I've never understood this full time / part time nonsense.  I work as few hours as needed to get the job done.  I've never set foot inside my Brokerage and couldn't tell you who works there let alone what hours they keep.   I've found that many people who claim full time hours are simply not good at time management!  My goal was to have full time pay for part time hours.  To me, that is success :)

Val, I prefer the term "dual career" :)  I'm an engineer for a Fortune 500 company and have been for almost 25 years.  Liz started in real estate in 2002, I got "pulled in" back in 2004.  My level of involvement was small initially and has grown over time.  About 3 years ago Liz went home to Maryland to help take care of a dying brother.  During those 3 months I took on the remaining aspects of the business that I wasn't already handling.  After she returned the fire for the business just wasn't there and instead she shifted more towards charity work (animal work (cat rescue, a certified pet therapy dog), visiting hospice, senior center, VA hospital, etc.).  Since that point it's basically been all me with some support when I specifically need it (process listing photos, past clients specifically expecting to see her, etc.).  Otherwise, I handle the buyers, our social media/web work, and in most cases the sellers.  I have enough day job flexibility that if I need to go out and show a home, I can.  I've also used quite a number of vacation days over the last few years to take care of clients.  It keeps me quite busy, and my free time at night and weekends is fairly scarce.  Assuming no hiccups between now and the end of the year I'll complete 20+ transactions this year.  And for the most part, the agent on the other side of the transaction won't even know I have a day time job.  Bill

If I sell $15M part time, I don't care what anyone calls me. 

Many agents are full time but receive part time income. Others put part time effort have another passion and earn full time+ income from RE.

75% agents in the brokerage I have no clue who they are. They work out their home come picking up their checks. Are they FT or PT that is not my concern. One should learn not to hang around in the office. Gossip, small talk. Who is cheating on whom....  

I only focus on RE matters no matter what topics they may be. I stay there long enough and leave quickly.

I was going to say something funny like, the difference is $500K to a million a year as my answer, but then I realized everybody's definition is different. I am probably the oddball out as I work full-time which, for me, means from 7 AM to 7 PM and, yes, some days I don't leave my computer except for a break, depending on how things go. Working full-time, selling more than 100 homes a year is what I do . . . but I also have a second job writing for About.com, with deadlines, assignments and projects, yet that doesn't really make me part-time, does it?

Wow! a part time job that near 15 mln every year~ not bad. And she is also ''anonymous'' and gives most of her commissions back to her charities! That is really rare situation. 

There is no clear cut definition as to whether an agent is full time or part time.  We all have our own criteria.

I personally do not care. If I am working with an agent,  I only want to know if they are competent and professional.  If I am not working with them --- it really is none of my business.

Availability - generally I find that agents that make their living as agents are more available than those that don't.  

It's about the results YOU want to achieve.  Time does not necessarily equal results.   

It is the quality of the service not the time of the service.  I think the implications are that "Part Time" does not know anything.  But some weeks I am part time and some weeks I am over time at this job. 

I am a part-time agent.  That doesn't mean I only half-way serve my clients.  It means I only work with 2-4 clients at a time, and I give them full service.  I do not work another job.  I am very knowledgeable, with 10 years of experience, many of those as a full-time top-producer, so it's not like I don't know what I'm doing.

I did a transactions with a "part time" Agent.  It was a nightmare!  She returned my calls, emails and even texts around her kids soccer games, school events, cooking etc.  I ended up working both ends of that deal but she got paid just as I did.  

I do not ask other agents in my office whether they have  another job. It is up to clients to ask an agent whta hours they are available and if it suits the clients that is all that matters. I am a full time agent. I work 7 days a week.

Val - I think most people that consider real estate their part-time job have another job as well, and that is why they don't consider themselves full-time.

As far as treating them like part-time citizens, I really don't see that happening. As long as they are good agents, and do their job, they will be respected in my eyes. 

FULL TIME VS part time is simply the time they do their job. 375k commish a year is pretty good :0

While there are always exceptions to such generalizations, and it sounds like your friend is certainly the exception, often the difference is market knowledge, properly written and executed contracts, availability, and experience recognizing and dealing with the 1000's of issues that can plague a real estate transaction.  

A variation of this question was on a state broker exam I recently took. It seems that the correct answer, as far as the state is concerned is, if you have concurrent active income from another source then you are a part-time agent. Their logic is that the time spent on the other job could be used for real estate activities so your not full-time as far as real estate is concerned. Think and mark otherwise and you lose a point! Can't say that I totally agree with this. Consider the agent who spends 3,000 hours/year on real estate matters and teaches an online course twice a year for a 100 hours total. Have a hard-time classifying this agent as part-time. 

Thanks to the Internet, smart phones, you can be full time anywhere and any time.... I just happen to do this 24/7 by choice, Endre

Good morning Val,

Congratulations to her, all the other agents who speak ill of her are just wishing they were as good as she is:)

Val Evans 

Your questions has an intriguing twist in it. The title asks about Full Time vs Part Time but the body of text introduces a number of interpersonal  qualifiers to the subject.

As a broker, I have to evaluate what kind of agent  I am agreeing to sponsor.  Since the broker is responsible for all real estate transactions, its only reasonable we look for someone we can count on, thinks before they act, has a commitment to continuing education, stays abreast of changes and is able to articulate those changes to a client and so on.  I am more than willing to mentor a newer agent if I'm convinced they have a commitment to the industry, themselves, and the business we can create together. On the other hand, if the agent seems to want to dabble in real estate and sees it as something to do to get out of the house, I'm a lot less interested.

In my business model I pay agents a terrific split, no desk fees, no E&O fees, no franchise fee, no advertising fee,  no up-front fees of any kind, and only a modest transaction when they sell something. The point is, that just like an agent, I don't make money unless they are making money. Elegantly simple.

All of this said, I would love to have your agent friend work for my brokerage and deliver her $15MM a year as something other than a full time agent.

As a "part-time" agent I find that I can devote more time and energy to my "full-time" clients...because I am not dependent on income from real estate.

Val, you have a plethora of answers to choose from regarding what makes full time vs part time.  I use the full service approach.  To me full service means you take the fiduciary duties seriously and therefore provide the best service possible for your clients.  My clients don't care how many hours I am spending at the office or in the field.  They only care if they feel like they are my most important client. 

Some of the Big Teams are worse than part time agents you do 100% of the work to pay theyre Team 50% they know that if they don't care someone will have to!

I have to agree with Susan Emo - my dream as a full time agent is to be part time earning the same amount that I do now - or more! ! 

I typically think of a part time agent as one who has a job that requires time during work hours. That said....who cares! 

I have seen agents that had other full time work that were fully producing agents and I classified them as full time because of theit commitment, hours invested to get the job done and their results were equal to many full time agents.

I have also seen full time agents that worked 50-60 hours and were not focused and produce part time results. 

I think that's an easy, but great question ....Full-time agents take it seriously 24-7 ....and there is no way way a part-time agent can do what they need to do to represent buyers or sellers the way way should!

I don't understand this concept of "part-time" vs. "full time"  It's a mindsent which we have been conditioned to think that we're only a productive human if we work 8 to 5.  Any variations, and we are the slugs of the earth. 

The answer is simple: availability. The full time agent has only one job - responding to client needs, when they want you. A part-time agent presumably has more 'other' priorities and presumably less availabiity.

Sounds to me like there are a few who might be trying to figure out how she does what she does in less time than they do or how she is doing better than they are.  I have found that too many agents sit around worrying what others are doing and that alone interferers with their own production.  As independent contractors we really don't have to answer to anyone. There is no explanation needed by her on what she does, why she does it or how much she produces (unless the Broker has requirements of course).  Normal behavior you ask?  Yes, there are always those who think they know everything and most actually don't. 

Usually it means you have a "regular" full-time job, e.g. I know some teachers that try to do real estate P/T when not in school. If your friend is successful, it doesn't matter what she calls her involvement. The sneers are just envy from the mean girls and boys.

As long as you are taking care of business who would know. I do not care if the other agent has another job. I do not have their bills. If they are responsible enough to take care of theirs who am I to judge. 

Number of hours IMHO is irrelevant.  Providing there are systems and processes in place during "normal business hours" - same hours as Title & Escrow, and processes to handle (rare) "exceptions" to those hours, the goal should be to minimize the amount of time spent (efficiency).  That said, to get a Brokers license in AZ (not Salesperson) one criteria is a minimum of 3 years "full time" defined as 160 hours per month...

I don't like the term "parttime" ..... there are agents who profess to be "full time" and they are not productive....agents who don't have "their head in the business" are not desirable....there are those who have two professions and they are always thinking about their next deal and where it come from....that's what I like see in an agent.... number of hours is irrelevent...some work long hours and they're running in circles!!! others work wisely and are productive.... 

Those people are jealous of her success and time management skills. Personally i wouldn't care what they said if I were making the money that that covers my needs. Some people have different values than others. It's what makes a person happy that determines their success.

As far as your question I think Part Timers are people who have another job other than RE.  I don't see how your friend does it part time! Good for her. I am a top producer and don't think I could be a top producer if I didn't do this fulltime, but everyone has different skills.

As far as working with part timers all I ask is please consider my time and don't text me very late in the evening because you can't work on RE in your other job! My experience with Part Timers is I usually have to help them through the transaction. If you are a Part Timer and I never knew it then you have gained my respect ! 

When i first started selling real estate, i felt like a second class citizen because im technically "part time" but like her, at that time i sold more than so called "full time" agents. i think you're considered part time, if real estate isn't the only thing you do. i dont like the classification because even though i have another job, i have proven to be just as available and resourceful, if not more, than "full time" agents. 

I view the term full time agent, as this is their only form of income.  Part timers have a full time (or even part time) job elsewhere.   Their focus is not always on real estate.

Val Evans In my mind there is no difference between a full time or part time agent. I've known many part time agents who could out perform many full time agents. I have said this before, it's the spare time agents who I wonder about.

Second class citizen! Of course not.

Agents simply need to be able to make a reliable connection with the agent on the other side of the transaction.  If they are properly available, how would anyone know they are part-time?

Now, it seems they must announce it themselves.

Doing so makes it clear to all other agents that they have MORE IMPORTANT things in their life, so don't expect them to make our obligations to the buyers and seller who hire us a highest priority.

I think the agent in question is dealing with their personal shame center and has no bearing on the other agent or what is being reported as truth.

Nothing as long as they can do their job properly.

Val,
If part timers are competent and can be reached, no problem.

I have agents who never come in to the office except when they have a closing and need to pick up a check.  No one treats them poorly. I think the broker is not handling his office well if people are sneering at one of the top producers.

A full time agent has drive to get listings and sell homes.  A part time agent only works when they have some free time to spare.

Most part timers have another income or someone paying the bills so that they do not need to work 80 hours per week.

I hate the fact that people are treating her that way and I can honestly say that behavior like that does not happen in my office.

The money they make

It realy differs from person to person...A full time agent in my opinion puts r=H=

Their REal Estate career first over any other side job they may have