innertracks

I switched from IT oriented work to being a real estate broker a few months ago. Start going to open houses. When the hosting broker isn't busy ask them about their career, what they like best/least about the job, etc... I found everyone was open to sharing. You can get a feel for the cultures at the different brokerages in your area by doing this too.

No background in real estate other than as a client! I've been doing software consulting locally for a number of years. Prior to that I was doing database related development. (Warehouse design, ETL, and analytics.)

In case anyone might be considering career options some semi-random background and bits of my thought process:

I haven't been getting any traction on the tech side locally as much as I enjoy the engineering and problem solving. So I started looking inside myself for assets/skills and limitations as well as around my community for where to find the opportunities.

My basic questions became: What can I do without being concerned about my age (in my 50s as of last year) and have high levels of autonomy regarding scheduling my time? Where is the money flowing locally? How do I put myself in the position of being a revenue center instead of a cost center?

What do I bring to the table? Computational thinking, problem solving, and picking up processes and systems fast. (Seems to help quite a bit with following the paper trail in a contract.) My demonstrated non-tech assets/skills (Argentine Tango instructor, math and software tutor, flight instructor) include connecting with people and being very calm in stressful situations.

As far as age goes, a number of people are real estate brokers well into old age. It's a great retirement career from what I am seeing.

Locally, real estate has been strong relatively speaking for a number of years. Seattle and Vancouver BC home prices are making my town very attractive as an alternative. Especially for those who can telecommute.

So I knew I could quickly learn the systems and processes of being a broker. I have the personal attributes/skills to connect and work with clients. As long as I am willing to learn from role models doing business successfully how I want to do business, in time I will be successful.

Plus, working under established brand/company has been very nice.

Considering all of the above learning how to be a successful real estate broker made sense for me. Now I can explore areas like infosec and cryptanalysis for fun. No pressure to monetize.

Just started my new career as a real estate broker north of Seattle. Programming can go back to being mostly a hobby.

From experience in the Seattle area, if you are in the USA you can get yourself passes for state and/or federal parks. In Washington state for example with a Discover Pass ($30 annual fee) you can park overnight for I believe up to two weeks. Not sure about the federal parks. Much cheaper than motels and no harassment from law enforcement. You're just camping! Move around as needed.

Edit: pass fee.

When I was a teenager in the early 80s I both learned to fly (eventually becoming a flight instructor and charter pilot) and learned to program. There was definitely a synergy between the two. My systems perspective was formed in an environment where decisions managing relatively complex interactions with the physical world have serious consequences in a matter of a few minutes or sooner.

Emotionally IT/programming haven't been nearly as satisfying as successfully managing a flight in adverse or challenging circumstances. Bush runways, unexpected weather changes, etc....

How interesting. I'm learning about healthy emotional boundaries. In the past there have been times I've been so synced up with another person's emotional state I thought their emotions were my own! Practicing dialing down my sensitivity has been a big help.

Some improvement did come with age. Perspective is amazingly helpful.

Along the way though I was able to find things that helped very noticeably. Some were physical, some were mind related, some were social, etc...

Bits and pieces that when put together did make a difference. Learning to take care of myself and remember to continue doing those things that were healthy for me has probably been a benefit of age as well.

The pieces of my puzzle: Therapy, hypnotherapy, dance (Argentine Tango), exercise, sleep, meditation, hydration, light levels, type of work, healthy relationships.

This was huge: Someone pointed out how I loved myself enough to be willing to destroy myself with such violence. Quite a shift in perspective! The realization of that love for self helped me switch to an amazingly hopeful resourceful place. The shift is difficult to describe though very real for me.

EDIT: Added to the puzzle pieces list.

Please do not ever give up.