Real Estate fanatic from South Florida

[Stef]

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to take this opportunity to formally introduce myself to the community. I have been reading this forum for probably over 2 years, but so far I didn't think I had much of value to contribute, hence why it took me so long to sign up.

I was born and raised in Germany, lived in London (UK) for a year and then moved to Miami about 5 years ago. I am a licensed Real Estate agent (potential to be very lucrative in this area) as well as investor, but interested in all kinds of business ventures. My goal is to own a diversified portfolio of businesses and rental real estate.

 

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[RBefort]

How long have you been an agent? What are your commission splits? Did you know anything about RE before becoming an agent? Why did you become one? Interested in hearing your story, because I am debating doing this myself. Been reading about RE and investing, but don't know if I really want to spend a huge chunk of change getting the license/keeping it. However, I just can't imagine waiting/working through someone else to do deals. Welcome! Also, if you're somehow not on biggerpockets.com, which I'm sure you are, go sign up!

 

[Stef]

How long have you been an agent? What are your commission splits? Did you know anything about RE before becoming an agent? Why did you become one? Interested in hearing your story, because I am debating doing this myself. Been reading about RE and investing, but don't know if I really want to spend a huge chunk of change getting the license/keeping it. However, I just can't imagine waiting/working through someone else to do deals. Welcome! Also, if you're somehow not on biggerpockets.com, which I'm sure you are, go sign up!

Hi there!

I've been licensed for about 2 years now, I am with a pretty reputable luxury brokerage down here and the split starts at 55% and goes up to 80% for you. There are companies that pay up to 95% or even 100%, but they are small and I wouldn't recommend them for a beginner especially if you're trying to sell high end Real Estate.

Being an agent is tough, let me tell you! It took me a while to start making money and lots of trial and error as to what works in getting customers. This is due to my location (there are more than 22,000 agents in South Florida), but the reason I chose to do this is that it can be kind of fastlane (actually that's up for debate). Some of the agents in my company made millions in commissions last year, but depending on where you are that might not be possible.

I really enjoy doing it and the rewards can be huge, I will probably stay with that company for another year tops and then my husband, his friend and I want to open our own brokerage which means 100% commission plus getting 30% from agents we hire (we plan on giving them a 70/30 split).

If you decide to get your license, feel free to ask me for what works and, most importantly, what doesn't work in terms of getting clients so you won't waste as much time (and money) as me figuring it out on your own.

 

[RBefort]

This is probably dependent by area, but you mentioned you are with a luxury brokerage...do you find it easier to sell luxurious houses down there than Single Family smaller homes? In my area (Kansas City), it would probably be completely opposite of down there. I have a fascination with big houses, so I think if I was ever going to do it I would have to move to a different area. Do you have any input on the competition in higher priced homes vs lower? Part of me thinks there's a bunch of wannabe's in the lower markets, but there's more supply of small single families; on the flip side, there might be a few less agents in the higher markets, but a smaller supply of nicer homes or a smaller demand for them. I don't really know enough to say any of that for sure, however. I just know if you sell higher priced goods, you have to sell less of them to make the same amount of money as a lower priced good---doesn't change the hustle aspect, however.

What did you do in the beginning to pay for everything until you got your first closing? Did you have another full time job or live off the hubby's salary to be completely focused on moving the RE mission along?

By the way, 70/30 sounds reasonable; only reason my non-expert self says that is because I think that's what a brokerage around here offers.

EDIT: Any recommendations where a younger couple around 30 might move down there and still have a good housing market if one were to be a RE agent? I don't know if I would ever move down there in the next few years, but hey, it's worth a thought!

 

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[Stef]

The reason why selling higher end houses works here is because there is such a big market for it and enough turnover. I am still trying to establish myself (there's a lot of competition of course) but it is easier to do here than in a market where there are only so many higher end properties to go around.

I don't turn down business for lower end (depending on the effort required I probably would refer sales under $200,000 out) but I aim for at least $600,000- $3 Million sale price. I definitely prospect above the $3 Million mark, but it does take a lot longer on average to get a sale on really high end houses or condos for the obvious reason that there are just less people overall that are able to afford these.

In the beginning, I survived on some savings and hubby's salary. I also wasted a ton of money on marketing strategies that brought zero results, and the beginnings were incredibly frustrating.

I am licensed in Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County and these are all good areas for Real Estate. But beware, it is a lot of hard work to get things going as far as having your first few sales goes. I am relatively young and not from here originally, so I was not able to rely on my 'sphere of influence' for my first few deals. Many people go into Real Estate in their 40's or 50's and they know lots of people so they have an easier time getting started, many people are also content with just a few deals a year just from referrals.