When it comes to choosing a career — or switching to a new career after several years in the workforce — there are a number of different factors that often need to be weighed. How much time can you afford to spend training (or re-training) for your new job? How much of a financial investment will setting yourself up require, and what resources will you need to get started?
According to a Gallup poll from 2017, a jaw-dropping eighty-five percent of Americans don’t like their job, and dislike their bosses in particular. But while the possibility of changing jobs is tempting to many Americans, uncertainty, precarity, and concerns about money keep many from taking the crucial step of switching to a new industry. In most cases, people are unwilling our unable to cut out on their own without a new position already lined up.
This is where the real estate industry can help. Unlike other professional careers, the barriers to entry in this type of business are relatively low. In most states, it is possible to get trained as a real estate agent through online courses that prepare ordinary people for an exciting career helping people buy and sell their houses.
Through video and audio tutorials you can study on your own time, you can learn everything you need in order to become a licensed real estate agent (you can click here to learn more about the online real estate courses that are available in your state). Once you are a licensed real estate agent, you can either start building a client base while continuing your full-time job, or you can find a position at a brokerage that will help you get established in the industry.
If you have always been curious about the real estate industry, and want to know more about what it would be like to work as a full-time real estate agent, here are some of the pros and cons of the industry.
Challenges:
Income is completely dependent on commissions
The field can be competitive
A strong work ethic is needed for success
Markets can fluctuate
Opportunities
You can be your own boss
No upper limit to your salary
Work with interesting people
Set your own hours
Little start-up capital required
Useful, rewarding work
Become a respected member of your community
As you can see, while becoming a real estate agent involves a certain amount of risk, the opportunities are almost limitless. Like any profession, real estate is not for everyone. But for self-starters who have a passion for people, are motivated to make sales, and who enjoy being their own boss, few industries offer the same quality of life, financial returns, and job satisfaction.
If you are interested in learning more, find out what the licensing requirements are like in your state, and get in touch with an online school that can help you learn what you need to know to practice as a real estate agent in your jurisdiction.
Nina Smith 
Nicola Holder