Century Under 21

Sick of sorting vnecks at the Gap? Fed up with the terrors of temp work? A summer spent renting apartments may be just what you're looking for. In major urban centers such as Boston and New York, young people from across the country are earning fivedigit summer incomes and gaining realworld sales experience. Aspiring hucksters pocket up to half a month's rent as a broker's fee. With a little luck, a confident attitude and a good measure of chutzpah, the booming real estate market could provide a financial boon for you as well. Darren Gerstenblatt, a junior at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor at Ann Arbor, is spending a second summer working as a rental agent for the AllBright Real Estate company in Allston, Mass. After hearing his brother Jared tell tales of $1,000 commissions and extol the fastpaced excitement of sales, Gerstenblatt said he knew renting apartments was the right summer job for him. "There's just so much money to be made out there," he said. "Aside from cash, you gain experience in sales that's unattainable elsewhere. I'm doing a job that people twice my age are doing fulltime to support their families." In Massachusetts, prospective agents must complete 24 hours of classroom training as part of the real estate sales certification process. Regulated by the Massachusetts Real Estate Board, the course covers the fundamentals of the real estate industry as preparation for a comprehensive licensing examination that agents must take within a year of completing the course. The course normally takes three weeks, but Gerstenblatt chose a faster option. "I took the crash course and spent two days in a stuffy classroom," Gerstenblatt said. "I wouldn't want to do it again, but it was worth it to be able to take the test and get it over with." Private real estate courses cost $150 to $200. Once the course is completed, prospective realtors must take the state exam and pay an $89 examination fee. If they score above 70 percent on the exam and become a licensed sales agent, they must also pay a $55 licensing fee. The costs can add up. "I was a little surprised at first about how much it actually cost," Gerstenblatt said. "It's an investment that people should only enter into if they're planning on taking it seriously and following through with the job." Matthew Vlachos, an instructor at the American Real Estate Academy in Waltham, Mass, cautioned against taking the licensing process lightly. "Although a lot of the stuff we teach in the course is pretty standard stuff about real estate laws and regulations, it does get arcane at points," Vlachos said. "The majority of our students do pass the test on the first try, but I've heard lots of stories of people having to take it three, four or even five times. If you don't put forth a significant effort, you will fail." After four attempts to pass the licensing exam, Vanderbilt University junior Mike Fach gave up on real estate. "People have a false perception that passing the test is easy," he said. "I had a job, I had spent all that money and never got to rent one apartment." Vanessa Raptopoulos, a Skidmore College junior, watched the certification course on videotape. Before she even took the licensing test, Raptopoulos received job offers from several firms. "Nearly everyone I talked to said they had desks open for the summer and would be willing to hire me after I took the test," she said. "If you start early enough, you basically get your pick of where you want to work." Most firms provide their agents with a desk, a phone, a voicemail extension and a schedule of days and times they are required to work. While some offices provide training, for most it's sink or swim. "In my first two weeks of working I didn't close one deal," Gerstenblatt said. "I was pretty discouraged, but after about my fifteenth showing, it just clicked. Being a good salesperson is deceptively difficult." On an average day Gerstenblatt shows about 12 apartments, usually to clients who have called to inquire about a listing they saw in the classifieds. "From 10 in the morning to seven at night the phone never stops ringing," he said. "To do well in this business, you have to stay organized and make sure you give enough attention to all your clients. You have the clients, you have the apartments, the key is finding the right match." And it's not always easy. "Someone will call and ask for a four bedroom apartment that takes a dog, that doesn't have lead paint, that has a bay window, that has a washing machine, and want to pay $1,500," he said. "Although an apartment like that may be out there, it could take me two weeks to find it. You can't underestimate the value of perseverance." Geoffrey Reynolds, an owner of Boston's Copley Real Estate, said college students play an increasingly vital role in the summer market. "It's a young person's business because you got to know how to hustle," Reynolds said. "The summer is our peak time so, like everybody else, we try to hire as many ambitious young kids as possible in order to handle the volume. It works out perfectly for the brokers and the college kids." Knowing how to hustle pays off, Reynolds said. "During the summer an aggressive broker can make 10 to 15 grand. If you compare that to other parttime summer jobs, you just can't touch it," he said. Chris Tennant, a Student.Com summer intern, attends the University of Wisconsin at Madison.