RealGM

random question.

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

He DOESN'T look like this:

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

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?

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!

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

MF23 wrote: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.

D.C. might have three playoff teams.

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

miller31time wrote: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?

All right thanks.

Check your mail, MF23 -- and you can edit/delete your address if you like.

BigA wrote:

miller31time wrote: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?

Thanks for the response, BigA.

I'm fine with building a network and meeting new people. I feel like, in most jobs, it's good to network and especially important to leave a such a good impression that you are recommended to others.

The caveat here is that I don't want networking to be the biggest aspect of my job. By this, I mean that my passion lies in the selling and negotiation aspect. I was under the impression that whatever real estate broker you go with (Coldwell Banker, Long and Foster, etc), they would provide you with a somewhat reasonable stream of clients and that it was your job to find them what they're looking for and get referrals.

Regarding the monetary aspect, I've read up on the requirements for licensing and certification. It's fairly costly but I'm prepared for an immediate hit in income.

And yes, I do have people I can contact for both potential careers, thankfully.

Only one of my friends turned to real estate whereas dozens have become teachers. I don't know if that's significant but that's just a quick random thought that popped into my head when I read the post.

I think being a teacher requires more than just liking kids. You have to be able to fake niceness to kids you don't like, which is harder than it sounds. I tutor part time and you are quickly reminded of how obnoxious kids can be and how bad they are at lying. Then you start getting old-man syndrome and get frustrated at this new generation of heathens that have no respect for authority and yadda yadda yadda. It really takes a patience that is orders of magnitude higher than what normal people are capable of.

I think being a real estate agent is only step 1. You should aim for broker or even law school because if you want your career to be selling houses you need that networking gene to keep pushing for commissions.

Outside of his game, I usually have a hard time finding anything to like about LeBJ, but I like that he rides his bike to work (even if he does brag about it). Wonder how many NBA players do that?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/20 ... a/1778913/

I think the problem with the +1 feature is that it's not apparent enough. It needs something more eye-catching.

pancakes3 wrote:I think the problem with the +1 feature is that it's not apparent enough. It needs something more eye-catching.

Like us on RealGM?

Riding to work is good for the soul. I've biked commuted over 2100 miles this year.

Keep that Hummer (does he still have it?) off the road.

on a completely unrelated note - Jacqui plays tonight. Monday she was 2-3
with a 3 pt make and got significant minutes off the bench in a blowout win
by SLHS over Herndon.

Tonight SLHS is at home against TJ who reportedly aren't very good.
I'd expect another blowout. Way more fun watching my kid than watching
the zards.

the grizzlies, clippers and warriors have all become elite-level teams over a relatively short period of time, all through competent GMimg. I hope Ted is taking notice of how turning around a laughing stock franchise can (and should) be done vs. how we are doing it.

I may have to quote Pine and send Ted a personal note saying 'what he said'
(see Ted thread)

miller31time wrote:Thanks for the response, BigA.

I'm fine with building a network and meeting new people. I feel like, in most jobs, it's good to network and especially important to leave a such a good impression that you are recommended to others.

The caveat here is that I don't want networking to be the biggest aspect of my job. By this, I mean that my passion lies in the selling and negotiation aspect. I was under the impression that whatever real estate broker you go with (Coldwell Banker, Long and Foster, etc), they would provide you with a somewhat reasonable stream of clients and that it was your job to find them what they're looking for and get referrals.

Regarding the monetary aspect, I've read up on the requirements for licensing and certification. It's fairly costly but I'm prepared for an immediate hit in income.

And yes, I do have people I can contact for both potential careers, thankfully.

Yeah, my impression is that other areas of selling, like cars, are much more about wheeling and dealing than residential real estate. Just based on my own experiences and impressions. Neither of my real estate purchases involved much negotiation. When I bought a car, it was totally about the negotiation. But maybe I'm wrong about real estate.