Official Random Thoughts Thread - Part 3

[pancakes3]

Steven A Smith literally said right after the rant "I'm uncomfortable with where we're headed in this discussion."

I can't believe that he thought it was OK to even hint at something like this. And Skip! I hate espn. They could have such awesome discourse and reach such a wide audience and yet they just refuse to. Even when they try to be intellectual with OTL it ends up being stuffy and pretentious. Grantland had potential but still... extremely unsatisfying. It's a wonder (and blessing) that Yahoo Sports continues to provide the best reads in sports bar none.

[pancakes3]

Also? The Sandy Hook shootings story is just so upsetting.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Also? The Sandy Hook shootings story is just so upsetting.

pancackes, I wasn't going to mention it because I've already cried about it and continue to. There's nothing sadder that I can imagine than the horror for those kids, the teachers, and all the family members. Why?

[DCZards]

Sad, sad day indeed. A random and senseless killing of innocent elementary school kids. It's hard to think of anything worse. My prayers go out to those families and that town.

[Knighthonor]

Sad, sad day indeed. A random and senseless killing of innocent elementary school kids. It's hard to think of anything worse. My prayers go out to those families and that town.

what this dude look like?

[Knighthonor]

random question.

Whats something interesting to do for free in the city tomorrow?

[AFM]

He DOESN'T look like this:

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It was his brother (or, the brother of a different Ryan Lanza) who killed his mother and 26 others.

[MF23]

It's depressing to think about and chilling at the same time.

CCJ, I don't know if your pm is working. I wanted to know if I could ask you some questions about Oahu?

[miller31time]

Anybody here have any experience in the field of selling real estate?

I'm looking for a full-time career and think it might be worth pursuing. I'm a big-time people person, love doing research for people and finding them things they're looking for (for example: I basically do all of the research and negotiating when anyone in my family is looking for a new car -- I've negotiated some pretty good deals if I do say so myself), would like to make a decent amount of money but not at the expense of my job being my life (family takes priority over job) and have the current resources to take an immediate hit in income since the first year or so of the industry is very expensive and not terribly lucrative.

The other option I'm looking at right now is becoming a middle school teacher. I already have my bachelor's degree and would only need to go back to college to get certification in education. The pros are that I love kids and know for certain I would be a good and effective educator. I would love summers off, but realize this is not going to be a benefit to any job but teacher. The cons are salary - again, I put family in front of salary in terms of priority but 45-60K per year is a bit extreme. At that point, you have to worry about being financially able to support whatever family you have.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Wiz Board!

[AFM]

Have you considered being Jan Vesely's free throw coach? You can teach him the underhand between the legs shot.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It's depressing to think about and chilling at the same time.

CCJ, I don't know if your pm is working. I wanted to know if I could ask you some questions about Oahu?

Feel free, anytime, MF23. Just let me know what you'll want to see/do.

[Higga]

D.C. might have three playoff teams.

Wizards need to step it up a notch. They don't belong in a city of winners.

[BigA]

Anybody here have any experience in the field of selling real estate?

I'm looking for a full-time career and think it might be worth pursuing. I'm a big-time people person, love doing research for people and finding them things they're looking for (for example: I basically do all of the research and negotiating when anyone in my family is looking for a new car -- I've negotiated some pretty good deals if I do say so myself), would like to make a decent amount of money but not at the expense of my job being my life (family takes priority over job) and have the current resources to take an immediate hit in income since the first year or so of the industry is very expensive and not terribly lucrative.

The other option I'm looking at right now is becoming a middle school teacher. I already have my bachelor's degree and would only need to go back to college to get certification in education. The pros are that I love kids and know for certain I would be a good and effective educator. I would love summers off, but realize this is not going to be a benefit to any job but teacher. The cons are salary - again, I put family in front of salary in terms of priority but 45-60K per year is a bit extreme. At that point, you have to worry about being financially able to support whatever family you have.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Wiz Board!

Just a couple thoughts, based on observation rather than personal experience.

For real estate, you know that you're extroverted, which is good for any kind of selling. It seems to me that residential real estate (that's what you have in mind?) is about schmoozing, meeting lots of people, and networking, so that people list with you. And doing well enough with those listings that people recommend you to their friends. It seems to be less about negotiating than persuading--you may have to convince a seller to drop an unrealistically high price. With the housing bust, probably lots of people have washed out of it, so this might not be a bad time to get in. Also, my impression is that people are able to get into it part time, so you can try it out and see if you like it.

Another long term advantage is that you can live anywhere. In resort areas like the Delaware beaches, there are people who work mainly on the rental side, which appears to be steadier income, but the most successful people are mostly on the sales side.

With teaching, I have friends who teach in private schools in the DC area who appear to have done pretty well. You may ultimately need an advanced degree to maximize your income, but I think you would get tuition support for that.

For both of these careers, it would be advantageous to talk to people who are doing them now, to get a sense of the requirements and the current job market. For example, there are licensure requirements for real estate, but I don't know what sort of time or money commitments are involved. Do you know anyone you can talk to?

[MF23]

All right thanks.