Genuinely and sincerely - what are the catches or challenges of a career in Real Estate?

Before I start, I am not saying the job is easy, or that I am going to smash it. I am definitely not saying it’s easier than recruitment.

But I am currently studying real estate / property management (Joint course, might as well get both) and want to become a real estate sales representative. I live in Western Australia.

I currently work in recruitment for blue- and white-collar, so I understand some of the aspects that will exist in a real estate career - being good with people, timing being important, PACERS, sales techniques, business development etc

I also totally understand why real estate is long hours. So just saying ‘long hours’ isn’t the winning answer here, even though of course it’s a contributing factor. Lots of paperwork for live sales, travelling to and from, having to do things in other people’s non-office hours, researching/scoping properties and then collating findings. It’s all very lengthy and can be slow, I get that.

BUT, I genuinely want someone in the job, to explain to me, what is the difficult part/the catch? Why is it that not everyone succeeds, and what are the things that can go wrong?

My guess is that, when you start out, you have no reputation, so you have to sort of market/cold call/door-knock/bit of luck your way into those first few sales. And then once the ball is rolling, again, what are the pitfalls/the downsides?

But otherwise, and again, I am begging people to see this as wanting to learn about my future industry, and not think I’m saying it’s a piece of piss…. What is the catch? Is it lead generation (How do you even generate leads in housing given it has no CVs, or given most of the time you see a house online, it’s already got an agent attached)? Is it that the hours and diligence is just so heavy that you have to really concentrate and know your stuff? Is it so tricky because you put your own earnings back into marketing and it’s very difficult to know what works and what doesn’t?

Recruitment, the two main issues are usually getting candidates who will take on work at slightly lower wages than usual, or it’s finding companies who actually want to use you (because you are a recruiter and recruiters are bad!1!1!). There is then the case of timing, doing all the candidate pool-building and getting the client on board in time, for those workers to have not been poached elsewhere. From a dummy’s POV (Again - NEVER WORKED IN R.E SO I WANT TO LEARN THE UGLY PARTS TOO) - property is always going to be there, everyone wants it, and the process of selling a house naturally takes time, so while it’s good to be punctual, you are not going to lose vendors/buyers/sellers/every single one of your interested stakeholders over a week’s delay, or say, a month’s turnaround due to paperwork, checks, financials etc.

Again, not saying every house is an ‘easy sale’, but given property is property, I just want to know how on earth it can go wrong and what are the general top challenges in the industry??? Because, from most people I know in the industry, they just say it can be hard, can be frustrating, but ultimately is a good career and is rewarding. I’ve never actually heard too many downsides apart from the hours. And I guess the stigma that you’re a narcissist and a user who just wants their cut… but hey, if you’re confident and driven enough to be in real estate sales, you block that out, know it’s all crap and love and respect your skills and who you are.

Thanks all, I really hope I have stuck the right tone with this and not come across an asshole. I am grateful for all insights and will take on board any advice.

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source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1gh0cwl/genuinely_and_sincerely_what_are_the_catches_or/