So you wanna be a real estate agent…
Posted October 22, 2015 10:34 pm.
Last Updated October 22, 2015 10:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – People looking for good-paying jobs may be considering a move into the real estate industry.
But just because local house-price records are being broken, doesn’t mean everyone who passes the real estate licencing program is rolling in the dough.
Scott Russell, president of the BC Real Estate Association, says the biggest reality check for people thinking about a career in real estate is the fact that there are no steady paycheques in the biz.
Income is strictly based on commissions.
And just like other professions, rookies don’t generally make big coin.
“There is always going to be top people in every field. Quite frankly, that’s usually people who have established themselves. It usually takes seven to nine years for someone to get on top of their game,” notes Russell.
Because agents don’t have employers, the costs associated with selling a home come from the agent’s pocket.
“We put the cost out for marketing, advertising, like mail-drops. There’s a million ways to spend money to market your home. It doesn’t take long before you’ve racked up some serious bills.”
Forget having weekends to yourself. Russell points out agents make themselves available for when prospective buyers have time to see the home.
Phil Soper, chief executive of Royal LePage Real Estate Services, was recently quoted in the Financial Post as saying that while there are millionaire earners in the industry he believes the average agent, among the approximate 100,000 in the country, make about $20 per hour.
