros and cons of being a real estate agent, so you can feel informed before making a career shift.

As you’ll read, being a real estate agent can be remarkably rewarding and lucrative work, but it’s no walk in the park. In this list of real estate pros and cons, you’ll get a better idea of what responsibilities a real estate agent has, and the conditions that come with them.

Get clued up before joining the over 1.5 million realtors in the country!

What Do Real Estate Agents Do?

Before breaking down the pros and cons of being a real estate agent, it’s important to fully understand what the job entails.

A real estate agent is essentially a licensed middleman between a landlord and a potential tenant. It’s the job of the agent to find buyers and renters for properties on the market, shepherding any negotiations or disputes throughout the process.

Typical responsibilities include:

● Meeting clients
● Staging and preparing homes for viewings and showings
● Completing any administrative paperwork
● Researching the housing market
● Marketing homes
● Being present at any contract signing

As you can see, being a real estate agent is no small feat.

Pros of Being a Real Estate Agent

Despite the heavy workload, there are many benefits of being a real estate agent.

Flexibility

As a real estate agent, you’re essentially self-employed, meaning that you set your own working schedule. This can come in handy if you’ve got a busy day-to-day life, whether that’s due to raising a family, maintaining an active social schedule, or often having to travel to see family.

As a successful real estate agent, you can theoretically march to the beat of your own drum.

Unlimited Potential for Income

Real estate agents generally walk away with 2.5-3% of the selling price with every home sold. To put that in context, if you facilitate the selling of a $2 million house, you could walk away with $50-60,000. Not bad for one project! The median salary for a real estate agent in the US is around $48,000, but there’s endless potential to make more if you put the work in.

Of course, not every area has properties at the same price levels, but with a constant flow of commission, you can build a strong nest egg in the real estate industry.

Potential for Growth

The real estate market is massive, meaning that creating success can give you a lot of upwards momentum. Word of mouth travels far with real estate, and if you build a strong reputation in a local area, you have the potential to turn your name into a huge business. Much like with income, growth is essentially uncapped in real estate.

While it’s the kind of job you can start all by yourself, it’s also a job where you could eventually be in charge of a large staff.

It’s a Rewarding Job

Beyond all the quantifiable benefits of being a real estate agent, there’s nothing better than the smile on a happy client’s face when they get the keys to their dream home. When working as a real estate agent, you’re helping people to live the life they’ve always wanted.

Cons of Being a Real Estate Agent

With all the exciting possibilities, it’s worth noting that there can be some serious disadvantages of being a real estate agent.

Competition

Real estate isn’t a particularly supportive industry – if you get in the game, you’re going to be in competition with all the other agents in your area. This not only means having to have the best marketing for yourself and the homes you represent, but also dealing with people who want to negotiate deals with the exact same people as you.

It’s important to get a few deals under your belt before trying to compete with the big dogs in your area, as their reputations will trump your expertise almost every time.

No Repeat Customers

In other businesses, such as hospitality or retail, a lot of your business will come from repeat customers and clients – this isn’t the case in real estate. For the most part, you’ll be connecting clients with their lifelong homes, meaning after the transaction is done, it’s on to a brand new project.

While there are always more clients out there, there’s no guarantee that the same practices will work across the board, meaning you have to move and evolve with the job.

It’s a Volatile Industry

One thing that it’s always worth remembering is that real estate isn’t as sure of a thing as it sounds. True, everyone needs a home, but that doesn’t make the marketplace bulletproof. If 2008 taught us anything, the housing market has the potential to fail, which means you could find yourself in a tough situation.

The financial crisis has had ramifications that still affect all of us today, meaning linking a client with their dream home might not be as easy as you’d hope.

Is Real Estate a Good Career?

So with all of the pros and cons of being a real estate in mind, you need to consider whether it feels like the right path for you. Is being a real estate agent hard? Yes of course. Can it be a massively rewarding job? Even more so.

The pros and cons inform each other, which is worth remembering at every stage. Working to your own schedule can free up time, but it can also mean you work longer hours than ever before. Commissions can be huge, but they come one at a time. There’s potential for growth, but only after rising above the competition.

If getting into real estate, just make sure to pin down what it is that you can bring to the table and what you can leverage to stand out.

For more information on the real estate industry and the tools, you could use to succeed, visit our website today!