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   January 12, 2009

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   venicefloridarealtor said:
   

   Since you haven’t received a REAL answer on this, I’ll try to help you.

   South Florida has some expensive markets on the waterfront - Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton on the West Coast; Naples, Marco Island, Bonita Springs on the West, etc..

   South Florida also has some inexpensive coastal areas, like Venice on the Gulf of Mexico, and interior areas, like Lehigh Acres or Arcadia or LaBelle or Weston or Homestead.

   Now, if you are going to be a full time Realtor with an excellent broker, a solid business plan that includes marketing yourself and your properties, good connections, and the propensity for networking networking networking - you will probably make more $$$ than a part-time Realtor.

   Working in Naples, and selling houses that average $400-$800,000 in price, and guess-timating your commission split as a newbie to be 50/50 with your broker, you will make approximately 1.5% of every sale, less expenses.

   So, the sale of a $500,000 house in Naples may put $7500 of taxable income in your pocket, less expenses (plan on spending at least $3,000 per year just to get up and running with MLS and agent fees and other business costs).

   The Naples market is soft and saturated right now, and loaded with Realtors who have been there a long time and have big market shares, so don’t count on making a sale every week, or even every month. It will take you time to make your first sale and then it will take 30-60 days for the sale to close.

   Plan on at least a 6-8 month gearing up time before you see your first check.

   In a less expensive area, you might have to sell 2 houses in the mid $200,000 range to make the same $$$ as you would in Naples, but less expensive houses are easier to sell. So , perhaps you will sell more in, say, Lehigh Acres, than you might on the beach in Ft. Myers.

   If you are lucky, and depending on your market, you may make from $2,000 to $10,000 a month when you have closings. There will be many months when you may not have a closing, so plan for that.

   And, again, Uncle Sam will tax you accordingly, and most full time Realtors that I know spend from $3,000 - $8,000 a year on out-of-pocket expenses, including advertising (more, if you are paying desk fees to your broker). You’ll spend even more for high end luxury listings that expect glossy magazine ads and catered open houses.

   I know a few agents who make six figures every year, but they are the exception. Most make a modest living (something like $30,000 - $40,000 a year).

   Having said all of that, if your dream is to be a real estate agent - go for it.

   Just plan for it. And don’t expect to be a millioniare. If making big $$$ in this business was that easy, everybody would be a Realtor.

   Good luck and best wishes.