Why Real Estate Is One Of The Hardest Jobs (2025)

A lot of people view being a realtor as a way of escaping the rat race that so many others end up trapped in. They see it as an easy chance to take control of their lives, selling nothing but million dollar houses, and going on vacations afterwards. While that’s a reality for some, most realtors live in an entirely different, much more harsh world. The truth is that being a real estate agent is probably one of the hardest jobs out there. Here’s just a few reasons that make being a real estate agent so challenging.

Commission-based Compensation

In the real estate world, you only eat what you’ve killed yourself. Some salespeople can relate to this, but as a real estate agent, there’s a very good chance that you’re being paid on a commission basis. This means that your income is entirely dependent on your ability to close deals. If that idea alone wasn’t enough to express the amount of pressure realtors are often under, there’s also the added uncertainty of an always changing market. This forces realtors to adapt to new trends and less than ideal market conditions, creating new strategies to appeal to client’s changing mindsets.

Competition

One of the best things about being a realtor is the fact that you don’t have to answer to anyone. You’re your own boss, and you decide what you do, when you do it, and how it’s all done. When you think of how great that sounds, you’re probably not thinking about the fact that every other realtor out there is doing the exact same thing. In Ontario alone, there’s over 80 thousand active realtors, and that number is only going up. With all of these people targeting the same market as you, it’s no understatement to say that it’s a competitive market. I can tell you that it’s not a good idea to look at what everyone else is doing, and how self damaging it can be to compare yourself to someone, but you’re human. It’s natural to feel that way, and whether you’re succeeding or failing, the idea of having to stand out from the constantly growing crowd can take a toll on your mental health if you aren’t prepared for it.

The Long Hours

As a realtor, you’re not looking at the usual Monday to Friday 9-5 schedule that so many people live by. If you’re looking to get ahead in the industry at all, your hours are from the time you wake up to the time that your phone stops going off. Your schedule is entirely at the mercy of the state of the market along with your clients. That means you’ll need to be ready to sacrifice evenings, weekends, and occasional plans in order to suit your client’s schedules. The road to success is filled with missed free time.

Despite how bad this all may sound, real estate sales is a dynamic and exciting industry that can serve as a rewarding and fulfilling career for the right person. Of course, that’s assuming that you are the right person for this line of work. If you’re prepared to make sacrifices, and you know you’re self driven in a way that you won’t burn out, the challenge can result in a highly rewarding career path. You just need to be willing to put in the work.