Becoming a Realtor

[homealone]

My old man's sister is wanting to become a realtor and I was hoping that someone here would be able to give her some useful information on what she will need to do, things that she will need and so on.

Personally I am not sure she will be good at this job, but that is only because of the impression I get about her from her family members. However she may turn out to be a great realtor...who knows.

So if you can offer any kind of information that I can pass along to her I am sure she will appreciate it greatly.

I guess this is something she has considered doing for about a year now but has not taken the first steps to doing anything, I am guessing because she isn't sure how to proceed to get the ball rolling.

[flippinout]

I took the course a few years back at Ohio University here in our area.

You just need a few books, if I remember right it was like only 3 books.

The course is easy but you have to be good at math. Then after you have taken the course, you have to take the test. Then you need to have a part in the multiple listings etc.

The reason I didnt go through with it was because of the area we live in and homes werent selling really well at the time and getting everything set up is rather expensive and because I didnt think I could get a good return on my investment, I opted out.

[homealone]

I thank you for the information. I will pass this along to her as soon as I can. I am sure that she will consider this carefully because I don't think homes are selling really well at this time either, but that is for her to decide.

All I can do is give her as much information as I possibly can about what she is attempting to do and let her take it from there.

I don't know if she will make a great realtor or not, but I guess one way or another I may find out in the near future. I think I will keep my fingers crossed if she really does go through with it hoping she does it well and things work out well for her.

[House on the Prairie]

I guess this poses the question: What makes a good realtor?

For me, it's the general knowledge of an area, the buyer, and the home. I understand the class covers estimating and other excruciating math, as well as real estate law. But a good realtor is confident, makes good decisions based on solid judgment and well-researched information, and can find both silver linings and money pits in nearly every neighborhood (and sometimes in the same home).

Most people consider the real estate industry for work because they see the commission percentages and think they don't have to work hard for thousands of dollars. Not true. There are a lot of hours behind the sale, including precious weekends and late nights, and if a person is not cut out for the ups and downs of the market, perhaps it won't be a good fit.

I think taking the class will straighten out a lot of the dreamers, so if she feels like she can hack it after the class, then all the more power to her!

[homealone]

She is going to be starting classes in the near future, and hopefully she will prove all of us wrong. I would love to see her find a career that she loves and something that she can manage to stick with and hopefully become successful.

I do agree that in these classes that she has to learn and deal with that it will straighten her out and hopefully she will become a great realtor in the end.

Though I still have my doubts as well. She is pretty dingy most of the time and that makes me think that maybe this isn't going to be a good course of action for her. However I could and hopefully am wrong about her.

I guess that in time I will discover the answer to that question.

[JaredfromIndiana]

One of the top selling agents in my area is dumber than a box of rocks. Dingy would be an understatement. He has just leveraged himself with the right crowd and surrounded himself with a great assistant and team.

We have been full time agents for two years here in Fort Wayne and are doing quite well for ourselves. I believe the following are keys to being a GREAT AGENT (Anybody can be a good agent)

Passion, drive, determination, being personable, approachable, BEING REAL, flexibility, having thick skin, learning your market, thinking outside the box, being willing to work ALL THE TIME, having the guts to take on more experienced agents, being able to read people (so many people will waste your time if you let them)... I could go on and on but I think you get my point.

I used to think being a Realtor was nothing more than a glorified soccer mom. WRONG!!!!