Real estate is a convenient marriage of two different words from French and English with real coming from 'Royale' and 'estate' being an English word, representing immovable property. The term royale represented the monarchies in royal estates of the earlier eras. It has now transformed into real over time with monarchies coming down and economies presenting opportunities for everyone to own any piece of property under the sun. This presented two new lines of business: Real Estate Broking and Real Estate Agency.

Just The Facts, Ma'am

According to one estimate by "The Economist", real estate assets in the United States equal a whopping $62 trillion, which is a big 54% of their entire asset value. It may be hard to believe that the portion of residential properties amounts to $48 trillion out of that mind- blowing figure. This stands as a testimony to the demand and supply of real estate assets and thus why real estate is such a high-growth field.

A total of $61 billion was paid in commission to real estate brokers in 2004 alone. And a good part of this huge money goes to the licensed agents serving them.

Real Estate Business No One Promised You A Rose Garden

If you are considering a career in real estate as an agent, it is wise to know the pitfalls before beginning. No real estate agent these days can make it big by working only on the weekends for a couple of hours. Since an agent is the face of a real estate broker, and is required to split the revenues with the broker, he needs to work full time (and then some) in order to earn a good income. Getting sucked into the profession by looking at the successful and most visible agents alone would be a mistake.

How Does One Become A Real Estate Agent

The criteria set by the law and respective state governments vary with respect to licensing, but here are the general requirements:

You must be at least 18 years old and a high school graduate

Must take a qualifying course of 30 hours

After passing, you must work as real estate sales person under a broker for one year in to be eligible to apply for a real estate agent's license

If you are knowledgeable about real estate regulations and laws by having worked for a minimum of 2 years for your employer, you can directly apply for the license once you pass the examination required by the Secretary of State.

Additional knowledge and experience such as overall economics and economic indicators, mathematics and property law is also helpful. But what decides the success of your career is the good will you earn with clients. You need to be gregarious, persistent and knowledgeable.

How much can you expect to earn? This is subjective and there are major and minor aspects that affect this. However, as a successful real estate agent you have a potential to earn anywhere from $54,000 to $75,000. There are agents who are earning more than $100,000 a year, but these have several years of experience under their belts.

The great thing about a career in real estate is that your earning potential is limited only by your own abilities and the amount of work that you put in. So work hard for a few years and you can quickly find yourself among the top agents in your state!