The Awful Truth About Careers in Real Estate and What To Do About It

Despite the myth of the millionaire real estate agent, the real estate business can hardly be thought of as a lucrative endeavor, and the chances of any real success are limited by the excess of practitioners all competing for business they will not be receiving. If you do what they do, you will get the results they are getting.

Are you sitting down? According to the "2017 National Association of Realtors(R) Member Profile," members in the business two years or less had a median gross income of $8,930 in 2016. That's the median, meaning that half of them earned less. Expenses were $6,000. A paper route would be more profitable.

Why is the pay so bad, you may wonder? The answer is the business version of the natural selection process; sadly, inexperienced real estate agents are earning exactly what they are worth -- next to nothing.

If you can survive the first two years, it gets better, but not much, the median income for licensed salespersons was $31,670. Subtract their business expenses and their pretax profit is just above the poverty line for a family of four.

The median for all NAR members including brokers was $69,640.

However, those in business for more than 16 years earned $78,850 and had 15 transactions as opposed to the typical agent who had 12. Not only does their volume increase, but they earn more than twice as much per closing than less experienced members.

But, before you jump to the conclusion that longevity is the secret rather than value, brokers typically earn about twice that of an experienced salesperson. Those members willing to invest time and money to advance in their profession by obtaining a broker's license are likely to further expand their knowledge through other avenues.

It is apparent that the combination of experience derived from tenure and knowledge attained through self-improvement lead to more and better business.

Now you know the truth. The million-dollar real estate agent is a myth. But, it perpetuates an unending supply of wanna-be-wealthy new licensees, 95 percent of whom are doomed to failure because there is not enough business to support them, and more seasoned agents are already burrowed deep into the minds of many potential clients.

Do not be tempted to think that your experience will be any different. It is not you. Failing to gain a foothold in the real estate business is not the result of laziness or stupidity. Many ambitious, highly intelligent people wash out of real estate. Residential real estate is not difficult, but neither is it what it appears to be. It is not a job of selling; it is about asking well thought-out questions and listening carefully to the answers.

The obstacle to building a real estate business is that most agents are simply replicating what they see others doing. Most of the training being done by real estate companies is insufficient and misdirected. They spend a fortune, and most will tell you privately that it does not appear to improve performance. They are simply being trained to do the wrong things.

See it as a business, not a sales job. Almost anyone of average intelligence can succeed if they approach it as creating and operating a business -- a personal services business.

It is only a matter of creating a simple business plan and implementing it.

The purpose of this book is to provide a step-by-step guide to simple and effective methods for vastly improving your odds of building a business that is economically sufficient to meet your needs and wants, and is also personally satisfying because you know you are doing the right things in the right way.