Two jobs in real estate can give retirees a very good income plus free time for other activities.
One real estate job, obviously, is to become a real estate agent. Another is to work as a real estate escrow transaction coordinator, which does not require the intensive licensing and continuing education that being a real estate agent does.
But let’s start with becoming a real estate agent, which allows you to work as often or as infrequently as you wish. Highly successful agents–the ones who make hundreds of thousands of dollars annually–live and breathe their work. It is a 24 hour a day job for them. There are, however, others who only work part time and have a very nice additional income as a result.
As an independent contractor you set your own hours
In general, a real estate agent is not “employed”, by the company or brokerage he or she works for, but is hired as an independent contractor.
As an independent contractor the agent decides how much time to spend selling homes and how much time doing other things. And the payoff can be substantial: thousands of dollars in commissions for selling just one home.
Many brokers/companies want only agents who will work ’round the clock, but there are others who do not mind if an agent works part time. Be sure to ask about this when you interview brokers. (And yes–you are the one doing the interview, to see if the brokerage/company fits your needs!! Not the other way around.)
Being older is a “plus”
Also keep this in mind: a well-groomed, mature real estate agent can easily acquire the confidence of prospective clients by instantly creating the impression of being knowledgeable, reliable and stable. And if people are confident in your abilities they are more likely to refer other people to you and that is how your business will grow.
All in the details for a real estate transaction coordinator
If you have sold or purchased real estate in recent years, you have, no doubt, been astonished by the mountains of paperwork involved. You may have not considered who was keeping track of all those documents, but the chances are good that it was not the agent. These days it is usually a transaction coordinator, a detail-oriented person, who keeps tabs on all the paperwork.
The coordinator makes sure the documents are completed and signed correctly and that all deadlines are met during the escrow process. And if there are any problems, the coordinator must inform the agent quickly.
Coordinators usually start by working on staff for an agent or for a real estate brokerage. The next step is to launch your own business and work from home for several agents at a time. Independent coordinators usually charge a flat fee of few hundred dollars to monitor and control the paperwork for each sale.
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