This is a very frustrating period for today’s real estate agent.

The market trend puts the advantage in the buyer’s favor, not the seller’s. Prices are sideways or falling dramatically. Foreclosures are at an all time high. More and more people are finding less value in retaining agents to sell their homes, preferring to do it themselves and save the commissions. The Internet has made it incredibly easy for buyers and sellers to do their own research and minimizing your value to the transaction.

Not to mention the competition. It is as fierce as it is formidable. At last count, 1 in 55 adults in California have a real estate license.

The fact of the matter is that only the strong and savvy will survive.

Are you strong? Are you savvy?

Maybe you are and maybe you aren’t. Maybe you have been struggling since the bubble burst. Maybe you are new. Or, maybe you are experienced and found the market too challenging to deal with.

Only you and your bank account really know.

But, for the sake of discussion, let’s say you are struggling to make a go of it.

The question is: Is it worth the frustration and aggravation?

Let’s think about this for a moment.

Here you are with a reservoir of knowledge and expertise in the industry, the market and the local area. Maybe nobody else appreciates your skill and expertise, but I’ll bet YOU do.

Let me ask you a sincere question: What’s keeping you from being a real estate investor? What’s keeping you from working on your own account and doing your own deals?

You know where the deals are. You know what a good deal is. You and I know the market is ripe with them right now. You’ve got the inside track on all sorts of opportunities.

Just a couple of deals would probably bring a smile to your face and some money in your bank account rather quickly. With seller financing or hard money loans, most times you don’t even need your own money or credit to make the deal happen and then be able to turn it for a nice quick profit.

Does that sound doable?

Be honest with yourself. Couldn’t you do that rather easily and quickly?

I am not trying to talk you out of being a real estate agent. I am just trying to say, despite what current circumstances suggest, you have options - real, viable options.

Maybe you’ve already thought about being a real estate investor and discarded the idea. Maybe you don’t want the risk, or responsibility, or it just seems too daunting.

Do you have other options?

Absolutely.

For instance, did you know investors will pay you to just find properties and prescreen them?

Yep, they love it. Some investors call these people birddogs or property scouts or property locators. Maybe in your real estate job, you’ve had people call you up looking for deals that meet a certain criteria. A fair percentage of them were probably working with investors trying to find deals.

This type of work has all the advantages of being a real estate agent and none of the disadvantages. Plus, it’s far more lucrative.

With what you know, with who you know, with the knowledge you have of the local market, you could make a heck of a birddog for some well-heeled investor willing to give you a hefty percentage of deal not bound by industry norms or association standards.

It happens everyday.

All I am saying is if you’re a real estate agent right now and things aren’t looking so good, you have other options and alternatives. You have a wealth of expertise and experience, which could be put to use in ways other than helping someone buy or sell their house.

When it comes to options and alternatives, I could go on and on.

So if you’re a real estate agent, there’s really no need to get discouraged. In fact the current market may in fact, have a wonderful silver lining.

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