[squiffy]

Good question. It's something I have thought about myself.

First, real estate is a very cyclical business. And there are very high start up costs. It can take you many years to learn the ropes and build up enough clientele to survive.

So it's very risky to give up a steady 9-5 job.

As I see it, ideally, you would get into real estate very young, when your parents could support you initially. Or you would need to have a spouse with a steady 9-5 job to support you, while you took the risk of jumping into real estate 100%.

If you are a single person with no experience in real estate, I would think twice before leaping into real estate. Not to mention, you are getting into the game while real estate sales are DECLINING.

If you want to get into real estate, I see nothing wrong with dabbling a bit at first, to see if it is for you. Furthermore, it may be awhile before the market recovers. So you may have 3-5 years to learn the basics.

You may discover you dislike it. Or you may discover that you can gradually build a solid client base and may be ready to jump in full time. You may find that brokers don't want to work with part time agents. There are just a lot of unknowns.

But I am a big proponent of people TRYING new career paths that they may be curious about. You can learn a lot about yourself, your likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses.

And you can learn a lot about the real estate game and real estate markets.

Having said that. Don't build up some false fantasy world or illusions that you will make a killing in real estate and retire early.

It may take you many years of long hard work to learn what you need to learn. And basically, if you don't sell, you don't eat. A commission business can be a difficult career financially, particularly when the market is slow.

So I would encourage you to try it. But don't risk your entire career on one roll of the dice

You can limit your losses if you limit the size of your bet.
I wouldn't bet my whole bankroll on a new real estate career, certainly not in the middle of a down cycle.

But it wouldn't necessarily hurt you too much to play a few hands at a low limit.

Try and see if you can get into it part time. If you can't make it work you can't. If you don't like it you can quit.

But I wouldn't go full time until you get more info about the career and about your likelihood of success in it.