1,503,028
Real estate is not the easiest job in the world to do part-time. Lots of training happens during the day, but most of the "work" happens on the nights and weekends (there is a fair amount that happens during the day too, such as your marketing and lead gen, but the stuff people "see" is mostly at night and weekends).
If you have a website, spend some time making it worth visiting. Put good info on it about yourself and what you offer. Many websites can be done very cheaply if you don't already have one.
For advertising, try doing a facebook ad at $5/day for 5 days. Get permission from an agent in your office to advertise their listing. Run the ad (targeted audience of course). I pick up several names that way (not always accurate, but most are). There are several good tutorials out there from "The Paperless Agent" and "Labcoat Agents". Have a good image, smartly target the audience and have a good (but short) ad copy that gets people to contact you for more info.
Also try holding open houses for your office's listings. They don't have the highest of success rates, but you can often meet people and pick up potential clients that way. Just make sure the house you're holding open is priced well so you'll get people in.
Real Estate: It's a hard way, to make an easy living.
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Pete Xavier
Pacific Palisades, CA
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Kasey & John Boles
Boise, ID
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Kevin J. May
Hobe Sound, FL
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Ryan Huggins - Thousan...
Thousand Oaks, CA
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Kathleen Daniels, Prob...
San Jose, CA
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Stephen Qualls
Cane Ridge, TN
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Candice A. Donofrio
Fort Mohave, AZ
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Anita Clark
Warner Robins, GA
5,104,931
I think you have a problem. And it's one that will be hard to overcome.
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Kevin J. May
Hobe Sound, FL
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Teri Pacitto
Westlake Village, CA
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Pete Xavier
Pacific Palisades, CA
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Kathleen Daniels, Prob...
San Jose, CA
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Michael Setunsky
Woodbridge, VA
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Tony and Suzanne Marri...
Scottsdale, AZ
5,230,159
When you do have that first sale, she'll change her tune!
And, I'd also remind her (since she IS an accounting manager!) - you have to spend money to make money!
Don't let her dissuade you - keep your nose to the grindstone!
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Kevin J. May
Hobe Sound, FL
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Kathleen Daniels, Prob...
San Jose, CA
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Barbara Todaro
Franklin, MA
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Pete Xavier
Pacific Palisades, CA
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
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Candice A. Donofrio
Fort Mohave, AZ
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Fred Griffin Florida R...
Tallahassee, FL
216,904
Very difficult to being a r.e. career when you still have to work 40 hours a week. Time is of the essence in deals and if you are out 8 hours/day, it may be tough to negotiate or work on your business. Perhaps work in a r.e. office on the weekend and shadow someone, so you can understand the business and see if it is really worth the risk?
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Kevin J. May
Hobe Sound, FL
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Fred Griffin Florida R...
Tallahassee, FL
1,052,321
All I can say is that the first nice fat juicy deal you close will give her an attitude adjustment. So just keep on plugging. You should be able to develop some connections through your current job.
It's hard to be successful in this profession without an extremely supportive spouse.
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Kevin J. May
Hobe Sound, FL
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Candice A. Donofrio
Fort Mohave, AZ
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Fred Griffin Florida R...
Tallahassee, FL
989,652
Ok this isn't as hard as it seems...
1. Working real estate part time is almost impossible at first - it takes time and effort to get the business off the ground.
2.You don't need sales - what you need is start focusing on the ability to obtain sales.
3. Advertising can get very expensive. However, take some of your "eating out" or "entertainment" budget and start saving it - within a month or 2 you should see a nice nest egg you can start to funnel into advertising
4. If she is an Acct Mgr then you need to discuss this as a real business and not a fly by night pipe dream! She should understand ROI and actually she should be able to help you get the business started - use her skills and knowledge and partner with her!
5. Get a Toupee!
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Candice A. Donofrio
Fort Mohave, AZ
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Kathleen Daniels, Prob...
San Jose, CA
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Stephen Qualls
Cane Ridge, TN
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Fred Griffin Florida R...
Tallahassee, FL
711,852
My husband is the contractor. I am the realtor. Works great! And my husband would never question my need to advertise. In fact, he writes my ads!
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Ryan Huggins - Thousan...
Thousand Oaks, CA
3,071,489
Nina Hollander nailed this one!
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Michael Setunsky
Woodbridge, VA
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
953,717
I know that I wouldn't be able to service my clients properly with a 40 hour a week construction job, I would partner up with a full time agent. Many of my real estate clients in the past (no longer in representative real estate) did not come from the result of paid advertising. Best wishes.
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
6,393,609
Maybe real estate is not for you at this time, work hard at your construction job, save some cash, and when you have $10k put aside then get back to real estate.
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Fred Griffin Florida R...
Tallahassee, FL
2,684,109
Spend money on what kind of advertising? Direct mail? Website?
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
3,345,221
I wish you all the best with this.
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Lynnea Miller
Bend, OR
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
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Fred Griffin Florida R...
Tallahassee, FL
3,988,007
It is hard to move forward without spousal support. I suspect your spouse is afraid of loss of income and security. Only you can do the reassuring that you will do what it takes for success and to better your lives together.
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Jay McHugh
Acton, MA
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
352,976
Nina Hollander says it like it is and I agree. But I also think it's going to be very difficult to work 40 hours on one job and find time for 40+ on real estate.
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Eve Alexander
Tampa, FL
1,543,973
She's correct to be cautious about your spending, real estate is a full time job; you'll never make it trying to work construction and RE at the same time. Hence you are wasting your money advertising for clients you have no time to serve and no skin in the game to serve them with. You have plunge in with 6 months reserves saved at least. BTW last time I worked construction, that wasn't a 40 hour per week job either, more like 60-80hrs. Sorry, I have no time to BS people, I've lived what you're attempting. Having a toe in two pools won't allow you to dive in to either.
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Susan Haughton
Alexandria, VA
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Candice A. Donofrio
Fort Mohave, AZ
1,726,096
Threats always work. If not, poison?
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Candice A. Donofrio
Fort Mohave, AZ
716,049
One of your problems is that you work 40 hours/week which leaves little for real estate and no sales as you said. If you worked 40 hours/week doing real estate maybe you'd have sales?
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Candice A. Donofrio
Fort Mohave, AZ
5,772,575
I think you should work that out directly with your wife. Sit down and have a heart to heart talk. Know that you both have each other's best interests at heart and go from there. A
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Stephen Qualls
Cane Ridge, TN
5,217,392
You do need her to understand your goals or you are heading for trouble
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Eve Alexander
Tampa, FL
2,220,654
Stop being Anonymous.
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Anthony Acosta - ALLAT...
Atlanta, GA
2,062,270
You should have had this discussion with your wife before you got into the business. I'm sure everyone you talked to told you that you should anticipate no income the first year (or at the very least any income going back into the business).
In addition you'll have thousands of dollars of dues and fees before you make a dime, and the anticipation of spending money on advertising to bring in business... simple stuff like Facebook ads, Yelp, Zillow advertising.
Ya screwed up, anonymous dude. Now you'll need to get on your knees, and beg her forgiveness.
Good luck.
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Fred Griffin Florida R...
Tallahassee, FL
1,844,301
Sad to say that you wife might not ever get on board. I had the same situation where everything you did was critized to increase business. I would also add that she is probably scared & security is an issue having being used to 2 incomes & that possibly going away.
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Fred Griffin Florida R...
Tallahassee, FL
4,572,570
As others have suggested, since you still have a full-time job, joining a team may be a good option. I'm sure a good team would want to have your construction connections and knowledge. Interview carefully and choose wisely. Good luck.
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Pete Xavier
Pacific Palisades, CA
3,416,038
With no sales, i would narrow my search for business from people i know, target your spending to them, send less and get better results, when you get any results than expand to the public
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
1,390,113
My first piece of advice would be to take advantage of the free advertising opportunities (networking!) so that you have a few sales in your pocket and therefore a little leverage. My second advice would be to do your research. Find the data that supports the kind of advertising you want to do results in actual business.
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
7,836,431
You need to demonstrate your ability to make some sales. Make face to face contacts and build your referral network.
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
5,049,477
Good luck with this. The timing may not be right with the amount of time you have to spend on your full time job. That said, a good sized transaction will help. And advertising is key!
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Nina Hollander, Broker
Charlotte, NC
544,014
You don't need to spend any money on advertising if you work your existing sphere of friends and acquaintances. Or, join a team that provides you leads.
But frankly, you should take a break from construction to apply yourself full time to real estate.
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
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Debe Maxwell, CRS
Charlotte, NC
1,027,602
Hindsight being 20/20, having her on board before you got your real estate license would have been key. With that said, it is very difficult to be successful in this business without a supportive spouse and working a full time job 40 hours a week unless those hours are extremely flexible and you have access to a computer and a phone during those hours.
You need a solid business plan, in my opinion, in order to show her precisely what you plan to do with the money and what you expect the results to be. Just throwing money at advertising, though, isn't going to yield much, unless you have a massive budget.
If money is a challenge, then do it another way; by networking, meeting friends and colleagues for coffee, socializing and letting people know you are in real estate. It's not impossible to do but it will take up what free time you have left after you have put in your 40 hours.
Best of luck!
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Pete Xavier
Pacific Palisades, CA
577,750
If you are serious about being a real estate agent, then you can't be effecive doing it part time.. its all or nothing. How can you be available when people call you if you are working 40 hours/week.... This is a service oriented business and if you don't answer your calls or are not available when clients want to see a property they will call someone else. There is not much loyalty in this business, you have to earn it..
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Susan Haughton
Alexandria, VA
613,494
3,986,258
That should have been talked about before now
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Eve Alexander
Tampa, FL
599,274
There are a thousand things we don't know but my first impression is that she doesn't see the value in real estate. Why don't you work on closing some deals first, showing her that you can make it work, and then start asking for money? Or use the money from a sale to fund future endeavors.
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Stephen Qualls
Cane Ridge, TN
1,153,794
You'll be in a pickle until you get one or two sales under your belt. The reward isn't felt until the bucks begin to flow in. Once rolling in the dough expect 10 to 20% to go into your marketing budget. Her accounting expertise will be a blessing once you get going. No one ever said it was easy so best of luck!
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Pete Xavier
Pacific Palisades, CA
2,178,703
Not to be a naysayer but you're not doing your clients any favors by working 40 hours per week and "fitting them in" to your schedule. Sharon Altier, SFR gave you some good advice.
Also, if you're determined to build a career, spend time building your online presence, website and blog. Blog what you know: Construction. That could be your niche. Build a reputation for being the expert in your niche. People will want to work with you for your knowledge. Let them come to you, don't chase them... at least not until you have the time to devote to a full time career.
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Susan Haughton
Alexandria, VA
1,712,676
Sounds like you need to stick with your day job. You are either in or out in real estate.
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
370,200
Get her to some great coaching sessions or seminars to see the upside etc....don't push her .. encourage her to be open .. and ask her for help etc....she will appreciate the inclusion and together your are stronger than arguing etc.....hope that helps...
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
2,071,025
1,598,452
5,868,689
4,936,716
2,182,552
You need some $$$ toLead Generate , but you must have a narrow specific target !!! Don't Buy Leads
1,622,432
Communication. You have to schedule a meeting and have a conversation about it together. Good luck.
65,378
4,319,419
3,164,294
Not sure while you are trying to work another job that doesn't allow for flexibility. But I've often said you can't make money without spending money to advertise.
1,239,901
900,278
809,258
I am with Michael Jacobs. It will be next to impossible to succeed in real estate sales if you are working a 40 hour a week construction job and unable to be available to your clients. I would recommend finding a team that is willing to take on an agent who can work nights and weekends to help when other agents on the team who aren't available or need time off. You will have business handed to you, make a smaller cut but also learn the business through the process. And your advertising whoas will be erased, as you won't have to spend money on advertising. -Kasey
5,583,278
1,196,798
4,800,082
2,781,303
4,434,127