Real Estate Agent Job Advice

Added March 24, 2008 by Ilyce R. Glink

Print Articles

Summary: A real estate instructor writes in to give would-be real estate agents job advice. The instructor's job advice says that a real estate agent's career has lots of costs. According to the instructor's job advice, most real estate agents earn about $40,000 a year. The instructor's job advice reminds potential real estate agents that a real estate career can be lucrative but it's not an instant path to riches.

Q: Recently, a gentleman wrote in about investing in a career in real estate.

Please remind your readers that while the average income of a real estate licensee is $40,000 a year, we are almost all independent contractors, meaning we pay our own expenses, business costs and advertising.

Selling real estate can be very profitable but a new licensee needs to remember that they generally do not have taxes paid by their broker, they are responsible for all start-up and maintenance costs and the annual fees associated with the profession are not cheap.

I am a real estate instructor and find it amazing how many people get licensed because they "like to look at houses." Thank you for doing a great job of explaining how much work is involved in sales and directing your readers to great resources!

A: Thanks for your comments. While some “newbie” real estate agents still believe that selling real estate is a path to riches, as you indicated the vast majority earn about $40,000 per year.

You do get to write off your expenses against your income. Some agents also are able to put away money for retirement and reduce their taxable income on a year to year basis by contributing to a SEP-IRA or Self-Employed 401(k) plan. For more information on retirement plans, you should consult with a retirement specialist or accountant.

March 24, 2008.

See more articles on this topic by clicking on the "RELATED ARTICLES" above and to the right.

We have over 5000 articles on Real Estate Advice, Personal Finance Advice and Consumer Advice on our site. We encourage you to look at these articles. As always, if you have a comment on our articles, don't forget to post your comment below. We thank you for coming to ThinkGlink.com.

© Ilyce R. Glink. All rights reserved. This content may not be used, distributed, syndicated, compiled or excerpted in any medium or form without written authorization from Think Glink, Inc. For information on syndicating ThinkGlink.com please contact us.

Previous article Next article