Changing Careers: Getting Started in Real Estate

The uncertainty of what the future may bring is what’s keeping people stuck in their unfulfilling day jobs from changing careers. And while it is true that it comes with its own risks—and even terrifying for those in their early or late 30s or 40s—there is one industry that you may want to consider, given the right kind of attention it has been receiving from investors lately: Real estate. 

Many working moms and dads have found success in real estate following a career switch either due to a career slump or the loss of a job.

Sandy Sparks, 46, a mother and a substitute teacher based in North Carolina, is one of them. Realizingthat her annual salary ($9,000) was not enough to help her husband pay their son’s college tuition, Sparks decided to enter the real estate sector, according to MyFox8.com. The housing market just crashed, but she followed her gut feeling, studied and took the licensing exam and has become top agent within a year. She has bested over 4,000 Keller Williams’ agents in North and South Carolina and is currently number two in terms of sales volume.

“If I’m up, I’m working. I love what I do and I’m passionate about what I do. I don’t do this because I care about houses; I care about people. I am passionate about people. So don’t let words people say stop you. So don’t let your best friends or family tell you can’t or shouldn’t do something, if you feel it in the deepest part of your heart. Just do it and you’ll do it with excellence,” said Sparks of her drive to succeed.

The National Association of Realtors said that the median age of its real estate agents is 52. It also added that only 5 percent of their members report selling real estate as their first job,” according to the Life Reimagined for Work website. It only goes to show that it’s never too late to get started in real estate.

Sparks is blessed with much enthusiasm to be in the market that she was able to defy the odds. But if you are a little bit conservative about jumping on the bandwagon, Douglas B. Richardson, a Pennsylvania-based career coach, recommends reexamining your skills and options first.

“If you're conducting a fundamental career reappraisal, you must pay attention to three distinct areas of inquiry,” Richardson said in his interview with CareerCast.com. These areas are:

-          What are you capable of doing?

-          What are you temperamentally suited to do?

-          What will the world let you do, given what you've done before?

“This last point often is ignored by idealistic or highly motivated career changers,” said Mr. Richardson, who has switched careers many times in the past. “They overlook the fact that their future career options are dramatically limited by past choices,” he told CareerCast.com.

Those who have just begun their career path in real estate can depend on real estate technologies to make their first home sale easier. Realbiz Media Group, Inc. RBIZ develops proprietary video marketing software that agents and their brokers can use to promote their virtual tour listings online. The company offers a Virtual Tour Program that allows real estate sellers to create virtual tours and presentations that are optimized for mobile viewing and could be syndicated through social media for only $29.95 a month.

The program is equipped with a video search engine optimization (VSEO) tool that automatically generate meta tags and descriptions for virtual tours and listings agents have uploaded to the platform so that they would be found easily by consumers online.

The program also has tools for creating QR codes, e-flyers, and seller reports as bonus features.

To learn more about Realbiz Media and its products, contact sales@realbizmediagroup.com or call 1.888.REAL.BIZ (888.732.5249).