katclaws: Why don't you stay in real estate and go to the rental side instead of the sales side? You could work directly for a property management firm that specializes in rentals (homes, condos, duplexes). Standard real estate agencies often have one person handing rentals in their office also (with sales being their key business), but in this case you probably need experience. Working in a larger "rental only" agency would allow you to work closely with the more experiences rental specialists. Also their is a commercial arm to property management too, where they rent out strip malls and office space and even industrial space to businesses.

Also, don't overlook the lenders. They often hire agents to assist with REO marketing. A lender doesn't need to have a licensed agent selling REO because it's an owner sale but many large lenders use agents for their experience. It's worth picking up the phone & calling a few...work up a little 'speech' telling HR why they should hire you for their REO department.

Good luck with future endeavors. True enough, it's tough times in the industry now.

/tricia

I was one of the recent posters that was looking for info. regarding Real Estate as a career. Everything you mentioned is a definite concern of mine. That aside, I've decided to take the class and go for my license. I have full intention of signing on with a local agency.

My thoughts are that this may be the perfect time for me to get my foot in the door.

My DH is the bread-winner and I am currently a stay at home Mom. My youngest is going to school full-time in the fall so I am looking for something that has some flexibility, as I still want to be available for my children.

I am on the East Coast and the market is not great, but I'm sure that things will turn around eventually.

My sister is a Rental agent in Boston and for her things are slower than prior years but still steady. I am not in an area where rentals are common so my focus will be sales.

I hope everything works out for you.

I work in a real estate related industry (virtual tour provider), and I deal with realtors on a daily basis. I personally know dozens of realtors that have left the industry in the past six months, and anecdotally, the word on the street from speaking to other realtors is that times are getting tough, especially for "newbies" who just don't have the built up clientale or experience. When your entire salary is based on the sale/purchase of a house, and sales of houses are dropping like a stone lately, is it any wonder that realtors are leaving the industry in droves?

The major exodus of REAs happens everytime we have a Recession.
I used to be in RE part-time during the last Recession 1980's-1990's. I kept my real job(I was single). TG I did, because the RE really did not pan out. I left the industry, like many newbies. That was a blow to my ego because I always succeded in everything I attempted. I couldn't control the RE market. I genuinely loved it. I love helping people & love RE. I didn't go into it for the money, but geez Louise, you gotta pay your bills...

If you are in the position where you are not the breadwinner, I think NOW is great time to get your feet in the door & learn slowly. When it gets busy again, you'll be all set.

Hang in there. The Re market ALWAYS comes back.

Without the write offs, many agents who just dabble in Real Estate and are not "Real Estate Professional", will have to rethink if it's worthwhile to continue doing it.

Here is a link that might be useful: IRS is Eyeing Real Estate Practitioners

Starting a career in any field is difficult with a lot of setbacks and investment (in time, energy, and money) along the way. There is also a bias against training older people in a totally new line of work for a lot of reasons (valid or not). I would say that the deck was pretty well stacked against someone choosing to be a real estate *agent* as a career with existing experienced agents filling any niche or new position that they can trying not to be squeezed out (it would be kind of like trying to find a new job at a GM plant). If someone was thinking about going into the real estate industry in IT and had the ejoyment and aptitude for it (a fairly unusual techie type person, sorry but its true) I would say that would be an excellent choice.

The real estate industry is changing very rapidly whether it wants to or not and real estate agents dont have as much control over it as they would like. The main reason that I see for this is the ability to control and distribute information on the net. The downturn (the bubble that everyone saw but didnÂt believe) may accelerate the process but it was coming anyway - the money has to come from somewhere and it is not going to come from the people that manage the system and control the information - they will look to streamline the process cutting out middlemen (remember door to door salesmen or Âma and pa stores?) lowering costs to consumers *while* making larger profits for themselves. This is a process that they could not stop even if they wanted to because someone else would come in and "eat their lunch" if they did not (kind of like what WalMart or Amazon did).

Not very long ago there was no practical way (imo) to find a house to buy without a real estate agent (other than happening to drive by a sign or seeing an ad in a local paper). It wasnÂt until 5 years ago that you could even have mls data online - let alone find it or have it in a useful format. Just a few years back there werenÂt even serious debates over the value or need for an agent to sell your house - which is generally still considered to be a good idea- but in the near future conventional wisdom could change.

There is always a place for those who can adapt to change and are willing to make sacrifices to do what they need to succeed at or enjoy doing. Going into any field just because it is seen as an easy or quick way to make money is a mistake when choosing a career (which by definition is not temporary). I know that this is not why all people who have became realtors in the recent past have done so but in my limited exposure I would say that it is fairly obvious that its a rather large percentage.