How to Start a Real Estate Career

Starting your real estate business

From getting your license to closing deals, watch this recorded discussion as we outline how to get your real estate business up, running and closing sales!
Prepare for your Florida Real Estate exam with these exam prep videos. For more exam prep tools or to enroll in a Florida real estate license course visit TampaSchoolofRealEstate.com or call us at (813) 333-2676

You can also watch the recorded discussion on YouTube

Plan your real estate career

The earlier career discussions collected here asked many of the same questions: what the work is like, where to start, how to plan your time and expenses, and how to move from learning to building a business. Use these questions to turn your interest into a practical plan:

• Choose the work you want to explore. Consider your interest in working with buyers or sellers, the people you want to serve, and the support you would want from a brokerage. Our discussion of real estate referrals explores another career topic.
• Plan your schedule and budget. Set aside time for studying, meeting people and following up. Estimate startup costs, ongoing business expenses and the savings you would need while building a client base. Income and the timing of a first closing vary; a fast launch is not a guaranteed paycheck.
• Think beyond passing the exam. Ask potential brokerages about training, mentoring and everyday support. Set realistic weekly goals for learning, conversations and follow-up. For a deeper discussion of that transition, see starting a full-time real estate career in Florida.

The Business Plan Calculator from our earlier career-launch discussions is available as an additional planning resource. Treat any example figures as assumptions to review, not promised earnings.

Explore where your real estate career can lead

Your career does not have to follow a fixed ladder. You may choose to focus on serving buyers or sellers, explore referral work, join a team, or consider team leadership, investing or brokerage ownership as your experience and goals develop. Each path involves different responsibilities, costs and preparation; none guarantees income.

Start with the support you need now: practical training, a mentor whose experience fits the work you want to do, and a brokerage that can explain how it supports new agents. Ask who will help with your first transactions, how you will learn to find and follow up with prospects, and what tools and expenses you should plan for. Use our brokerage-selection checklist to prepare your questions.

Build your first business routine

Put your plan on paper and review it with your broker, mentor or team leader before spending heavily on marketing. Choose a manageable way to meet prospective clients, set aside time for useful follow-up and keep learning while you serve your first clients. Relying on one possible transaction leaves you exposed if that person's plans change; continue building relationships while keeping your workload within the service you can provide.

Use our real estate business-plan guide and calculator to turn goals into activities. After licensing, sales associate post-licensing can help you develop practical business skills. Explore video on demand first if you want to learn on your own schedule, and check what is already included in your package before buying additional training.

Prepare your business while studying for your license

Keep your course and exam preparation first. Alongside studying, write down the hours you can devote to your future business, estimate your startup and living expenses, organize your existing contacts and prepare questions for potential brokerages. These planning tasks give you a starting point without taking over your study schedule.

Planning is different from offering real estate services. Before practicing, confirm your license is active with the appropriate employer. DBPR explains the sales associate license-activation process; our Florida licensing guide covers the broader steps.

Can you start a real estate business part time?

A part-time start can help you plan a transition while keeping your current job, but clients and transaction deadlines still need dependable attention. Build your plan around the hours you actually have, rather than assuming that evenings and weekends will cover every task.

• Block time for the work. Schedule learning, conversations, appointments, follow-up and administrative tasks. Decide how you will handle requests that arrive during your other working hours.
• Discuss coverage with your broker. Ask about mentoring, team support, transaction help and arrangements when you are unavailable. Compare the support and costs together.
• Keep a realistic budget. Separate household expenses from business costs and allow for an uncertain time to your first closing. Set a review point for whether to remain part time or expand your hours.

Before accepting a client, compare their likely appointment and communication needs with your available hours. Agree on a practical coverage arrangement with your broker so a day job does not leave the client waiting for an essential next step. Keep building professional relationships without assuming that everyone you already know will become a client.

If you prefer a different level of involvement, explore our real estate referral discussion. For a fuller transition, see starting a full-time real estate career.

For a practical weekly-calendar exercise, use the part-time scheduling checklist and original Make Your Schedule video. Map existing commitments first, then check client availability and brokerage coverage before expanding your working hours.

Think beyond getting a job: plan how your business will work

In a commission-based real estate role, a closing is revenue, not automatically take-home income. Account for the brokerage agreement, business expenses and money set aside for taxes and reserves. Compare brokerages on training, mentoring, tools and practical support as well as the commission arrangement.

Build a repeatable routine for finding prospects, following up and serving clients. Review what your broker and existing course package already provide before buying another tool or training program. Your business plan should connect your available time and budget with the activities you can sustain; it is a working plan, not an earnings promise.

How does a commission become income? Start with the compensation agreed for the brokerage, then apply your own brokerage agreement and any applicable fees. For a purely hypothetical example, an $8,000 brokerage commission with a 70% agent share would leave $5,600 before other fees, business expenses and taxes. These figures are arithmetic examples, not standard rates or expected earnings. Compensation is negotiable and not set by law; do not assume that a seller will pay a buyer's brokerage. Ask your broker to explain the agreements and payment terms that apply to your work.

Real estate licensing education and college: compare the purpose

A real estate licensing course and a college degree serve different purposes. Florida's sales associate application requires a high school diploma or equivalent and generally a state-approved 63-hour pre-licensing course, rather than a four-year college degree. Completing the course is one step toward licensure, not a substitute for the application and exam process. See DBPR's current requirements and education exemptions and our step-by-step Florida licensing guide.

Compare education options against the work you want to do, your total budget and the time you can commit. Passing an exam starts the learning process: practical training, mentoring and experience help you apply that knowledge with clients. After licensing, use sales associate post-licensing as part of your business-building plan, alongside brokerage support. A shorter course does not guarantee faster earnings or make one education path right for everyone.

Lessons from Jon Carissimo's early real estate career

In Counting Quarters to Counting Checks, Jon Carissimo shares a personal account of moving from earlier jobs and a DJ venture into real estate. He describes focusing on a car, business cards and other signs of being ready while underestimating the business skills, study routine and brokerage support he needed.

His practical lesson is to prepare for the work, not just the appearance of a new career:

• Give startup spending a purpose. Connect each expense to a real service or operating need before committing. A more impressive image does not replace useful client conversations or a workable budget.
• Compare brokerage support. Jon recalls joining a recommended brokerage without interviewing alternatives. Ask about training, mentoring, costs and expectations so you can evaluate fit for yourself.
• Keep learning active. He describes a long gap between his course and exam, followed by renewed study. Build a realistic review routine and ask for help with concepts you cannot yet apply.
• Learn the business as well as the license material. Practice explaining your service, following through and reviewing your plan. Use post-licensing and brokerage training to strengthen those skills.

Turn these lessons into your own business plan, compare support with the brokerage-selection checklist, and use the career-longevity guide for practical learning routines.

Watch Jon's original story: Counting Quarters to Counting Checks — April 5, 2024. The full recording preserves his personal experience; it is not a typical earnings result or a recommendation to borrow, cash out retirement savings or leave employment. Use current course pages for today's offers and requirements.

Choose your next step

For the current licensing process, start with our Florida real estate license guide. If you are ready to choose a class, explore our video-on-demand pre-licensing course for an instructor-led learning experience on your own schedule, or compare pre-licensing class formats, including live online and in-person options.

This information is brought to you by the Success Center at TSRE | Tampa School of Real Estate.
TSRE was founded upon the idea of being MORE than a required class. When starting a real estate career, there's so much more than just passing a class. At TSRE your success is our success, and one of the ways we're here to help you every step of the way is the TSRE Success Center. Whether you're just starting out or are trying to take your business to the next level, we're here to help you build your real estate empire.