Making the Decision to Quit Real Estate

Making the choice to quit real estate for many agents is a hard one to make. The real estate industry as a whole is known for its high turnover rate of agents and other real estate professionals. This is not surprising at all. Becoming a real estate agent requires a lot of self-motivation and dedication, and the hours and stress can often be brutal. Learning how to manage stress effectively can make all the difference in whether an agent is able to be pleased in their real estate career or not.

While its simple to view someone who quits real estate as a “quitter” or a failure – its simply not the case. Deciding to continue to be a real estate agent is a highly personal choice. Not everyone wants a cell phone ringing off the hook constantly, uncertainty on where that next paycheck is coming from, or working late at night with panicked clients near their contract deadlines. The reality is if you see day to day what agents regularly go through a lot of people would not wonder why someone would quit – but why the heck anyone would stay.

Reckon about it: What if I offered a job to you tomorrow to sell widgets for me? Except, before you can start selling widgets, you’ll need to give me $2000 upfront. There’s no salary or benefits – you’ll get paid depending on how many widgets you sell, if you sell any widgets at all.  By the way, in our hypothetical situation, the widget market has been discussed non-stop on the radio, television, and in every other media channel available and people are panicked over it and very hesitant to buy or sell widgets at all. Oh, did I mention you’ll also be competing with about 200 other widget sellers in our area?

Anyone with common sense would probably not take me up on the widget job offer. And anyone who DID take me up on the widget market would likely struggle. Some could certainly succeed – but at what cost?

If you find yourself thinking if you should quit real estate, you first need to objectively assess the situation. What are the reasons you want to quit? Is it simply not what you anticipated it to be? Is it taking a toll on your family and personal life? Are you struggling financially? Or do you like it, but just don’t seem to be as successful as you hoped?

If it is taking a toll on your family and personal life, there’s no shame or embarassment in deciding to call it quits in real estate. Many people might make remarks or judgements about it, but really its none of their business.

But if you want to succeed, you can. The tools are all available. The market in most areas is not really as terrible as everyone makes it out to be. The only things you have to do is get rid of the nagging question in the back of your head and start working actively (not passively!) to get clients.

Have you ever thought about quitting real estate? What made you choose to stay or leave?