How to Make $1000 Per Month as a Realtor

Being a realtor almost has a negative connotation these days with the bursting of the real estate bubble and the perception that realtors make money from commissions that they don’t deserve.  There may be times when a realtor has to do very little and the houses seem to sell themselves, but that time is past.  It is no longer a sellers’ market.  In many parts of the country, buyers have the upper hand so your house has to be noticed in order to sell.  You need to know your competition and be able to price the property correctly.  Enter the realtor.

Becoming a realtor is relatively simple but will vary somewhat from state to state.  In Indiana, the prospective realtor must be 18 years old and take a 54 hour course prior to taking a licensing exam.  Licensed realtors must take continuing education courses as well in order to maintain the license.  Obviously, there is some cost involved in taking the course and the examination.  Other expenses include the licensing fees, continuing education, professional dues, insurance, and fees to get access to the electronic listing system.  When added up, it would probably cost about $1000 or a bit more to get started as a realtor.

However, it could be possible to make back that sum and make that much monthly even as a part-time realtor.  Consider that the median home price in the United States right now is just over $200,000, but this number is clearly influenced by local factors.  In our area, the median price is about $123,000.  So let’s look at the smaller number and assume a 6% total commission on the sale.  Half of that goes to the selling broker and half to the purchasing broker.

Now a broker is the licensed individual who is actually responsible for the transaction with the realtor or salesperson bringing together the deal on the broker’s behalf.  A broker may have several realtors working for him/her.  The broker is typically the one responsible for running the office and putting up much of the capital for advertising, paying secretarial staff, and everything else that goes into running a business.  The broker gets a cut of the commission and provides the realtor (salesperson) with the rest.

In our scenario, let’s assume that the realtor gets a 50-50 split with the broker and can sell or purchase one median priced house per month throughout the year by putting in 15 hours per week.  Doing the math, six percent of $123,000 is $7380.  Half of that to each broker is $3690, and the 50-50 split between broker and realtor means the realtor could take home $1845 before taxes and expenses.  When broken down, it comes out to a potential hourly wage of just over $30 so it does fit our side hustle criteria.

That being said, it might be a bit difficult initially to build up enough business to close one transaction per month, but it would be possible.  The realtor would have to work smart and continually recruit new clients since repeat business does occur but on an infrequent basis.  Obviously, this will not work for everyone.  Being a salesperson at heart is a definite plus.  Nonetheless, it is possible to make a grand per month or more as a realtor if you put in the necessary effort.