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Can You Survive Long Commutes?
Should I Be a Frequent Flier asks: "I am currently considering a job offer in an Aerospace company, and suffice it to say, I am very excited. Unfortunately, there is a catch - I would have to fly to work. While this may seem appropriate for an Aerospace job, it might not be appropriate for a married life, as it would require that I spend two or three nights a week away from my family. This is a big step, and I don't want to pass up a wonderful opportunity, but I don't what to wreck my marriage for a job. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of arrangement, either pro or con?"
My boss from two jobs ago lived in FL, commuted to VA via plane, and rented a local apartment for what little weekday sleep he could get with his work hours. It worked for a year or so, before he took another job. It was obviously stressful, and I'm not sure that from what I saw that I would recommend that life to anyone. So much time gets absorbed with travel (and that was pre-9/11) that there wasn't time for a quality life wih this family when he was back home. OTOH, he made a large amount of money and was able to use the experience to get an even better subsequent job that didn't require such a hellish commute. As for me, I wouldn't do it. I'm quitting a job with a two hour commute in the DC area to become stay-at-home-dad for a while. We'll have to cut expenses, but I think it'll be worth it. Maybe I'll have a different view in a year, tho.
You're assuming that he _can_ move close to work. If his employer is at Cheyenne mountain, or Roswell New Mexico, he doesn't have that option. Employees are flown in on a commercialesque airline from a normal airline terminal/local airport.
I commute 45 minutes each way, 5 days a week. At first it sucks, but eventually you adapt and it becomes great thinking time. The only reason I commute is for my family; if it weren't for that, I wouldn't do it.
Commuting is a sheer waste of time...
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
You're assuming a consistent destination. What if they are asking for the submitter to travel to different offices around the world?
Well, it depends on the agent. Last year when my wife and I bought a house, we were so disappointed - no disgusted - with our agent it goes beyond words. If we didn't have a friend who is a commercial broker watching our backs (and everything our agent did), it could have been very messy.
:-)
Our experience with that left us both thinking "We could do waaaay better than that ourselves." So, I just recently passed the license exam and will start working in real estate next month while continuing my IT career, at least for now. My wife's studying for her license and will do real estate full time. It's amazing how many of the best agents and brokers I've met have a story like this. Their own bad experience with some idiot led them go into the business because they were sure they'd be better. And they were.
The thing is, being a good agent is all about customer service. It's very much like being an independent consultant in IT. You work for a brokerage, but you're an independent contractor and you're generally responsible for finding your own customers. Just like in IT consulting, being technically competent isn't enough. To be successful, esp. in the long term, you have to provide excellent customer service. The kind of service that makes people recommend you to their friends and give you referrals.
If you have good customer service skills (we both do), you can translate those to real estate. Of course, you need a brain too, to be good (last I checked, it was still there), of course.
I am a nice person (honest ) and next month when I receive my license and start working, there'll be at least one nice real estate agent who shows up with a laptop booting Linux