So I was thinking of going into the real estate business. The company That I was to go to(The red company) offered free training I just had to pay $99 to sign up for the online per-courses(Michigan requires 40 clock hours) then $75 to take the final exam.

Once I completed my first sale I was to get that $99 back. I had to stay with the company for at least 1 year or pay them $134 for their cost of covering part of the course fees. Anyway I haven't paid the $99 yet and now I'm hesitant cause someone who used to work in real estate said that I need to take insurance out on myself in case I get into a accident with a client(wouldn't that be covered by my auto insurance)?

They also said my car insurance would go up as I would be using it for business. Then they said you got sign placement fees,desk fees cause i work for a actual company fees for business cards etc. How much would all that cost me a year. if I was selling homes it wouldn't matter as I would be making more then enough to cover it but it would take awhile to build a reputation. I emailed the agent I dealt with but she never emailed me back so I'm trying to find out what all these fees are about before I fork over $99.

 

Short courses like what you are considering would very good in giving you an idea about what being a real estate involves but it is a pipe dream if you think it would prepare you for going into business.
It could prepare you for a job working under an experienced agent or company but the idea you could start out on your own is a scam and could get you in trouble.

 

It may not be universal, but IMO, the real estate market hasn't turned around yet. Homes are selling, but there are a lot of properties that remain on the market for years before something is done with them. I have a cousin who is breaking records and getting rich in real estate, but she has been with it for over a decade. Right time, right place.

 

The really big expense comes in the form of having to join the National Association of REALTORS® as well as your State and Local Boards, and the costs of subscribing to the MLS.

But the costs involved aren't the real barrier to entry . . . . it's the motivation of the individual.

I've been a Broker for over 25 years and I've watched many Agents come in and obtain all of the training and pass all of the exams and pay all the fees but never sell a single property because they thought it could be treated like a 9-5 job. Over 50% of new Agents are gone in less than 1 year, 75% gone in less than 2 years. Remember, most sales would have occurred regardless of whether you entered the field or not . . . . the Commission just would have been in someone else's pocket instead of yours. As an Agent, you have to work to snatch that Commission before it goes elsewhere.

An old Mentor of mine once told me that it takes at least 1 year to determine if you can do this job, and at least 2 years to verify that you'll enjoy doing it. Life is only 27,000 to 30,000 days long, and you don't want to waste them doing something you don't enjoy.

Here's a link to another Forum I participate in just for Agents:

Real Estate Forums - Realtors Marketing Tips, Talk, Webmasters Forum

Look in the area referred to as "Aspiring Agents", and you'll find several discussions with participants such as yourself. Most of the time, their issues involve something other than money.

The market has its ups and downs; but when it's up, you want to already be there. If you wait for the right time to get trained, it'll be down before you're ready to participate.

In general, it always looks a lot easier from the outside than it is; but that certainly holds true for most things in life . . . . good luck.

 

I wasnt trying to go in business for myself yet. I would work for KW as one of their agents but im trying to figure out what happens once i get my license. They train me but if i have to register and pay fees for that then ill pass cause i cant afford that up front right away. The KW agent never said anything about the fees for registering with the board etc and now she wont return my email so so much for them being a respectable company.

 

Many people make a good living in the real estate business. If you are not getting the information you are looking for from an agent I suggest talking to somebody else. In fact, you may be better off talking to a local real estate company office manager.

 

My realtor is a friend of mine, he used to live across the street from me years before I ever hired him. He's making a killing right now and has always done well (mine was one of 11 closings he had that month when I closed on my current home) but he is a special kind of person who is constantly meeting people and cultivating and maintaining new relationships. He has a skill set I can only imagine having and as a result, I know full well I would starve as a realtor.

 

Being a Realtor can be very lucrative, BUT, like any other SALES work it usually takes a while to build up some clientele and a reputation. I've been a real estate investor for almost 40 years; residential and commercial ownership and rentals, as well as doing a few flips a year. I got my license for a specific reason back in the mid-80s in Houston. The reason I did it was to gain more (insider) access to the Resolution Trust Corporation auctions.

That said I did get a few listings and sold a few houses. Not enough to justify the up-front money I had to put into it, but enough that my friend that owned the agency was glad he'd talked me in to hanging my license with him.

One advantage I had was that I had spent most of my career up until that time in sales so I kind of knew my way around sales, and I had been an investor for about 10 years by then. I really didn't care for dealing with clients in real estate because they were not "professional" in what they were doing, and many agents were a bit sketchy insofar as ethics were concerned. In my "regular" sales career I was making serious money and the real estate field would have been hard pressed to match that. The access to the foreclosure market turned out not to be as valuable to me as I had hoped, (although I could have cut a few corners to make it more so), so I quit it after a few years.

Unless you've got great stick-to-it-iveness and you're a real self-starter, I would just work on increasing your income in whatever you already know, and do, best.

Good luck.

 

I agree! it is a lot easier to make more money doing something you know than to tackle a new field in hopes of increasing your income.