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Question:

How much do REAL ESTATE AGENTS in NYC get paid on average?

I have always wanted to own my own business and be an entrepreneur. I plan to travel the world in the future and I know I am going to live in a big city when I'm older. I have been thinking about going to college for Communications because I want to work in the entertainment industry or something with traveling. BUT if I chose that road, I wouldn't be really owning my own business...So, I've recently been taking an intereste in REAL ESTATE and I know that they can make a really GOOD income. If I chose that route, I could own my own business, work when I want, and when I do work I would be getting paid a lot more.SOOOO my question is...Do Real Estate Agents in NYC get paid alot of money? How would one go about starting THEIR OWN real estate business?

Answer:

they get paid commissions on sale just like every other realtor in the nation. They have to work for listings as well as sales
You need to take the training, pass the test, pay the fees and then beat out all the other thousands of brokers for the business. Common logic should tell you that anything that provides easy money is going to be overcrowded.
Real Estate Sales is completely commissioned. If you are selling you're making money. Some Real Estate Sales people in New York City have made HUGE money, others are scraping along. In Real Estate more than other sales, you MUST have connections. So, if you have connections (relatives, college friends, etc.) who live in affluent neighborhoods and know people they can connect you with, you'll do fine. If you are a nobody in the city, you'll be scraping along with rentals in Queens. In New York more than anything you gotta have chutzpah, moxie, connections and intelligence. Got one or two? You get bupkis.
Leasing agents are not paid. They strictly work on commission. You need a real estate sales license. Since they are commission only and you have to pay a desk fee most brokers are always willing to hire. it costs them nothing. You are very unlikely to earn 55k for 3-4 years. Expect close to nothing the first year. You have to find clients yourself, no one gives them to you, so unless you know a bunch of landlords that trust you you will not earn right away.
You don't need to live in New York City to make good money in real estate. It is difficult to estimate what your income could be in real estate since it will be more dependent on your ability and economy. Keep in mind that it is very expensive to live and work in NYC. You could make much less and have a higher standard of living in another part of the country. Frankly, I have never understood the facination with New York. I have been there more times than I can remember and have never understood why anyone would want to live there. If you want to get into real estate you will need to get a real estate license. I would suggest you start your career by going to college and getting a degree in marketing, finance or banking. Some colleges may offer a concentration in real estate. There may also be concentrations in entrepreneurship. You don't need a degree to get a real estate license but will need to associate yourself with a broker to sponsor you. It will greatly benefit you to earn your degree. If you want to eventually own your own business a business degree would be of help. The down side to real estate sales is that it is often a long time between sales, especially starting out. Work smart and you could do well. Get your license and learn all you can. Save your money and learn all you can as you earn a living. Buy you own real estate and in a few years you could start your own brokerage business. If you want to do a lot of traveling then you may want to consider just working for a broker. When you own the business it isn't always easy to take time off.

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