How to become a Realtor?

[Street_Soldier]

Anyone here know how? Is it hard?

I dont want to do it as a job I just want to save some cash when i buy my first house.

Thanks

[Fcuk]

You take a 2 week course which i think is changing in 2007 or could have already possibly changed. after that if you pass i think you need a 70% or 80% to finish the course and recieve your certificate. Easy as that!

[Street_Soldier]

sweet dude! i m going to make millions

[robpark]

I believe it is going to become 6 weeks or 6 months (something like that) very shortly...

If it is just to save money...then cool...but if it is to do for a job...keep in mind there are already more than 5000 realtors in Calgary!

[TDA]

good luck... haha... for every 1 realtor that is striking it rich and living it high theres like 20 that are starving...

[nosegrindR]

Originally posted by TDA
good luck... haha... for every 1 realtor that is striking it rich and living it high theres like 20 that are starving...

especially with everyone lately jumping on the bandwagon thinking they're going to be rich

i'm glad they're extending the course length, hopefully it'll weed out all the idiots from this saturated market.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Street_Soldier
Anyone here know how? Is it hard?

I dont want to do it as a job I just want to save some cash when i buy my first house.

Thanks

You'll probably pay just as much for the course and signing up with a agency.

Unless you're seriously think it as a career, don't bother.

[Weapon_R]

Buy and sell your own property and make a minimum of 12k per home + appreciation. Awesome investment if you want to do that.

[JordanLotoski]

Iam a realtor...i took the course like 2 years ago. There were 32 people in my class.. Iam am the only one still doing it. Its a great job if you actually make it.


keep in mind there are a ton of expenses being a realor, my desk fees alone are close to 500 a month plus what i pay the calgary real estate board every month which is about 350.

Good luck.

[googe]

The hardest part isnt passing the test, but you need to be employed by a brokerage. Brokerages dont hire people that dont want to work and just want to save money on their own place

[Street_Soldier]

Thanks for the info guys.

Hmm will I have to pay the real estate board every month OR can I just pay them when I want to sell or but a home?

I m going to say this again, I m not going to be doing this as a career. Do you guys still think its still worth doing?

How hard is it to sign up with an agency?

[JRSC00LUDE]

Given my 10 years of land titles work experience, I would say the first step to becoming a successful realtor is to make sure you know absolutely fuck all about how land title transactions actually work. Morons.

Could just be a Saskatchewan anomaly though and no disrespect the those 1 in 100 that actually know what they're talking about!

Slightly off topic but needed that rant today.......good timing, thanks.

[Weapon_R]

Its VERY simple to find a job with a brokerage. Brokerages work on commission so it's not a big deal to them unless you are costing them and not making them any money.

Fees for the Real Estate Board are levied when you list or sell a property. There are also fees that you have to pay to keep your licence, but any decent realtor should easily cover his fees as the payoffs in real estate are great.

As for the job portion, real estate is perfect for full time or part time work. Even if you use it only to buy and sell homes for yourself, and no one else, its a worthwhile investment if you keep active.

[Street_Soldier]

thanks man. wish me luck.

[HRD2PLZ]

I have been a licensed Realtor since 2003. And similar to what MIWYFSHOT said, there is only 3 of us from my class of 35 still active in the business. In fact, I have done a few transactions for those I took the course with. Real Estate is an expensive business, I pay about $1000 for the franchised brokerage I work for, plus a commission split and the related CREB, AREA and RECA membership and licensing fee's. Not to mention phones, vehicles, etc. If you are planning on going into it to save money on your first home its probably not worth it, after you pay for the Provincial Licensing Course (changed since I have taken it) and the Calgary Real Estate Board Orientation you will have to join a brokerage. The brokerage will also take a commission split depending on the brokerage you chose. I would estimate the start-up costs to be in the neighbourhood of $5,000 - $7,500. My annual expenses (office fee's, licensing, etc) is probably in the range of $18,000 - $24,000.

Good Luck with your decision

[Palmiros]

Thanks for the info guys, I have been also thinking about this. I`m looking to make it a full-time job, in the future..

[robpark]

Yeah...everyone thinks they will strike it rich in real estate...

To put it into perspective....

I work on a team that sells homes generally in the multi-millions, close-in.... We tend to do business with other realtors selling to the same market. I can think of maybe 10 realtors we deal with on a regular basis; realtors that list and sell homes of a similar calibre to ours... 10 realtors out of 5000 striking it rich...and guess what, they've all been in the business for 20 years (with the exception of 1 that I can think of). Realtors who do not sell million dollar homes and strike it rich do so through volume...No one is going to ask you to sell a condo building if you have no experience and lack the necessary team to handle the load..again we are back to issues of time and money (staff do not come cheap).

The thing about realty is, it is directly tied into the fortunes of the city in which you conduct business... If the city goes bust, no one wants to move there.. Worse still, lots of people want to leave...excess supply, no demand....prices plummet.... How many realtors do you think go hungry when this happens? Can anyone honestly say that in 20 years time, they know for sure Calgary will still be the economic tiger it is now? Not to mention it takes time to build up a client base and get your name out there.....

Realty is not quick money; if you go into it with the attitude that it will be easy, you won't make it. It will take perseverance and a solid investment on your behalf just to start out.

A colleague of mine put it in really simple terms:

"As a realtor, you wake up every morning unemployed. You spend your day trying to find work, to pay your bills, fees, marketing.... For those who succeed, there is nothing easy about it."

And every morning, you'll wake up with 5000 other people trying to do the exact same thing as you.

[JordanLotoski]

^^^good way to look at it Rob!!

Hey Ive got a listing in Heritage Point on the lake, have any buyers looking in that area by any chance hahaha

[D. Dub]

Originally posted by robpark
A colleague of mine put it in really simple terms:

"As a realtor, you wake up every morning unemployed. You spend your day trying to find work, to pay your bills, fees, marketing.... For those who succeed, there is nothing easy about it."

And every morning, you'll wake up with 5000 other people trying to do the exact same thing as you.

Well isn't that depressing

[robpark]

Yeah...on a second look...it seems a little depressing! Not my intention though, just wanted to get the point across that there is nothing easy about the money in real estate... There is a lot of fun to be had as well...

As with anything in life, those who work hard will reap the rewards.