Don't care where you are, if you are talented, hardworking, honest, and driven, you can make a metric shit-ton of case in the business. I built homes before, during and after the recent recession from hell. I built them in a second home market in an area that got hit like Berlin in the war. During that time I made a real decent living building spec. houses, and did business with a real estate power couple that made a ton by working their butts off. During that time frame, the majority of builders and realtors did everything from failing in spectacular flaming financial death spirals, to slowly fading away.
If you do have all the attributes I listed, and jump in the game, it will only take but a few months till you look around a typical office and ask yourself, how can so many idiots have gravitated to this place? I really believe the old claim that 20% of the agents do 80% of the business. The other part of this claim is that 20% of the agents really should be given a job app. from MacDonalds, as they are doing the walk of shame, heading for the door with their box of personal belongings.