Real Estate Sales: Hot Career Lure

It seems as if everybody is talking about the booming housing market these days. And, if you've thought about trying to cash in with a career in the real estate business, you're far from alone,

Home values have doubled in the last five years, which means that the agents selling the homes are making more money in commissions.

Last year, real estate agents collected more than $60 billion in commissions, and the promise of all that money is making the job very appealing.

Aspiring sales types envision themselves doing as well as Mike Neely, a top real estate agent in one of America's hottest housing markets.

Neely is living the good life in Westchester County, N.Y., just north of New York City.

"I drive a Mercedes and a Bentley," he tells Regan. "And a Ranger Rover."

And nine other luxury cars.

"It does make for a great income if you're successful," Neely says. He put his volume last year at $57 million, making his cut about $1 million.

But Neeley points out that being a real estate agent isn't all easy money. You're on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

But that's not slowing the flow of people into the real estate field.

In the past five years, Regan says, the number of registered agents in the United States has more than doubled to 1.2 million.

Many of them are leaving behind other careers to try to cash in on the housing boom.

"The streets are paved in gold. That's what it's all about," says Morris Ashear, a student in an adult education real estate course on New Jersey's coast taught by Frank Felice.

The classes have been at full capacity for nearly two years, Felice says.

"(Real estate is) the ultimate (way to make lots of money). I think that's why most people get into it," remarks student Michelle Mackey.

"I had a Continental Airlines pilot that graduated in my last class," Felice says. And that, he adds, is par for the course: "There are CPAs. There are homemakers that have been away from work for 25 or 30 years. … In one class, I had an FBI agent, an IRS agent and a mortician. So they come from all walks of life."

Neeley himself is a former accountant and law student.

"It's hard not to notice the real estate boom," observes economist Robert Schiller.

But he cautions that so many people suddenly wanting to get into this industry is a warning sign.

The author of "Irrational Exuberance," the book that called the tech stock bubble in 2000, is out with a new book, called "Irrational Exuberance: Second Edition."

"It's not euphoria," he says. "It's not a mania. It's kind of a frame of mind we get into when prices keep going up, and we see a lot of excitement, and talk about it. We get drawn in. That's irrational exuberance, and that's what's happening right now in the real estate market."

But Neeley responds, "We really don't anticipate a bubble, but prices could level. People have to have a place to live."

Still, cautions Regan, not everyone is as lucky as Neely.

Generally, it takes about six months to a year before agents make a first sale. And, on average, only about one-third of the agents in the country make more than the national median income of $43,000.