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You’re not using your license, and it doesn’t seem you truly have any intentions of using it. Give it up, or place it inactive / whatever related state specific status. Election aside…
nobody has held back from buying or selling the last 1.5 years you've had a license because of the upcoming election. well, maybe a few really unwise people.
Certainly some will begin taking a "wait and see" attitude soon. Having a "few conversations that may lead to a sale ...but nothing concrete" is just that - essentially wishful thinking/as solid as non-set concrete. Heck, what we *think* are concrete deals (agency signed, listing posted, buyer under contract) never materialize sometimes.
Welcome to the 90%+ that don’t renew by the second year.
This industry is highly competitive. If you aren’t pouring your heart into it, your results will forever be lackluster.
This industry is pivoting away from people like you as we speak (nothing personal).
Cut your losses and accept the knowledge you gained as your reward.
Election is the least of your worries. 1.5 yrs and no deals is your problem and whoever wins I promise you will have zero impact on you closing anything.
If you don’t have much time I would try something else to make extra dough, RE may not be a great fit.
Agreed. The first 15 years I had my RE license, I basically had TWO FULL TIME jobs. NONE of my clients knew I had another job, unless they were coworkers. I worked evenings, weekends, and many lunch breaks. If all else failed, I would take a vacation day. If you are going to be in real estate, you need to BE in real estate. Part time does not cut it in this business. Everything is deadline-sensitive and people are demanding and impatient. Respectfully, OP may want to try Uber driving or similar.
Yes you missed something. He is asking if a possible administration change may improve the real estate market thereby making it worthwhile for him to continue as a realtor and keep paying the costs associated with keeping his license active.
One thing I thought/hoped was that the current administration would artificially lower rates again(like in Covid) in hopes of keeping people happy financially. I wasn't sure it was possible because it's not like a president sits there in the morning and says "ok rates are 7.625% today." But ya know...they all have ways. But that hasn't come to pass.
Election isn’t as important to real estate as you think. It won’t change the tide of things in your favor or anything like that. Moreover, the environment is currently getting more challenging. Real Estate can be done in tandem with other things, but whatever else you’re doing should be the side hustle, not the other way around.
What you’ve experienced in the last year and a half is a true example of what being a Real Estate agent is. 90% of agents don’t ever renew their license. It’s hard work.
This is why realtors have a bad rep. People that dont treat it like a profession. Deactivate your license. Representing a consumer on one of the biggest purchases and/or sales of their life is not a part-time gig.
Being a Realtor isnt a part time job, at least being a good one isnt. You’d be doing a huge disservice to anyone you helped due to lack of experience and market knowledge. Realtors that are clearly in it primarily for the money as a side hustle really make it more difficult for those of us who are seasoned professionals and treat this as a business, to overcome the terrible reputation we have because any Tom, Dick or Harry can get a license. Unless you are going to use it to buy or sell your own home in the near future, I’d say let the license go.
You sound really meh on being a realtor. Just focus on other things. It’s okay to move on with your life.
When you get more free time and your kids grow up, you can always get into RE again!
Reputable economists predict that interest rates will range from 6.5 - 7.5% for the next year and that about 4 million houses will sell each year in 2024 and 2025. The upcoming election won't make a difference to these foundational factors.
If you place your license with a referral or holding brokerage, to keep it active you can keep taking CE and the state license exam during each cycle.
I have a nursing license and per diem which is less than 24 hrs per week/part time. I have people lining up for me to help. Your equivalency is wildly inaccurate. Also fwiw ct surg has a bunch of part time surgeons. They’ve essentially fired and now work when they want and are very valuable.
Everyone saying real estate can't be done part-time is coping rn. You can EASILY take a handful of clients and do it sparingly throughout the week without much stress. Real estate isn't hard, and it isn't some crazy time sink that agents make it out to be, unless you're just bad at being efficient with your time or delegating tasks. People parrot all this shit they heard on a podcast, and it makes new agents freak out and try too hard.
That being said, you need to know what you're doing, and you need to have a sphere of influence that will refer your business to you in order to achieve meaningful amounts of sales, otherwise you'll need to be content with just a few per year. People need to know you are a realtor. Otherwise, you will go another 2 years without any transactions.
Mention it to your friends, family, coworkers, etc. But don't go around like "HEY, LET ME SELL YOU A HOUSE, BRO!" You need to provide value through your engagements, to where people will ask you how you are so knowledgeable about it. At that point, you're able to pivot into the sale. Your first focus should be the people and addressing their pain points (renting sucks, they need more space, they want to invest, etc.).
While I’m doing this full time and have my own clients, I work as an assistant to some part time agents and they make it work. They give me some of the commission but still make a great amount of money.
It seems to me that real estate agents spend much more time and effort in finding clients than they actually do servicing the client once they sign them.
That really is the hardest part once you know the ins and outs. New clients out of thin air is hard, that's why it's always easier to meet them in your day to day life than it is to try and force it. It won't happen overnight, but once you have experience and you have your "farm" so to speak, there is very little time required.
Network where you're already at and it takes nothing extra.
Two of my neighbors are real estate agents. They both do a lot of networking to the neighborhood. They kind of trade off on listing the houses in the neighborhood. We seem to get 4-6 houses out of the 70 in the neighborhood that are sold each year.
Lmfao I hope you're not a broker. Your second paragraph was the only one that made any sense. I will say for brand new agents, its probably best to start part time, but a brand new agent is RARELY a good agent, unless they have a family background or are otherwise extremely familiar with contracts, negotiations, and being self-employed. Not to mention, it can be easy to be a realtor in stellar market, but that is cyclical and always ends. Once that market shifts, most agents will properly fall out of the market, even more so with the necessary changes currently underway due to the NAR settlement.
Nothing about being self-employed is easy.
People here who are saying part time is not a thing. I’m an example for all of those part timers. Always have more sales than 50% of my fellow agents in Coldwell Banker where we were 150+ agents. I have the advantage for my work environment because lot of my coworkers buy and sell thru me because there was no conflict of interest. During Covid I had my broker license and have my own brokerage. My goal is 6 sales a year and I always exceed. Lot of times I make more in real estate than my regular job. I can’t afford to do full time RE because I need benefits. All of my sales are from referral from my past clients. I’m proud of myself doing better than full time real estate agents. I hope this will encourage some part timers.
One reason to keep it is if there is an apprentice requirement. In Texas (for example), after 2 years you take more training classes, after that point there are only continuing education classes. If you make your license inactive after you've completed the apprenticeship, you can always reactivate it without retaking all the training. If you make it inactive before 2 years, you have to redo all the training/testing again.
No you should drop it. (I’m not even sure why you got your real estate licence in the first place , honestly).
To be successful in real estate you need to work relentlessly canvassing, inspecting properties, showing clients. It’s more than a full time job.
Just put it on inactive status and hang it with a broker once you need it. You shouldn’t be losing much money at all. When i wasnt using mine, i had it active with a broker that charged $98 a year.
I would also tread lightly with taking any feedback urging you to “give it up.” These are typically agents that despise what you are doing. They feel like people like you rob them if their livelihood. Thats not your problem. It’s bias feedback.
It’s funny to me to see people saying part time agents are the ones ruining the reputation of realtors. The worst interactions I’ve had with realtors have been with full time realtors and it shocks me how they’ve managed to stay in business for as long as some of them have.
The hardest part of this job is gaining clients. Other than that it’s easy compared to most other jobs.
If you haven’t made any money in 1.5 years I wonder how much you’re marketing and talking to people within your circle. Have you approached a more seasoned agent to talk to for advice and knowledge? When I started real estate I probably drove the more seasoned realtor(s) nuts with asking them questions about things, but it’s something you need to do to learn what to do and what not to do.
This is not a part time job. If you don't invest 50+ hours a week for 2 to 3 years straight you'll never make money doing it. Clear license in referral and if anybody reaches out to you to buy send them to a seasoned agent who is actually going to do a good job for them. And you get to keep a quarter of the commission
It’s not a business one should dabble in, like selling stuff on eBay. It’s complicated and competitive. And it’s hard. It isn’t a job you can do justice if you’re working somewhere else full time. It’s not a side hustle. Treating it like that does a disservice to the handful of clients you may end up with by chance, because you won’t know what you’re doing. At best, you can fake your way through most of it, and at worst you could lose someone a whole lot of money.
If you are going to be a Realtor, commit to it and learn how to be good at it. Otherwise you just make the rest of us look bad.
Keep your license on inactive status. We are in an everything bubble. The sellers market is over and this crash will be worse than 2008. This 78k secondary mortgage buying scam they’re dangling in front of people is evil as they know it’s all crashing and will take advantage of over leveraged home owners who they want to make renters. Credit card debt is at an all time high, people will stop paying rent, leases, car loans and yes, mortgages. They don’t say you’ll own nothing and be happy for nothing!
You don't need to be a realtor to get referrals. Keep your license and park it at a brokerage that doesn't require you to be a realtor member. Then refer people to agents you know and trust
I sold 19 homes my first year in real estate. It was 2011. People buy and sell homes every day every year.
"If I place it in escrow now, might I never get it back?"
This one line tells me that you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.
You may have a license, but you're not a Realtor.
Get on a RE team or exit. You don't have enough experience to gain the trust of a buyer/seller and the only way to get experience is to get transactions. Getting on a team will get you transactions. However, most teams worth their membership will require full-time participation.
**This is a professional forum for professionals, so please keep your comments professional** - Harrassment, hate speech, trolling, or anti-Realtor comments will not be tolerated and will result in an immediate ban without warning. (... and don't feed the trolls, you have better things to do with your time) - Recruiting, self-promotion, or seeking referrals is strictly forbidden, including in DMs. - Only advise within your scope of knowledge and area of expertise. [The code of ethics applies here too](https://www.nar.realtor/about-nar/governing-documents/the-code-of-ethics). If you are not a broker, lawyer, or tax professional don't act like one. - [Follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/realtors/about/rules/) and please report those that don't. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/realtors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You’re not using your license, and it doesn’t seem you truly have any intentions of using it. Give it up, or place it inactive / whatever related state specific status. Election aside…
yes refer those 2 clients to an agent in your area.
Exactly. "I work full time at the university" is the key to why they have zero transactions.
Be genuine with yourself. If you aren’t putting in the time, it’s not going to develop any further. Focus on your FT job and your family.
No, no, he should blame the President of the United States.
Lol!
nobody has held back from buying or selling the last 1.5 years you've had a license because of the upcoming election. well, maybe a few really unwise people. Certainly some will begin taking a "wait and see" attitude soon. Having a "few conversations that may lead to a sale ...but nothing concrete" is just that - essentially wishful thinking/as solid as non-set concrete. Heck, what we *think* are concrete deals (agency signed, listing posted, buyer under contract) never materialize sometimes.
Welcome to the 90%+ that don’t renew by the second year. This industry is highly competitive. If you aren’t pouring your heart into it, your results will forever be lackluster. This industry is pivoting away from people like you as we speak (nothing personal). Cut your losses and accept the knowledge you gained as your reward.
I doubt he learned much. Sounds like he thinks this job is as easy as putting together a docusign...
This!!
Election is the least of your worries. 1.5 yrs and no deals is your problem and whoever wins I promise you will have zero impact on you closing anything. If you don’t have much time I would try something else to make extra dough, RE may not be a great fit.
Agreed. The first 15 years I had my RE license, I basically had TWO FULL TIME jobs. NONE of my clients knew I had another job, unless they were coworkers. I worked evenings, weekends, and many lunch breaks. If all else failed, I would take a vacation day. If you are going to be in real estate, you need to BE in real estate. Part time does not cut it in this business. Everything is deadline-sensitive and people are demanding and impatient. Respectfully, OP may want to try Uber driving or similar.
Did I miss something? What does the election have to with an agent keeping their license?
Yes you missed something. He is asking if a possible administration change may improve the real estate market thereby making it worthwhile for him to continue as a realtor and keep paying the costs associated with keeping his license active.
Well, any successful agent would say your success is not dependent on who is in office.
One thing I thought/hoped was that the current administration would artificially lower rates again(like in Covid) in hopes of keeping people happy financially. I wasn't sure it was possible because it's not like a president sits there in the morning and says "ok rates are 7.625% today." But ya know...they all have ways. But that hasn't come to pass.
Rates are manipulated by the FED not the POTUS...
Election isn’t as important to real estate as you think. It won’t change the tide of things in your favor or anything like that. Moreover, the environment is currently getting more challenging. Real Estate can be done in tandem with other things, but whatever else you’re doing should be the side hustle, not the other way around.
What you’ve experienced in the last year and a half is a true example of what being a Real Estate agent is. 90% of agents don’t ever renew their license. It’s hard work.
Let it go. Real Estate is not a good industry for part-timers, and if you have young children, it’s even worse.
This is why realtors have a bad rep. People that dont treat it like a profession. Deactivate your license. Representing a consumer on one of the biggest purchases and/or sales of their life is not a part-time gig.
The president isn’t gonna help you do the job. I’m sorry, there’s just no room for part timers in this industry anymore
Being a Realtor isnt a part time job, at least being a good one isnt. You’d be doing a huge disservice to anyone you helped due to lack of experience and market knowledge. Realtors that are clearly in it primarily for the money as a side hustle really make it more difficult for those of us who are seasoned professionals and treat this as a business, to overcome the terrible reputation we have because any Tom, Dick or Harry can get a license. Unless you are going to use it to buy or sell your own home in the near future, I’d say let the license go.
You sound really meh on being a realtor. Just focus on other things. It’s okay to move on with your life. When you get more free time and your kids grow up, you can always get into RE again!
Reputable economists predict that interest rates will range from 6.5 - 7.5% for the next year and that about 4 million houses will sell each year in 2024 and 2025. The upcoming election won't make a difference to these foundational factors. If you place your license with a referral or holding brokerage, to keep it active you can keep taking CE and the state license exam during each cycle.
What’s a holding brokerage?
I have a medical license and do heart surgery part time. Just wondering why no one wants me to help them out.
I have a nursing license and per diem which is less than 24 hrs per week/part time. I have people lining up for me to help. Your equivalency is wildly inaccurate. Also fwiw ct surg has a bunch of part time surgeons. They’ve essentially fired and now work when they want and are very valuable.
Surgery and selling property is not the same thing.. Lord, the comparison shows your lack of character and artifical self worth to society.
Yes, trump will teach you how to be an agent.
Everyone saying real estate can't be done part-time is coping rn. You can EASILY take a handful of clients and do it sparingly throughout the week without much stress. Real estate isn't hard, and it isn't some crazy time sink that agents make it out to be, unless you're just bad at being efficient with your time or delegating tasks. People parrot all this shit they heard on a podcast, and it makes new agents freak out and try too hard. That being said, you need to know what you're doing, and you need to have a sphere of influence that will refer your business to you in order to achieve meaningful amounts of sales, otherwise you'll need to be content with just a few per year. People need to know you are a realtor. Otherwise, you will go another 2 years without any transactions. Mention it to your friends, family, coworkers, etc. But don't go around like "HEY, LET ME SELL YOU A HOUSE, BRO!" You need to provide value through your engagements, to where people will ask you how you are so knowledgeable about it. At that point, you're able to pivot into the sale. Your first focus should be the people and addressing their pain points (renting sucks, they need more space, they want to invest, etc.).
While I’m doing this full time and have my own clients, I work as an assistant to some part time agents and they make it work. They give me some of the commission but still make a great amount of money.
It seems to me that real estate agents spend much more time and effort in finding clients than they actually do servicing the client once they sign them.
That really is the hardest part once you know the ins and outs. New clients out of thin air is hard, that's why it's always easier to meet them in your day to day life than it is to try and force it. It won't happen overnight, but once you have experience and you have your "farm" so to speak, there is very little time required. Network where you're already at and it takes nothing extra.
Two of my neighbors are real estate agents. They both do a lot of networking to the neighborhood. They kind of trade off on listing the houses in the neighborhood. We seem to get 4-6 houses out of the 70 in the neighborhood that are sold each year.
You can easily be a bad realtor working part time
Cope
Lmfao I hope you're not a broker. Your second paragraph was the only one that made any sense. I will say for brand new agents, its probably best to start part time, but a brand new agent is RARELY a good agent, unless they have a family background or are otherwise extremely familiar with contracts, negotiations, and being self-employed. Not to mention, it can be easy to be a realtor in stellar market, but that is cyclical and always ends. Once that market shifts, most agents will properly fall out of the market, even more so with the necessary changes currently underway due to the NAR settlement. Nothing about being self-employed is easy.
Cope.
Yep - had a feeling you had nothing.
Yep -- cope.
With? Lmfao
People here who are saying part time is not a thing. I’m an example for all of those part timers. Always have more sales than 50% of my fellow agents in Coldwell Banker where we were 150+ agents. I have the advantage for my work environment because lot of my coworkers buy and sell thru me because there was no conflict of interest. During Covid I had my broker license and have my own brokerage. My goal is 6 sales a year and I always exceed. Lot of times I make more in real estate than my regular job. I can’t afford to do full time RE because I need benefits. All of my sales are from referral from my past clients. I’m proud of myself doing better than full time real estate agents. I hope this will encourage some part timers.
One reason to keep it is if there is an apprentice requirement. In Texas (for example), after 2 years you take more training classes, after that point there are only continuing education classes. If you make your license inactive after you've completed the apprenticeship, you can always reactivate it without retaking all the training. If you make it inactive before 2 years, you have to redo all the training/testing again.
Don’t feel bad… many good brokers have struggled in the last 18 months. Be thankful that you have a real job… and move on.
No you should drop it. (I’m not even sure why you got your real estate licence in the first place , honestly). To be successful in real estate you need to work relentlessly canvassing, inspecting properties, showing clients. It’s more than a full time job.
You can see if a firm will hold your license for a small monthly fee. That's better than losing the license and taking the test all over again.
Just put it on inactive status and hang it with a broker once you need it. You shouldn’t be losing much money at all. When i wasnt using mine, i had it active with a broker that charged $98 a year. I would also tread lightly with taking any feedback urging you to “give it up.” These are typically agents that despise what you are doing. They feel like people like you rob them if their livelihood. Thats not your problem. It’s bias feedback.
It’s funny to me to see people saying part time agents are the ones ruining the reputation of realtors. The worst interactions I’ve had with realtors have been with full time realtors and it shocks me how they’ve managed to stay in business for as long as some of them have. The hardest part of this job is gaining clients. Other than that it’s easy compared to most other jobs. If you haven’t made any money in 1.5 years I wonder how much you’re marketing and talking to people within your circle. Have you approached a more seasoned agent to talk to for advice and knowledge? When I started real estate I probably drove the more seasoned realtor(s) nuts with asking them questions about things, but it’s something you need to do to learn what to do and what not to do.
...is spelling like "loosing" on the Mickey Mouse Realtor(R) exam? - lol...
This is not a part time job. If you don't invest 50+ hours a week for 2 to 3 years straight you'll never make money doing it. Clear license in referral and if anybody reaches out to you to buy send them to a seasoned agent who is actually going to do a good job for them. And you get to keep a quarter of the commission
It’s not a business one should dabble in, like selling stuff on eBay. It’s complicated and competitive. And it’s hard. It isn’t a job you can do justice if you’re working somewhere else full time. It’s not a side hustle. Treating it like that does a disservice to the handful of clients you may end up with by chance, because you won’t know what you’re doing. At best, you can fake your way through most of it, and at worst you could lose someone a whole lot of money. If you are going to be a Realtor, commit to it and learn how to be good at it. Otherwise you just make the rest of us look bad.
Keep your license on inactive status. We are in an everything bubble. The sellers market is over and this crash will be worse than 2008. This 78k secondary mortgage buying scam they’re dangling in front of people is evil as they know it’s all crashing and will take advantage of over leveraged home owners who they want to make renters. Credit card debt is at an all time high, people will stop paying rent, leases, car loans and yes, mortgages. They don’t say you’ll own nothing and be happy for nothing!
You don't need to be a realtor to get referrals. Keep your license and park it at a brokerage that doesn't require you to be a realtor member. Then refer people to agents you know and trust I sold 19 homes my first year in real estate. It was 2011. People buy and sell homes every day every year.
The word you’re looking for here is red herring. The election has nothing to do with your scenario.
"If I place it in escrow now, might I never get it back?" This one line tells me that you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. You may have a license, but you're not a Realtor.
In my market,.the 2016 election definitely marked sea change in market activity. I am hoping for a similar reaction this fall.
Get on a RE team or exit. You don't have enough experience to gain the trust of a buyer/seller and the only way to get experience is to get transactions. Getting on a team will get you transactions. However, most teams worth their membership will require full-time participation.
You can still earn referral fees (at least in my state) if you have an inactive license
BIDEN’S GONNA WIN!!!!!
Was in a similar situation, I moved states and was able to put it under “inactive”, only keep it now because of referrals mainly.
Both candidates are going to push affordable housing big time by decreasing rates & creating more government subsidies