Hi Margaret, I came to Sarasota 10 years ago with little or no work experience and decided to become a realtor. Many people said to me "Just what we need, another realtor." but I didn't listen to those people. I found that Sarasota is a remarkable place with many opportunities and many great people and peers, willing to roll up their sleeves and help you out. Getting connected here is not very hard to do. My first year in real estate was very successful. I was told to expect to earn around 50K my first year with lots of hard work. I far out ceded that and have never looked back. I hang my license on Siesta Key which was very smart of me to do. It has proven to be very fruitful. Location, location, location. Anywhere on the waterfront is a win, win in my opinion. That's why people come here, isn't it?
It sounds like you already have the work ethic, now all you would need to do is decide where you would like to market your business and dig in and get going. Sarasota is a fabulous place and no doubt will be one of the first areas of Florida to bounce back from the bottom. Many people do have a real estate license but not that many truly work the business. Those of us that do, are still in the game and are surviving this down cycle. Now, might just be the best time to start in here as we feel we are at or very near bottom and you would be in a good position to capture an up market.
New home or resale or why not both? I am focusing more on second home buyers or permanent residence as opposed to investment properties because of lending guidelines now but I truly think you can be very successful here no matter where or what you plan to focus on. It all depends on you.
If you decide to make the move, I'd be happy to meet with you put you in touch with some great folks who could help.
My best to you whatever you decide.
Terri
Teresa M. Fellows
Broker/Associate
Waterside Realty LLC
941-350-4297
tmf4257@mac.com
http://www.floridawestproperties.com - Sun Nov 2 2008, 11:22