Good luck to you and you can learn alot viewing the good and bad that other agents do on this and other sites. I am asumming you are working under a broker. Pick a fair one and learn as much as you can. Learn as much as you can about each piece of property you sell, and even keep notes on others in your selling area. Know what you have, and what people really want when they say to you I want----bedrooms, pool/no/ etc. Know you seller and learn your buyer. Some people make it a habit to just look at every house you have, with no intention to buy.=You mention controlled developments--learn what they are and how to present them to a buy without scaring/losing them.
If you have a family, kids, etc, don't forget to put them in you life and sometimes you have to put RE on the back burner for a special play, game etc.
Start out slow, and don't be afraid to ask other for advice and weigh it carefully to see if it applies to your area.
Have a great time and hope to see how you do.

Be prepared to put in a lot of seemingly unproductive hours, days, months at first. I don't know how populated your area is or how many brokerages you have to choose from. My late mother became a realtor and broker in a down market when some were dropping out. It gave her time to train well. I don't know how many brokerages are like her first small one today; there are so many conglomerates. When she started her employer had my mother and one other realtor in the office! There were several large brokerages in the suburb and this office tended to get first-time buyers. (Lots of education and hand-holding required.)Later my mother moved to one of the big brokerages, one with offices in Chicago and most of the suburbs. Before she retired she was a top-selling residential broker for the company, some months THE top.

If you want to succeed, you will have to put in long days, every day. Cultivate your community ties. Go the extra mile. Learn to be a deal-maker. Earn the respect of your fellow realtors. Never take a shortcut.

I can second the long days and the seemingly unproductive time. I have had my license since 2002 and have one listing (which I got in Feb) and have had no sales. It doesn't help that my husband is military and we move. It's really become more of a hobby, albeit an expensive hobby. I hope you did well on your test. If you need someone to talk to or even vent at...you can call me. I've seen alot of things, lost alot of friends, and have been used and abused.

Thank you all for taking the time to listen to me and to offer guidance. I am prepared to work at this. I am very active in my community as I coach both soccer and ice hockey at several different levels. I am also involved in the schools and the community in general. Cpowers, it seems like you have had a rough go of it. Perhaps there is a different office that might be a good fit? At least with all the moves you do, there is the possibility of getting some referrals. I am sorry you have had a negative experience.
Jo

Another thought after reading your response. Because you are involved in school and community, when you list a house, remember you are a business person and not a friend. Try to keep the friendship and business seperate. I personally went thru that trying to use a friend and it hurt the sale. I finally sold, through another company, but still feel she did not do her best. Just a thought.I wish you the best.

jojoco, congrats on your career change. My wife did this many years ago. What you want to find is an agency that supports mentoring. My wife went through hell in the beginning (she went with a large national because they paid you back for your schooling and testing) and almost quit. She answered the phones (a desirable job for getting leads) for weeks on end to get leads and when she got a hot lead, she would get almost no help from the broker or other agents. When they did help, they usually cheated her out of the commission.

All that changed when she went with an agency where they mentor the newbies. Its really important that you go with an agency that you feel comfortable with and one that will help you get some listings so you can get experience. It is so hard getting your first listings, since most sellers are not comfortable letting an inexperienced person sell their house. Once you get a few under your belt, you can then start to look to specialize. Usually most Realtors specialize in neighborhoods or certain classes of property (condo vs single family), but if new construction is relevant to your area, then that may work.

Keep one thing in mind, to make it in real estate you have to have sticking power. I would guess that 1 out of 50 actually stay in the field for more then 3 years. My wife loves it now, but there were many times when she wanted to quit. The amount of unpaid hours she put in, in the beginning was huge. It is hard to work hard, not get paid a dime and have the broker tell you that if you don't sell something this month your desk is gone.

Good luck and I hope you are the 1 out of the 50 that makes it.

On choosing a broker:
This is the most important thing to focus on at this stage. Here is the most useful advice that was given to me: Don't go with the company that has the most sales right now; go with the company that has the best on-going training. (And note that individual franchise offices can have fairly different corporate cultures within a national company.) I was told that if you don't have a buyer or seller contract within 6 months you aren't getting enough training. A good sign is how often training events happen, and how often the experienced agents find it worth their while to show up- Ask them how often they go. I started at a place where agents in the business for decades went to about half of the training events (guest speakers, inspectors, whatever), which happened a few times a month. They were also willing to come with me on my first listing presentations and coach me on how I was doing. A team atmosphere will get you off to a better start than a competitive one, even if that works better for you later on. Also, don't start somewhere too small... if the brokerage has only 1 or 2 members and you have no experience, you will quickly find yourself as their assistant (often at the coffee-making level).

Secondly, ask to see the contract when interviewing brokers. Is a high split offset by high office fees? Make sure you'll be able to pay your fixed expenses for at least 6 months if you don't get a sale in that time.

As far as specialization- having one is great, but be flexible enough that if new construction should crash in your area (their sales are slowing down nationally), you still have a customer base in other things.
Finally, don't be dishonest in your ads! :) You'll get a lot of dissappointed or angry buyers that way.

Best of luck to you!

A big Congratulations on your test! I'm sure you did beautifully.

Jo, my DH & I have always made our living in real estate. We are both lenders. Although, as lenders, both DH & I have sold hundreds of properties. I would guess I've sold 400 homes over the years. I didn't need a license to sell REO properties, for instance, & I've sold dozens of individual homes as well as selling out foreclosed subdivisions for the banks I worked for. Once, I sold out a subdivision of 115 remaining homes in CO. I've come to know many, many realtors in four states.

Training is vital during your first couple years. It's a "dog eat dog" industry, highly competitive, & a tough environment to be a newbie. I hear your desire to specialize...make a niche for yourself as an agent. That's great future planning but what you need, IMO, is the benefit of broad based experience.

The last home we sold was in NH. We listed with a brokerage that worked a tad different than most. EVERYBODY in the office, including the receptionist, shared in ALL commissions coming into the office. How much each received varied but the point was that each person in the office received something. So, everybody was motivated. I've never experienced such tremendous service from any company of any type as I did from that realty brokerage. Even the receptionist stayed until midnight at the office one night so she would be available to type up docs if the potential buyers responded to our counter that night. It was just truly astonishing how hard everybody worked to get our house sold. And, it was effective. We sold in 4 days before even hitting MLS.

My point in telling that story was to show how important it is to find an office where everybody pulls together. It's quite common, if not the norm, for agents within an office to be competitive AGAINST even each other. It's tough to learn in such a highly competitive enviornment. So, talk to every brokerage in town. Ask questions about their training...then, ask more questions. Network as much as you can with agents & ask them what's the best brokerage to work for..and why?

You will work longer hours than you can even imagine now. You'll rarely have a true "day off", you'll be attached by umbilical cord to your cell phone seven days a week, & you'll have to excuse yourself during family time to calm a worried seller/buyer. And, 90% of the time it'll all be for naught meaning no commission realized. It's takes most agents years of dedicated hard work to build up a reputation and network where they are actually earning a decent living. And Jo, I hate to sound so negative but to answer your questions...No, building a couple personal homes doesn't give you the qualifications to specialize. It's the inner workings of the industry that you have to learn how to manuever your way through. You have to build relationships with other agents. You also have to build relationships with lenders, builders, title insurance companies, handymen, & inspectors. It takes time. Limiting yourself to new construction now will only limit your opportunities to learn your way around the industry.

I wish you good luck & much success. If you are successfull, there's no doubt that you will have earned it. It often looks like selling real estate is an easy way to earn a living. It's not.

Tricia

Thanks again all for your wonderful insight. Tricia, your honest counsel gave me a lot to consider. One thing, though, I would never be so arrogant as to assume that building two custom homes qualified me as a new construction specialist. I rather questioned if that experience gives me a right to head in that direction. I know I will have lots to learn. I've wanted to go into re for so long, I even took the licensing class in CT 12 years ago. But as much as I loved RE, I generally disliked realtors. (Especially the arrogance of some of them in Fairfield County. So I am trying very hard to not be like that.)
I loved hearing about the agency in NH. I doubt that exists in Skaneateles, but you can bet I am going to ask.
I have so much to learn, and I have to say that as much as I want to do this, I will do it at my pace, not rush into anything. It took me 12 years to get to this point, what is a little bit more time?
Thank you everyone.
Jo

Jo, I've been thinking about you this afternoon. Here's a few suggestions (use them if they seem worthwhile & toss them if they don't!):

1.) Start building relationships with every lender in town. Stop by & ask to meet with the head of lending. Residential lending is so automated today that processors & closers (unfortunately) don't have the cloute they did ten years ago. Since they are not the decision makers they used to be spending your valuable time building relationship with them is not productive. Rather, meet with that head of lending. Tell them you are new. Ask for their business & tell them why YOU will work harder to move their REO inventory. It's a good place & opportunity to learn to ask for "The Close"...something every salesperson has to learn. Also, REO business is easier, IMO. Then, follow-up on your visit with a written note & a dozen of your cards. If you haven't heard from them in 3 months...call again & this time invite him/her out to lunch.

Ask the lender who they prefer as a title company, law office, inspector, appriser, etc. After speaking with half a dozen lenders, you'll start to get a snapshot of who's who in town. Then, spend your energy building relationships with those firms & leave the others for later.

2.) Builders...residential builders are really fun people. They were my favorite part of the real estate industry. They, however, are notoriously disorganized & rather poor at anything other than building. Get to know all of your SMALL, local builders (not the big guys...that's a waste of time, IMO, for you in the beginning). Go in with knowledge of their products & a plan to help them market. Keep your name in front of their face even if they currently have nothing to sell. Your building relationships at this point not trying to actually get a listing or make a sale. Builders love, love, love to bu##sh#t so allow a full half-day to meet with one of them! lol You'll learn more about your town's real estate industry in 3 hours from a local builder than six months in your office!

3.) Immediately begin attending the monthly Homebuilders's Association meetings in your area. This was absolutely THE best networking I ever did.

4.) Personally, I did not enjoy the monthly Realtor's Association dinners nearly as much as the builder's. But, you'll need to attend every month & force yourself to meet 3-4 new realtors at every dinner. More relationship building...

5.) Title companies can be tougher. But, I'd still recommend stopping by every one in town & dropping off your cards (probably won't get past the receptionist so leave them with him/her).

6.) My DH is an attorney as well as head of lending at a major financial institution. He works in NY. In NY, attorneys play a fairly large role in real estate. So, find out who specializes & go meet them with a dozen more cards. ASK for his business! He's got lots of clients who'll someday need to sell/buy a home. Also, then when you meet again across a closing table from each other it's easier to negotiate.

7.) Pick a FSBO (or two) & attend their Open Houses. Offer to prepare a CMA. Assure them there's no strings attached. Hope if they don't sell...they'll remember you. Leave 2 cards with them.

8.) A couple things I did over the years when I had a subdivision with a lot of homes I needed to sell in a single community...

a.) I made arrangements to reserve the local community center for an evening. I prepared a speech on "Getting Ready To Purchase Your First Home". I advertised the heck out of my little speech (sponsored by my bank but you could ask your broker for sponsorship?). I had lots of hand-outs, coffee, soda, & cookies. I used the overhead with big color glossy pictures of smiling young couples holding little kids in front of their new home. I greeted everybody at the door & gave out business cards. Mostly, what I did was try to get those first-time homebuyers motivated to buy a home feeling that I'd land a few of them at my subidivison I needed to sell & it got my card in hundreds of hands!

b.) I realized that I had to learn how to speak up at church, at the "Y" when I was swimming, at the grocery store as I stood in the check-out line, etc. & ASK for people's business. That's tough...the asking part. It a set-up for rejection & as humans we're resistant to it. You've got to lose any fear of rejection you may harbor down way deep inside. It's easier to start with people you don't know too well (like at the grocery store?).

Seriously, learning to ask for the close is going to be a make or break skill for you so practice whenever & whereever you get an opportunity.

I had many people call me at the bank asking if we had any REO inventory for sale. I'd make an appointment with them & ask about what they were looking for. Then, I'd show them one home I knew they couldn't afford, one I was pretty sure they'd hate, & one I wanted to sell them. Most of the time...it worked. But, I had to ASK for the close! Practice on your family with mock-up situations...unless this is something that just comes naturally to you it's going to be where you need the most work. If you're a natural saleperson...then you'll know when to ask for the close.

Good luck...you've made me giggle tonight remembering all of the properties I've sold...like the one near a "babbling brook" with the mushrooms growing on the basement walls! Sold it to a realtor who thought I was a luney-tune for selling it so cheap...thought she could wring the place out & flip it for a nice profit...guess who had the last laugh? hahahahahah Or, the one I sold to an "80 Something" single gent who rode around the neighborhood on his motorcycle wearing nothing but a loin cloth...made his neighbors very upset. I received many threatening phone calls at the bank. Wow, who knew? He seemed so nice at the closing! hahahahahaha It's a fun industry. You'll have a good time. Well, you'll have a good time IF you're a people person. If you don't love people then you'll be miserable. It's not about the houses...it's all about the people. Remember that & you'll do great.

Tricia

Thank you again, everyone for the thoughtful guidance you have given me. I tried to post a few days ago, but the forum was down. Since then, I have met with a company which I really like. They are new (1 year old) but started by a native of this town (very huge here). They would happily hold my license, and the split would be 50-50. 7% commissions are the norm here. If I gross 50K, then the split goes up to 55%, 75K;60%. They cap at 70%. They will hold my hand, go to any appointment, help with contracts until I tell them I don't need them. It is a young and somewhat hip office, but with lots of homegrown agents. I think I would like it.
I have spoken with one other (too smarmy for me) and I have at least one more appointment this week. So far, so good. And Tricia, I find I am telling everyone that I am doing this and the result has been so positive. Everyone thinks I will be wonderful at this field. It is a good way to initiate conversations about buying and selling.
Thanks again. More to follow, I am sure.
Jo

Jo, good luck with your new career! I got my RE license a little more than a year ago, and I'm now very close to out-earning my DH. Why? Because I did what was mentioned above; I chose a brokerage where they really had a TEAM focus. (I also worked my behind off!!)

It's the best thing I ever did, and it's also the most challenging. The highs are SUPER high, and the lows have made me want to slink under a rock. But it's a great career, and I wouldn't have it any other way.