Not everyone is fortunate enough to start out full-time in real estate. Many agents start their career paying their bills through a part or full-time job and do real estate on the side. As anyone who has tried to make the transition out of a job and into full-time real estate can tell you, it’s not for the faint of heart. Here are some tips on how you can set yourself up to successfully make that transition.

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Know Your Financial Situation

You need to know your personal burn rate, or how much you have saved up vs. how much you spend each month. So if you have $12k in savings and spend $3k every month, you can live for four months. Also, analyze your expenses to find ways to cut corners to improve your personal burn rate. Unless you are already raking in the business, when you go full-time it’s a good idea to have at least a few months worth of expenses covered. I would recommend 6-12 months. You wouldn’t want to start building momentum in real estate, only to have to put it on pause because you can’t pay your bills.

Be Realistic About Your Job Limitations

Since you aren’t full-time in real estate, you have a part or full-time job elsewhere. How demanding is that job? How much time and flexibility do you have outside of your job? When you are done at work, how much mental, emotional, and physical capacity do you have for more work? What other responsibilities do you have the need to be fulfilled? Answering these questions will help you determine how much time and effort you can put into real estate. Once you know that, you can get an idea of how long it will take to make the transition.

Set Goals

Set goals for yourself along the way. Create a large goal around your timeline for going full-time. When do you want that to happen? You don’t have to go ahead and put in your notice at your job just yet, unless you want some extra pressure motivation. Once you have that large goal, break it down into smaller goals you need to do in order to accomplish that large goal. When do you want to complete your first deal? How much do you want saved up in 3 months? These smaller goals will just be check marks along the way.

Learn From Other Agents

If your job allows it, set up your schedule so you can attend classes and events at your brokerage. Search out other agents who seem to be successful. Ask them questions. Offer to do open houses for them. (side note: Hopefully you are at a brokerage where the top producing agents are willing to help. If not, find a new brokerage). Take advantage of your brokerage’s training and resources, even if you can’t be there for everything they offer.

Get Ready to Work

Be ready to work harder than you ever have before. There are agents who prefer to work full-time and do real estate on the side. Some people are even very good at it. But for the most people, working a job on top of being a real estate agent isn’t ideal or sustainable. If your goal is to quit your job and go into real estate full-time, view it as a sprint and not a marathon. How can you work hard, save more and set yourself up to make that change sooner rather than later?

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