My Journey as a Real Estate Broker
I wasn't always thinking of becoming an agent. My journey into this career started unexpectedly and practically. After I delivered my second child, I started to feel like I need to do something else that's not house chore or children related. I needed a change. Then my best friend told me she's going to pursue real estate career. She was just like me at that time, stay-at-home mom, and I thought I could do it, too. We were happy to start that journey together. It was 2016.
Honestly, we were having pink glasses, metaphorically speaking. We thought that clients are going to come to us through our real estate firm, or somehow else, and that only we should focus on was having great customer relations and show houses around. We loved houses - after all, we were in the house all day. We redecorated our own houses and did small projects here and there all the time. And we were great with people! So why not?
Little we knew then that this business doesn't go that way. If we knew it, we wouldn't bite into it, probably. Anyways, we passed our exam (on the same day), got licensed at the same firm, and started working almost together. And then we saw how misinformed we were. There were no clients. No one is going to provide them to us. Even if you have someone asking about buying or selling, the pain to convert them into actually working with us was real. Now what?
We started investing in Zillow. We became their Premier Agent. And we gave them a lot of money, all wasted! Because we were inexperienced agents at that time, and we didn't know how to convert interested customers. We had huge loss and after three months we got out. But there was a question again - where should we find people to work with us? It was a real struggle!
We were supposed to ask friends if they or someone they knew might be interested in buying or selling a home, but we mainly shared the same friends. And I didn't want to be her competitor. I loved (still do) her much. So we somehow managed to separate our sphere of influence and ask our not-mutual-friends if they have someone to recommend. That's how I got my first client, and I cannot thank more to that friend who recommended someone I ended up closing my first deal. And closing a deal is a magnificent thing. Not that it boosts your confidence, it also proves that all your hard work paid off. I was beyond happy!
That boost in confidence only grew. I started working every open house for my colleagues I could. In our industry it's said that some people never get a client from open houses or that rarely happens, it happened to me one day in October 2017. I was holding an open house for my office colleague, and at the very end came in a couple wanting to make an offer on that property. After some negotiation, that offer also closed. No mention I was beyond happy again.
And that's how my real estate career launched. Maybe not how some super agents imagine it supposed to be, but it was working for me. I couldn't close as many deals as it might be a norm for some other agents, but with my primarily housewife duties this side job was perfect.
What were some good and not so good stuff for me through this journey, I'll summarize below.
Pros of being real estate agent for me:
It gave me freedom to work as hard as I can or no work at all
It gave me purpose
It boosted my confidence
Joy when I see happy clients is immense
It reminds me frequently of how many amazing people are around me
Always learning!
Cons of being real estate agent for me were:
Misinformation about what industry entails
Sometimes I need to deal with not-so-easy-to-deal-with people
Some people you rely on will disappoint you
It is NOT easy to find next good lead (and that's fine)
A lot of invested time and effort (and money, if you will) will be lost
As Independent contractor, there is no certain check. You need to fight for every dollar, and that's not stable income.
After all said, I won't complain. I am happy where I am now. I can work or not work whenever I want. It gives me great flexibility to juggle my household and work. And it still gives me purpose in my life.
I cannot thank enough to all of my friend for supporting my work. Guys, without you I wouldn't be here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
