FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas gained in excess of 370,000 more new residents in 2020 than in 2019, and increased more than any other state. This year, more people continue to make the journey down to relocate to the Lone Star State. It is no wonder the number of real estate agents who want to seize the big real estate opportunities and sell these newcomers homes is also increasing.

Newly licensed agents, such as Raleigh Green of Fort Worth, are seeing their first listings just go on the market.

“I got my license about six weeks ago,” said Green.

Green wants to make sure everything is good to go for showings to begin soon.

"We actually will help them come in and repaint walls. We’ll redo carpet. We’ll stage a house if needed in order to get the best price for this property,” he said.

In a market like North Texas, he knows time is of the essence, and it could be no time before he starts to receive offers.

"Homes are on the market for sometimes less than 24 hours. There’s a lot of cash buyers coming in from California, from New Jersey, from New York and different parts of the East Coast that we’re on the phone with each and every day,” said the Fort Worthian.

This trend helped him decide to take the plunge and enter the industry. He started with a three-week intensive real estate program with the Purvis Real Estate Training Institute of Fort Worth.

“[It] gave us real life examples and really taught us the material that helped me get to where I am today. [It] helped me ultimately pass the national and state exam, which is a very tough exam,” shared Green.

Because he is entering a competitive market with many others entering the field at the same time, he wanted to make sure he got the best possible training. 

“The number of people applying for a real estate license in the last year has gone up almost 50%,” said institute owner and industry leader Leslie Purvis.

Green added that a realistic outlook and advice on how to make the most of his license from the seasoned industry professionals at the institute have helped him so far.

“I went through that intensive program and studied all the material she gave us. I ended up taking the national and state exam a week after the class and passed it after my first try,” he said.

It is important to Green to know what will set him apart from so many agents in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“Real estate can be fun and it can be glamorous, but it's also, at the end of the day, it's work and you’ve got clients and you got customers who are driving what you do as an agent,” said Purvis.

The biggest piece of advice Purvis offers all newly licensed agents is choosing the right broker and once that is done, achieving success means remaining engaged.

“Might not be the best thing in the world for a brand new real estate agent to work from home because you learn things just from working in an office and hearing what the top producers are doing and how they’re negotiating real estate transactions,” she said. 

As for Green, he is ready to cultivate lasting relationships in the field.

“Start new relationships with people that are not even from Texas or that I’ve never known is something that’s really exciting,” said Green

He hopes that will eventually lead to cashing in on perhaps the biggest factor driving people into the real estate industry in Texas these days, the commissions.

“I haven’t made any money yet in real estate, but there is a lot of money to be made in real estate,” Green said.

For now, he cannot wait until the property he listed in Fort Worth’s Montserrat neighborhood to be sold.