Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
I've lived in Hawaii a little over a year now, and I haven't seemed to find my niche. I've made friends with plenty of people out here, but haven't gotten my footing as far as a career goes. Ultimately, it lies on the fact that I don't want to go through school all over again (even though I stopped after graduating high school). I've been employed for 2 decades now, and I'm just looking for something that pays well very quickly. I know, it's a shitty way to look at the world, but at least I've understood that about myself. That said, since moving here, I've taken a few "middle tier" jobs. Neither of which require education. The first of which was a retail sales job for toilets/bathroom fixtures. In my "past life", I always did company sales. But I really excel at retail sales because I can connect with people. They want more than just the lowest price and that's it. You want something you "feel good" about, and I can provide that.
When I lost that job for being unavailable every moment when the positions schedule changed, I looked for anything else. I'm currently doing construction. The pay is there, but it's back breaking. I'm filthy every day and I sweat my ass off from the moment I leave the house until when I return home again. This is a great temporary position, but I'm looking for something more. And I think I've found it in the form of real estate.
Hawaii is an interesting market. Sure, the median single family house sells for $795k, but that isn't the only reason. Because this is such a tourist location, there's an enormous market in property management. People own property out here for the sole purpose of renting it to others. And the state doesn't allow off-island rentals without someone on the island managing the property. So there is a sure thing in this market. You just need to be willing to do the work and make the connections that could carry you to greatness. Something where you are your own boss. You aren't begging for handouts in the form of raises from another person. It's entirely based on your own ability.
With all that in mind, I just began taking real estate school. To become a licensed real estate agent out here, you need to take a 60 hour course from an accredited school. Pass their final. Then finally pass the state issued real estate test. It's not a very large financial investment, which is why there are so many real estate agents out there. Probably $1200 after all is said and done. And the state of Hawaii has around 30,000 licensed agents. A little more info is that last year, roughly 5,000 agents (the active ones... Many people have a license that sits virtually dormant because they're doing it as a side job) handled approximately $2.4 billion in property sales. Granted, an agent only receives 3% of this at the most. Usually it's in the 1.5% range. But the property sales don't take rental prices into consideration. Unfortunately, I don't have any figures on rental numbers.
But yeah. I think this is a career that I would like to jump into. I'm a people person that can talk with anyone. I'm professional. I have my lazy side, but I think (or at least hope) that working for myself will steer me past that to the bigger picture.
Are any of the members of this board real estate agents? Or possibly brokers (broker is an agent that doesn't have to work under the guidance of someone else, but they need 3 years experience to become that and a little more schooling)? I'd love to start a conversation about what has worked for you in the past and what has failed. Kind of a learning opportunity. I'm in the process of listening to a few audio books by Gary Keller about real estate. I hope this is a good start.
When I lost that job for being unavailable every moment when the positions schedule changed, I looked for anything else. I'm currently doing construction. The pay is there, but it's back breaking. I'm filthy every day and I sweat my ass off from the moment I leave the house until when I return home again. This is a great temporary position, but I'm looking for something more. And I think I've found it in the form of real estate.
Hawaii is an interesting market. Sure, the median single family house sells for $795k, but that isn't the only reason. Because this is such a tourist location, there's an enormous market in property management. People own property out here for the sole purpose of renting it to others. And the state doesn't allow off-island rentals without someone on the island managing the property. So there is a sure thing in this market. You just need to be willing to do the work and make the connections that could carry you to greatness. Something where you are your own boss. You aren't begging for handouts in the form of raises from another person. It's entirely based on your own ability.
With all that in mind, I just began taking real estate school. To become a licensed real estate agent out here, you need to take a 60 hour course from an accredited school. Pass their final. Then finally pass the state issued real estate test. It's not a very large financial investment, which is why there are so many real estate agents out there. Probably $1200 after all is said and done. And the state of Hawaii has around 30,000 licensed agents. A little more info is that last year, roughly 5,000 agents (the active ones... Many people have a license that sits virtually dormant because they're doing it as a side job) handled approximately $2.4 billion in property sales. Granted, an agent only receives 3% of this at the most. Usually it's in the 1.5% range. But the property sales don't take rental prices into consideration. Unfortunately, I don't have any figures on rental numbers.
But yeah. I think this is a career that I would like to jump into. I'm a people person that can talk with anyone. I'm professional. I have my lazy side, but I think (or at least hope) that working for myself will steer me past that to the bigger picture.
Are any of the members of this board real estate agents? Or possibly brokers (broker is an agent that doesn't have to work under the guidance of someone else, but they need 3 years experience to become that and a little more schooling)? I'd love to start a conversation about what has worked for you in the past and what has failed. Kind of a learning opportunity. I'm in the process of listening to a few audio books by Gary Keller about real estate. I hope this is a good start.
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