Pros and cons of being a real estate agent

Pros and cons of being a real estate agent

Before you start a career as a real estate agent, get to know what the profession entails. Weighing the pros and cons of being a real estate agent helps you make a more strategic decision regarding your future career. In this article, we explain the role of a real estate agent, list the benefits and drawbacks of this career and provide you with tips to help you overcome the challenges you may face in this profession.

What is a real estate agent?

A real estate agent refers to an individual that represents real estate sellers or buyers. While some real estate agents work independently, others work for a licensed broker. Working on commission, they earn part of a property’s sale price. Real estate agents have a combination of administrative, research and marketing duties. Some of their duties include providing buyers and sellers with assistance, performing real estate analysis, looking for open property listings, running advertising campaigns, scheduling property showings, answering phone calls and networking with potential clients.

Pros and cons of being a real estate agent

The pros

Being a real estate agent comes with several advantages for both your personal and professional life. Knowing the benefits this career provides makes it easier for you to determine whether you’d find fulfilment in this career path. Here are some of the advantages of being a real estate agent:

Flexible schedule

As a real estate agent, you’re your own boss and can schedule your day to fit your personal life. This means you don’t have to clock in and out, nor start or end work at a specific time. Setting your own hours and making your own schedule gives you more time to spend with your friends and family, providing a greater work-life balance and increased job satisfaction.

Unlimited income potential

Unlike other careers, the real estate profession doesn’t have an income cap. With strong business knowledge and plenty of dedication, you can get more out of your career as a real estate agent. You also don’t have to work for a set amount of time before you receive a raise.

Helping your clients

As a real estate agent, you get to help your clients find their dream home or property. This means you get to be there for one of the biggest moments of their life. Helping them find the perfect home for their family not only gives you a sense of purpose in your profession, but can also motivate you to do it again for your future clients.

Career mobility

When you’re a real estate agent, you can work for yourself. Essentially, you have the opportunity to build your own business and brand. You can also seek out other opportunities both in and outside of the real estate industry with your real estate agent experience.

The cons

While being a real estate agent comes with several advantages, it’s important to look at the cons to help you make a well-informed decision regarding this career. Consider the following cons of being a real estate agent:

Longer hours

While many jobs follow a standard workweek of 40 hours, real estate agents may work beyond this schedule. Not having a set schedule may mean you have to work during weekday evenings or over the weekend. While you may have time off during a weekday morning or afternoon, you may also have to miss out on time with family and friends over the weekend.

Slow periods

As a real estate agent, you earn money based on your own transactions. Without a set salary from an employer, slower months can negatively impact your income. If you’re not selling property, you won’t receive a paycheck. Therefore, while it’s nice to have unlimited earning potential, this can backfire since you don’t have a set amount of money to fall back on during a slow period.

Stressful process

Though you get to experience the excitement of getting your clients into a new home or property, the process often comes with some stress. Your clients have to make a significant financial decision and may often feel conflicted, causing stress over the entire process. Therefore, while it’s exciting to help your clients, this career comes with its challenging moments.

Hard work

Not everyone can perform well as a real estate agent. When you don’t earn money as quickly as you thought you would, it can leave you easily discouraged as a new real estate agent. To attract clients, you need to put in the hard work. This involves managing your own marketing, clients, listings and various transactions all at once. Therefore, you need to have both the passion and discipline to succeed in this profession.

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