It has been said that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. A surprising number of people in the real estate industry never planned on a career in real estate - it was just something that happened. What happened to bring you to the industry?

According to the National Association of REALTORS® Executive's Guide to REALTORS®, most agents (about 28%) started in another field before they tried real estate. Only five percent of agents chose real estate as their first career, and only one out of ten brokers chose the profession. Males appear most often to have come to the industry from previous careers in management and sales, while females were more likely to have had a career in administration, education, or worked as a homemaker. The interesting fact, though, is that those who chose the profession make an average of $13,000 more per year than those who migrated from other occupations.

Their reasons are many. People came to the profession as child-rearing duties were met or when other occupations failed to satisfy. Some were downsized from other industries. Some just decided that betting on themselves was preferable to making someone else rich.

What brought you to the real estate industry? Were you attracted to the freedom of being your own boss? Did you like the idea of starting in an industry in which you are nurtured, trained, and shown the ropes by a benevolent broker who has a stake in your success? Did you like the fact that selling homes and working with buyers isn't like most businesses? Did you think it might be more fun? Did the glamour of the industry attract you? After all, agents are known for their well-groomed appearance and big beautiful cars for ferrying buyers around.

How did you become educated to be a Realtor? Did you go to college to become an agent or did you take the required courses after graduating with a degree in something else. How difficult was it for you to become an agent? Did it seem too easy? How steep is the learning curve in your opinion? Were you prepared with the number of costs and steps you would have to meet in order to start turning a profit? If you are a new agent, are you turning a profit yet?

It is the answers to these questions and more that many consider to be the key to evaluating and elevating the profession of Realtor to the next level. How you got here may provide the best clues to how the industry will face continuous change, how you will innovate new services, and most important, how you will survive.

In the Agent News Opinion Poll, "Was Real Estate Your First Career Choice?" you have the opportunity to tell the world how you got here and why and where you are going from here. Please include your full name, agency, and city/state with your reply.

Published: October 22, 1998

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.