[notfarnow]

*flame suit on*

I've wanted to try real estate for years, but knew I'd need enough capital to float me for a while in order to not starve while I got established. Well, I got laid off 2 weeks ago with a decent severance package. With a completely stripped-down home budget, that could float me for quite a while. I've also managed to eke out some other (small) income streams that would cushion us a bit too.

There's a 2 week course (mandatory) at the beginning of March and then a licensing test a week later. So if I decide to try this, and I haven't decided yet, I would be starting from scratch in April.

I'd really like to skip the conversations about your opinion of real estate agents, or whether or not you think they provide any value. That's been discussed at length (read: ad nauseum) and any of those threads can be bumped if that's what you want to talk about. Same with the larger discussion about RE values and the subprime crisis. This is not intended to be a "should I / shouldn't I" thread... that's a decision my wife and I will make based on our comfort level, discussions with other agents and our assessment of the local market.

What I'm looking for is advice from RE agents on what steps I could be taking NOW, and in my first 6 months, to ramp up as quickly as possible. What did YOU do right? What did you do wrong? Did you use your network of family and friends to get clients? Did you advertise? Did you cold call? What did you do to get listings?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!