Real Estate...AGAIN????

Me during my first stint in Real Estate in 1993-1998...

Gosh, golly gee, do I go back into real estate or not? I'm just kind of wondering. Been doing the math and the figuring, wondering if that will be worthwhile. My mother opened the door on the opportunity...

My pluses are that I have a lot more confidence going into the game. I'm not a young kid anymore like I was back in 1993-98 doing this gig. I have life-experience and I'm not about to get pushed around like I did back in the days when I was working in real estate in my 20s. I'm now 40 this year and have more stability. I have a wife and 3 kids with a 4th on the way. Back then, I was single. It won't be the ego-trip that it was back when I was in my 20s. It's a job...and it's something I'm capable of doing. I'm also not going back in to get my Agent 9.15 like I had done my last go-round with the real estate business.

I will NOT work with an unqualified buyer. I have 4 kids...and two adult mouths to feed. I don't need to run around trying to take a tire-kicker to several appointments and not having them like any of them. I don't need that aggravation. I will sit down with them for an in-house appointment (at the office) so that I can get all the information that I need to do my job properly. They should be able to find their houses within 3 or 4 homes if I have prequalified them properly. Any more and they'll just get confused. They also have to be financially pre-qualified or I will not be working with them. I've made that mistake all too many times.

The only negatives I can see are the cost and the fact that I'm not a great one for cold-calling. And with the telemarketing legislation that has come into play in the last few years in British Columbia, telemarketing (cold-calling) has gone completely out the window. Realtors have had to turn around and completely revamp their marketing strategy.

I will probably challenge the course and get in a few sales during the two year term of my licence. Because what I want to do is take that one listing and turn it into several sales that will benefit my pocketbook. My main goal is to make enough money so that I can make a go at my photography business. Because as I said to my mother, photography was what I was meant to do...and if I have to go through the flames of hell to do it, I will.

First things first though, I'll take my challenge course materials and study them thoroughly. I'll take advantage of the lectures (I'll make sure that my wife doesn't take any shifts on the days that I need to go up to UBC to take those lecture courses). I expect that if I get the course materials in May, I'll be ready to write in September and hopefully things will snowball for the better from there.