When Ben Schachter, the president and broker of Boca Raton, Fla.-based The Signature Real Estate Companies, heard about the Spirit Airlines shutdown, he knew he had to do something to help those in the community impacted by the closure. 

“We do business with people from all over the state, and we’ve worked with dozens of Spirit Airlines employees over the years. The entire South Florida community was devastated to see such a big, national employer collapse, and I began thinking about all of these people in South Florida now out of work,” Schachter said. 

While Schachter said the area’s economy is quite strong, he felt it wasn’t strong enough to suddenly absorb thousands of people into new roles.

“Suddenly you’ve got over 10,000 people that are out of work that now may or may not be able to make their mortgage or rent payments,” Schachter said. “So, I looked at how this would impact our business and how we could help.” 

In addition to operating a brokerage, Schachter also owns a real estate school, so he decided to create a scholarship program for former Spirit Airlines employees interested in getting their real estate license. 

“I said we can give these people scholarships and that would accomplish two things: perhaps some of them would find a replacement career or bring in some income while they are out of work and second, by helping them find a source of income, we can hopefully keep them in their homes and not flood the market with listings due to them being unable to afford their homes or having to move to find work.” 

Over 70 people joined the program so far

While Schachter typically runs licensing classes in person or via live Zoom classes, to meet the needs of former Spirit Airlines employees he is offering the class online, allowing people to work at their own pace. The course is free for those impacted by the Spirit Airlines shutdown, however students will have to pay for their license application fee, exam fee and fingerprinting fee. Additionally, those who use the scholarship program will be required to join Schachter’s brokerage for one year after obtaining their license, where they will earn a flat 70% commission split. 

As of Monday afternoon, Schachter said over 70 people had signed up for the scholarship program. 

Schachter’s Signature School of Real Estate also offers other training and education programs, which he said will help scholarship program graduates navigate the business of real estate well after obtaining their license. 

Schachter said this scholarship program shows just how confident he is in the quality of training and education he offers agents. 

Selling isn’t for everyone

But while some people may believe this is an easy way to make money, Schachter warned that selling real estate is not for everyone.

“A lot of people get into real estate because they like houses or they love interior design, but at the end of the day this is a sales position. You are selling people the single most expensive item they will most likely ever transact, so you have to have tremendous interpersonal skills and be comfortable selling,” Schachter said. “And it takes your own willingness to work hard and your own self-starting motivation and if you couple that with the right company that offers the right training, support, tools and technology, then there can be plenty of business to be had.” 

Given their experience in customer service, Schachter feels real estate could be a great career for a flight attendant or a gate agent who has suddenly found themselves without work. 

“If somebody comes with intelligence, professionalism and a driving deep work ethic, we can help them with the right education, the right support, the right technology, the right tools to be successful. There’s no instant gratification in this business, so I am one of the few brokers that is highly highly supportive of people having a second stream of income,” he said. “You are many months away before cashing that first check. However, once you build a pipeline and you cash that first check, then you can continue replenishing that pipeline and generate a steady stream of income, but this is not a quick fix.” 

Still, Schachter is hopeful that his scholarship program will help at least some former Spirit Airlines employees in South Florida regroup after suddenly losing their jobs. 

“My brokerage owns a 501(c)(3) charity, Signature Gives Back, and we require that every single one of our agents do a minimum of 10 hours of community service per year. It is having this community mindset that caused us to think of Spirit and how we can help these thousands of unemployed individuals find suitable alternate income,” Schachter said. “I’m really proud of what we are doing and how our team is trying to help these people.”