<p>I say go for real estate now, if you want to try it. Since real estate agents get paid on commission, there can be many lean times when you are starting out, I presume. So it makes sense to try it when you have lower expenses and fewer commitments. From the outside looking in, since I’m not a real estate agent, sales requires motivation, a thick skin, an ability to “read” different people, long hours, lots of weekend work, and good planning. But yes, you also can take vacations, make your own hours (except for when a client wants or needs to see you), etc. Sales and referrals will build up by word of mouth, so it is very slow going to start off, and may ( or may not) snowball bigger with time. Go for it; give it 5 years; if it doesn’t work, then go to college. But if you won’t be motivated to go to college if you are not successful in real estate, then keep in mind that if you change away from real estate, then you will then fall into the “AA degree” employment pool, not the “bachelor’s degree” employment pool which can have a significant impact on earning potential.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing this information …</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my wife has her BA and MA from GW. After completing her degrees, she went into grant writing and, later, administrating programs for disabled people. When our kids came along, she wanted a career with more flexible hours so she went into residential real estate. The pro’s were that she had enough time flexibility during the day so she could still schedule a lot of “mom” type stuff; she generally was home when the kids got out of school. Also, the money was decent. When the market was strong, it was more than decent. But there are a lot of con’s to real estate as well. While there is a lot of time flexiblity during the day, the opposite is true on weekends. She often put in full days on Saturday and Sunday–lots of open houses on weekends. That worked for us as parents since I had the weekends off and could take care of the kids. But it was rare for us to have much time together on weekends. Also, she worked a lot at night. Not so much doing showings but time spent on the phone. Lots of time on the phone.</p>
<p>A big problem with residential real estate is that people become temporarily insane when buying and selling their home. People who are normally reasonable often become obstinant and obnoxious. I understand that, for most people, it is their most valuable asset but buyers and sellers are just too often completely unreasonable. They drive the agents crazy and, as a result, a large percentage of residential real estate agents don’t love their jobs. It is also extremely competitive and, too often, rather cutthroat. And often the most successful agents are the worst in this regard. The drop out rate among nice people who become real estate agents is very high. Commercial real estate is much less dependent upon emotional buyers and sellers and, thus, better in this regard from the agent’s point of view but it requires a more sophisticated skill set as well. You don’t see many commercial realtors without a college degree.It is also quite cutthroat and competitive.</p>
<p>When our kids grew up and went off to school, my wife retooled herself and went into teaching. She makes less money now but has regular hours and big chunks of time off. She is much much happier working with kids than crazy buyers and sellers of houses.</p>
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So true. DW lost a $400,000 sale over curtains, and almost lost a $500,000+ sale over grass clippings.</p>
<p>And my spouse and I pulled out of a house we loved over a $900 stove. The listing was supposed to include the house and anything attached to a wall, floor or ceiling. And then the sellers started amending the contract- they wanted a ceiling fan-- sure. They wanted the shades and curtains- no problem. But then they started picking off the appliances one by one… so we drew a line in the sand and when they insisted they needed to take the stove with them, we bowed out.</p>
<p>Yes, insane.</p>
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<p>LOL at this 2-month bump. Not even a legit response to the thread.</p>