RE Career moves

Background- I own my REI company since May 2007, I have a full time job and invest part time on the side. I currently work full time in manufacturing and business is SLOW, ie some permanent layoffs and temp. layoffs have started so I want to get out while the gettins’ good and get into real estate full time, not necessarily as an investor (maybe licensed assistant or something), until my biz grows large enough to invest full time. How do I write a resume based on the fact that all my experience in RE comes from a company I own? How will prospective employers view that since most decent jobs require # years of business experience? (I do have my RE sales license…) Advice would be great!!

What exactly does your real estate investment company do?

  • Rehabbing
  • Wholesaling
  • Renting
  • Buying subject-to
    etc.

What is your long-term goals and what are you looking to accomplish
before going full-time in your real estate investment company?

From what you have said in your post, I would definitely encourage you
to look into doing creative real estate. Learning “get in and get out”
types of deals that require none of your money or credit…

That will allow you to get some cash-flow coming in on a consistent monthly
basis, that way you won’t have to go work for the “man” after quitting your
job… That’s just my opinion only…

If you answer the above questions, maybe we can help you with more
specific answers…

I pretty much rehab houses in my spare time and rent them out. it brings in some money but not enough to live on yet. it would be pretty nice to not have to get another job right now and just wholesale houses or whatever, but my company isn’t well established enough yet to support me. I’d rather get a job in RE and continue to develop my portfolio and build my company’s structure until it is self supporting.

JakeRodgers,

For a salaried job you can try banks, mortgage lenders, and property management firms. Your real estate license is your foot in the door in those businesses.

For commissioned income, you can sell real estate full-time or part-time.

Resume-writing is a real speciality. Probably there are free seminars somewhere in your area. My friend went to an all-day free resume writing seminar and it was very valuable. The new resume was much better, and it did get him a job. It’ll be a worthwhile investment to better showcase your considerable skills as a business owner, etc.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Furnishedowner

I would LOVE a salaried job right now, because I feel it would give me more mental energy to focus on my first love, which is REI. However, I think I put a pretty kicka** resume together as I’ve already got an interview with a local investment brokerage company to sell commercial real estate. I’m kinda worried about going commission in a commercial based area right now, because I don’t know how much larger apt. buildings/office/industrial RE is actually selling right now-anyone have any advice for going into sales for investment/commercial RE right now?

JakeRodgers,

When I sold real estate the people I knew who sold commercial real estate worked long months with no income, only expenses. Then a sale would finally go through and they got that $40,000 commission check!

But you might want to really check out how you get paid–other agencies gave their sales people monthly $2,000 draws on future income. If you have your business and also non-salaried work things could get very tight financially if you are not prepared.

Good luck with your plans and please let us know how it goes.

Furnishedowner

furnishedowner- Compensation questions will be some of my first when I have my mtg with the broker next week. I did have the exact concerns that you mentioned-that is, working for a extended period of time with no commissions coming in, but a draw system might make a difference…I guess I’ll just have to see how the interview goes, I’ll keep you updated, thanks again!

Well, I was offered a position with a local firm as a commercial/investment broker! Here’s the thing, all the compensation is commission, with no draw structure at all. My only reservation is how do I go from a stable weekly paycheck to a commission-only job? Frankly it scares the crap out of me! How will I pay all my bills? Has anyone else made this kind of move, and if so how did you survive? Please HELP!

JakeRodgers,

Yes, I have made that kind of move from a salaried hospital staffer to licensed real estate sales. It was very tough. I couldn’t make my house payment for several months. Luckily, I had bought an “owner-carry” so he was willing to wait for the next closing to get a payment plus late charge.

Once my water was shut off, and I had to get morning coffee pot water from the neighbor’s hose!

It was very much hand-to-mouth for months. I only had one child then to support, so we managed. But I do not recommend this for you if you have a family.

You can work in Property Management, or a number of other fields that require a real estate license but pay a salary. Or cobble together a bunch of part-time jobs. Delivering pizzas for Domino’s pays quite well and you learn the city. Any kind of work that is honorable and pays the bills can get you through for now.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Furnishedowner

Whatever you get as your full-time job, just make sure that it pays the bills every month. That’s really the point of a job–just to pay the billls (and hopefully enjoy what you do).

Nothing could be worse than having a full-time job AND an investment business with sporadic income.