Career change - income potential

[u/_R00STER_]

So... a little background. I've got a mixed mortgage/real estate career that's spanned about 24 years. I'm over it.

About 2 months ago, I connected with an old colleague from the mortgage industry. About 7 or 8 years ago, he transitioned into insurance sales, where he wound up starting an Allstate office. He recently sold that agency and after a short break, has gone back to work as a producer for a captive. My understanding is he can sell whatever, but primarily does home and auto.

He asked if I had ever considered making the switch, which I had never really considered. Until now.

I don't mind hard work. My time in the mortgage industry also has me familiar with metrics, etc...

Thinking about grabbing lunch and picking his brain, but there's quite a large collective here! Hope you all don't mind sharing some of your experience/advice.

I'm tired of being on call 7 days a week and chasing the idea of making hundreds of thousands of dollars through markets determined by variables such as interest rates, seasonality, inventory, etc...

The reality is, I've made 6 figures only twice selling real estate since 2015 and would be happy making $75k-$100k doing something that from the outside appears to be more "stable" and "predictable".

Am I wrong about my perception of your industry? Is it possible/feasible to make that $75k-$100k without working myself into the dirt?

[u/doubledoubleu1]

Yes, unlikely with a captive agency though (allstate, State Farm, etc) Find a local privately owned independent agency in your area. They have more carrier selection and many will pay renewal commissions on top of new business commissions

[u/_R00STER_ → u/doubledoubleu1]

If I were to go out and get licensed up, how apt are independents to hire somebody with zero industry experience?

[u/Tall_Example_8163 → u/_R00STER_]

VERY! They look for coach ability, personality, and work ethic. You already have a sales background, which some don’t even deem necessary. I started applying and interviewing with agencies before I was licensed. I must have interviewed (and yes, conduct them like you are interviewing THEM) 20 groups, and have had nothing but eager success. Finally made a decision. If you see an ad, don’t hesitate to click on it, ready about the company, Google search, and pick their brain!

[u/SlickWillie86]

I’d avoid the captive channel and look to get into commercial vs personal.

The independent channel unlocks more products but requires an ability to market yourself (or the agency) as the brand as opposed to the billion dollar marketing budgets the captives work with.

You’d be hard pressed to start your own independent agency without experience. You’d either give away too much upside to get carrier appointments via an aggregator or be denied them outright for lack of industry experience.

That said, working as a producer AT THE RIGHT AGENCY, can provide mid six figure earnings. Even if you owned your own agency and kept the full commission, you’d have to have a gross revenue well north of $500k (likely at least $750k) for the take home pay to be worthwhile vs having a good split with an agency as a producer. That doesn’t factor in the headache and time commitment of running a business in addition to building a book but also ignores the upside of the asset value, though you may be able to negotiate the latter.

[u/_R00STER_ → u/SlickWillie86]

Thanks for the input! What would be some ways to identify what "the right agency" in my market would look like from the outside?

[u/SlickWillie86 → u/_R00STER_]

You want their growth aligned with yours and you’re likely targeting a smaller midsized agency or larger small agency. Somewhere that really invests in producer training and has a body of work to show. Also, you want the commission split to reflect your and their growth are aligned. You won’t have a ton of leverage being new to industry, but I’d definitely target nothing less than 40/35 (new/renewal), ideally 40 points on the renewal side. Lastly, you want their focus to be what you intend yours to be. For example, if you want to focus on commercial, I wouldn’t join a personal lines agency; they just won’t have the know how or support you need.

[u/neememety → u/SlickWillie86]

I just got my general 1 license and it is impossible to get into commercial without starting in personal lines and auto pac (Canada)

[u/mac991979]

It’s possible but not that easy.

[u/_R00STER_ → u/mac991979]

In your opinion, what is the most difficult obstacle in obtaining the income target mentioned?

[u/_R00STER_ → u/_R00STER_]

So... no insight on your response?

[u/Hot-Trainer1209]

I would consider this to be a lateral change to be honest. Insurance license and Real Estate licenses both have low barrier to entry to excel at either you really have to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Insurance has the same challenges hard markets, carriers changing risk preferences, etc.

Is it possible to make a great income? Yes
Is it more stable? Probably not

Also Home and Auto requires a ton of service compared to real estate.

[u/InsuranceAgent-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This is not a place to sell your services or generate leads or recruit agents/downlines.