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What's a lifelong realtor to do in this economy?

4 points by kingnothing ↗ HN
This isn't me, personally, but a family member of mine is a lifelong realtor who has found himself unable to sell enough houses to support the way he has lived for the last two decades.

Can anyone suggest something else he can do for work? Are there any thriving sales markets? I'd appreciate it greatly, as will he if I can offer up any reasonable suggestions.

10 comments

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iamadog
Maybe he should consider the possibility that his lifestyle is unsustainable. The housing market was in a bubble, so his past income were an accident. Just as programmers can no longer expect to get so rich so quickly after the dot-com bubble popped, he need to face up to economic reality.
kingnothing
His lifestyle is nothing extravagant. When I said that he's unable to support his lifestyle, I suppose I should have said that he's soon going to be unable to support living at all, without being on welfare, if he doesn't change professions.
DenisM
There is plenty of foreclosures and auctions going on right now, and many of my coworkers are itching to get in and snatch a really cheap house or two. The problem they face is that while they have money (or access to, anyway) they don't know the intricacies of how auctions work. It's possible to buy a house that has liens(?) against it, and so it's important to understand what is it you are getting into. He/she can just charge hourly consulting fee and live off that.

Basically, I suggest being a consultant to bargain-seekers.

fallentimes
Learn new skills.

Additionally, sales skills are very transferable. I don't know off hand, but I'd look up the fastest growing industries and try to land a sales job in one of those. Obviously, read everything you can about the industry before applying to the jobs you really want. Informational interviews would be a solid path to pursue as well.

quasimojo
why are you asking a bunch of rookie programmers???
kingnothing
I'm asking a bunch of entrepreneurs, not a bunch of programmers.
rtf
If he has a good track record, he can probably sell his experience; he just needs to get out there and start networking in whatever field he's aiming for.

This advice is made on the assumption that he's in a major metropolitan area with the kinds of conferences and informal gatherings to allow a new start.

gaius
150 estate agents are closing every week in the UK, according to the BBC.

Every cloud has a silver lining!

portfolioexec
When you say he can't sell enough houses - does he not have enough sellers or buyers?

With such high foreclosure rates, I'm assuming it's a lack buyers. Being a property investor myself, I can tell you there are a lot of people I know personally who are biding their time and getting ready to pounce on bargains.

I'm based in the UK and so far the US market has tanked so much more. If you can package the deals and market them to UK investors I think you could be on to something.

There are definitely people wanting to buy, they just might be out of your typical geographical reach. Knock together a site with some example deals and get some exposure. Or post on loopnet.com or similar.

Google "bandwagon raiding machine" and see some products being marketing in the UK. I got access to one and basically all it says is find people in the US to source foreclosure deals then buy them.