Ken Coleman says, “When you’re passionate about the work you’re doing:
» Time will fly by when you’re engaged in it.
» You’ll look forward to it before you begin. In the middle of it, you’ll feel exhilarated. And when you finish, you’ll feel proud of whatever you created or produced.
» You won’t mind working hard for it. After all, the word passion comes from the Latin word pati, which means suffer. You’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish the task, and you’ll stay with it for the long run.”
What do you do for a living… your job? Do you love it? I love my “job”. As a licensed Realtor, it is very rewarding. Helping people to live the American dream of owning their own home is a great mission. Seeing clients buy their first home is gratifying. First-time buyers are so thankful for my assistance. Then watching clients move up from their first home to their dream home is fulfilling, as you see them move up the corporate ladder or their family grows. Your Realtor is an involved part of our community and your goals are their first priority.
Not everyone is cut out to be a Realtor. The public perception is Realtors make a lot of money and don’t work a lot of hours. Some people don’t trust Realtors, thinking they’re just in it for the money. Some people think it doesn’t take much to be a Realtor. But it requires money to get into the business., and it requires time and labor to stay in the business.. If your agent is a Realtor and not a real estate agent, that means he or she is a member of the National Association of Realtors and are held to higher standard (Realtor Code of Ethics).
DPOR states, “In order to become licensed as a real estate salesperson by the Real Estate Board, applicants must complete 60 class hours of a Board-approved Pre-License Course and pass the state and national portions of the examination. Once that’s completed, you must successfully pass the PSI real estate exam. No, you’re not ready yet. You’ll need to “hang your license” with a real estate company before you can sell or earn income. For the rest of your career, you’ll need to take classes for CE (continuing education) to stay current and all of those requirements come with a cost.
When I taught the real estate licensing course, I had a student ask, “When do I get paid?” Not until you’ve had a successful transaction closing. That will vary with each person from a month to a year. Isn’t it fun to go look at houses and drive around all day? Yes and no. Showing houses can be a lot of fun or it can be an exhausting day. Remember, not everybody ends up buying a house, and you could spend a lot of time and gas money for nothing. Not every house is a joy to show. We sometimes deal with unruly children, pets, mold, difficult clients and no-shows.
Isn’t is easy just to list a house and let another agent do all the work to sell it? No way. One of the hardest jobs for a Realtor is pricing a home right. If it sells too quickly, the seller may think we priced it too low, and if it takes too long to sell, the seller may think we priced it too high. There are a lot of considerations in correctly pricing a house, such as the condition, updates (or lack of updates), location and market. We often have to track down the survey, deed, multiple owners, plus advertise and market the property.
Every year, there are many people who get licensed as real estate agents and just about that same number drop out of the real estate business annually. It’s a lot of knowledge, hours, patience, dollars, marketing and networking; not to mention answering the phone at all hours and showing property every day of the week. Real estate sales is not for everyone. Please show your agent appreciation for all they do for you.