Especially in the last three to five years; there has been more interest in jobs that offer that coveted flexibility. People often view real estate agents and their careers as "fun" and "flexible" but what about real estate in real life? Not just what Netflix dubs a reality show like Selling Sunset or Selling Tampa - but a real look into what this career is all about.
A Day in the Life
Realities in Real Estate
It's not all luxury showings, fun cars, and taking clients to lunch. In fact, real estate in real life is oftentimes very little of those things. That's not to say that real estate isn't fun and parts don't feel exciting. But the realities also include long or inconsistent hours, demanding clients, a lot of pressure to hustle, and the fact that your success really does rely on you.
Not to mention the fact that your job is directly related to the economy and housing market. These can be stressful things to think about.
Pros and Cons
Like everything else, there are positive and negatives. Sure, your phone probably will still ring when you're on vacation. However, with some healthy work/life balance practices and some pre-planning - this can be minimized. Also, a lot of these types of things depend on if an agent is in need of business or not. Everyone wants business but agents with more clients might be able to actually not answer their phone for a few days as long as they have a voicemail/email pre-programmed that lets people know when they'll be back in town. Versus an agent who is desperate for more clients and closings, probably can't afford to miss a potential lead phone call.
It's hard to find anything negative about setting one's own hours except that the work might feel like it never really stops. Again, that's all up to the agent though. Though it is a best practice of being a real estate agent is responding within a timely manner to any and all inquiries.
So Many Agents Love Their Life
There's a reason that people become and stay real estate agents. They love their life and their career. Working with so many different people, being your own boss (within reason at certain brokerages, etc.), and getting to be apart of some of life's biggest moments really carry people through the cons of being an agent.
It's important to be realistic about what your job will consist of and what success is to you - but we think that being a real estate agent is a great choice!
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