[Big Ed]

I am, quit the corporate gig in late 2001. Went from $250K annual to mid-$30's in 2002. Was tough, but not unexpected. Worked tons of hours, spun my wheels for a long while, lots of nights and weekeneds. Spent a ton on advertising. The first 6 months made literally almost nothing.

Eventually started to build a book of business. By year end was a high ranked listing agent (but didn't have the sales closed yet). Years 2-3 were pretty decent, last year was phenominal. This year of course the market has turned soft, but I've still made almost as much as I did last year.

Once the book of business is built, if you do a good job then it becomes easy with referral and repeat business. But it sucks at first, and I had the benefit of starting in a very strong market. You will not have this advantage, and there are way too many agents right now...everyone jumped in to cash in on the easy money they perceived to be out there.

Not to be a pessimist, but I wouldn't want to start now in this business. It will be very difficult to build your book of business in a down market. Prepare for a tough battle, soldier.

Having said that, I don't regret a thing.