Would you want your child to go into real estate?

By:Rick Soukoulis
Chairman and CEO
Intero Mortgage


Kind of an interesting question, isn’t it?

It reminds me of that Willie Nelson song, “Mothers, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys…”

So what is it? Do you or don’t you want your kids to follow your foot paths into real estate?

First, let’s look at the choices. Your child could be a Realtor, a mortgage broker, a bank lending officer , an appraiser, or a title or escrow officer.

The first thing is that yes, it can be a very lucrative field. This is especially true for Realtors and mortgage brokers.

It’s not unusual, at least in a good year, for a Realtor or mortgage loan officer to make $100,000-200,000 in a year.

The obvious downside is volatility. I know one person who was an account executive for the sub-prime mortgage arm of Lehman Brothers. She was making about $300,000 a year during the good times, but she’s now working as a bookkeeper at a plumbing supply company.

If your kids do go into real estate, teach them early to set aside money during the good times to help them ride out the bad times.

Along with the lack of predictability of income, there is one huge positive: It’s the ability to help people. This is especially true for Realtors who work so hard to help people find their piece of the American Dream.

Being a Realtor was once considered almost a hobby. The cliché was that bored housewives did it to have something to do. I don’t know if that was really the case, but today’s Realtor is highly trained and extremely professional.

A final benefit to being a Realtor or being in the mortgage business is that these careers present all sorts of interesting investment opportunities. If your son or daughter goes into these or related fields, they will learn about good buildings for sale way before an ad shows up in the Sunday paper.

So along with the potential for good compensation, there is the chance to make good money through smart investing.

All in all, would I want my kids to go into real estate?

The answer is, quite simply, yes. And I’d be proud of them for doing so.