Part-Time Real Estate Agents - Urban Areas

[Jack Bauer]

Hi RE Agents,

I am curious about getting my real estate license and becoming a part-time agent.

How much time does it take to close a deal on average?

I am curious because it seems like the average commission is between 2-5% and in urban areas this could be great. A friend of mine does it part-time and he is trying to convince me to go on board, however I am skeptical about how much time I could dedicate to showing clients around.

He says that urban hipsters and yuppies are not as picky and only require 2-3 hours per week. Does this sound right for agents in LA, NYC, Boston, and other major areas?

 

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[TopProducer]

It depends.

I became a RE agent to do it part time and I had my license for about 3 months before I quit my job; I hadn't closed a single deal. I didn't even have a deal going. My full time job was taking up too much time to meet clients, preview houses, go to training, and etc. So I quit my day job.

Now, this next bit isn't meant to discourage you, but it's a piece of info that I wish I knew before jumping in. I'm not in a major metro, but our commissions are about 3-3.5%. Now, depending on your broker, they will take 30% of your commission, on average. Then, you are responsible for taking taxes out as well, which you figure another 35% (I personally plan for 45-50% set aside for taxes - don't want to be unable to pay - whatever is left is still mine to play with). Then there are MLS fees, realtor dues, continuing education. That is all stuff you have to pay regardless of how many deals you close. So, you have to sell $2.4 million in volume and your take home is in the $30K range? Depending on what the market is in your area, that will either be easy, or painstakingly hard. If your broker feeds you leads, great. If they don't, it's up to you to find them, and you better believe there are companies out there willing to sell you leads for a few hundred a month.

Now, the last bit, time to close a deal. It also depends on who is buying and how. I love working with investors. Good ones pay in cash and deals close in weeks at most. If you're dealing with the general public, time to close could be a few weeks or 3-4 months depending on how the deal goes, which again, plays into that bottom line.


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[Jav100]

Making money as an agent in my opinion is your ability to network with those who regularly trade real estate and to work with sellers primarily as buyers are quite time consuming to work with.


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[Under-Dog]

It all depends on your networking skills and ability to acquire new leads. Setting up a good "farm" in your area is important. At the end of the day it relies on your hustle, just how they are agents busting their asses closing deals after deals; they're agents who get comfortable closing just a handful deals a year. You will spend a lot of time on the weekends showing homes and hosting open houses. The fees vary by broker, some will charge 20%, some more some less.

 

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