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How Rewarding Is a Career in Real Estate?

A career in real estate can be rewarding and as big as you like.

But what makes a career rewarding?

Is it a fat cheque? Work-life balance? Perks? Job stability? While many jobs out there will capitalize on one or two of these aspects, a career in real estate offers the best of all worlds.

Real estate is a fast-growing industry with a plethora of job opportunities that offer both monetary and non-monetary rewards.

But exactly how rewarding can it be? We’ll look into what you get by working in real estate as a realtor or broker:

1. Unlimited Income Potential

As a real estate agent, your income is not limited by an hourly wage or a fixed salary range. Instead, your earning potential depends on the amount of time you invest in your business.

Real estate agents are paid on a commission basis. In other words, if you don’t close a deal, you don’t make money. Most real estate agents charge between 5% and 6% commission.

Here’s how real estate agent’s commissions work:

For example, on a $500,000 home, a 6% commission would equal $30,000. However, this commission is usually split between two agents: the listing agent and the buyer agent each at 3%. So in this case, each agent would get $15,000.

But if you’re representing both the buyer and the seller, you get to keep the full 6%.

Now you’ll also need to share that with your broker. Depending on your agreed commission split (50-50 split in our case), you could take home around $5,000 to $6,000 after taxes.

In addition to the commission, some brokers also offer some form of real estate salaries and bonuses. Some high-performing agents working with established brokerages receive a commission, salary, bonuses, and profits.

On the income front, the median annual wage for real estate agents is around $49,000. However, according to BLS, the highest 10% raked in more than $178,000 in 2019.

2. Work-Life Balance

Real estate agents don’t have a mundane 9 to 5 job. Instead, they set their own schedule and working hours. This offers them a nice work-life balance.

Want to take a vacation? You can do it anytime you want.

Setting your own schedule gives you the flexibility you need to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

You can meet friends in between house showings or attend your daughter’s sporting activities after an open house.

3. Growth Opportunities

The good thing about working as a realtor is that you’re your own boss. That said, growth is in the palm of your hands.

Unlike an office job where growth is dependent on the size of your company and the availability of promotion opportunities, growth in real estate is a factor of your efforts.

If you have increased your client base and portfolio to a certain level, you can enjoy fast-paced growth.

4. Career Stability

If you’re looking for a career with the most job security, real estate is your best bet. Sure, when there is a major economic crisis, real estate suffers.

But whether there is a crisis or not, people still need to move, buy property, even rent office space.

That said, there will always be work for real estate professionals. For instance, if the economy is in a slump, people will prefer to rent than buy.

Final Words

A career in real estate can be highly rewarding if you’re self-motivated, honest, and enjoy networking and helping people.

But it also comes with many challenges that you’ll have to conquer before you can become a high-performer.

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