As housing slumps, realtors quit

[sweeps]

As many [realtors] train for new careers, return to old ones, or wait tables until prices rebound, the plight of the real estate agent – average age, 51 – reveals the human dimension of how loose lending, raw opportunity, and self-determination produced a housing bust that has stunned the US economy.

"They've tasted success and big money, and now their standard of living has been rocked and reality has set in," says John Baen, a real estate professor at the University of North Texas in Denton. "The whole [economy] has been built on real estate. When the music stops, what is left?"

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[Ima saver]

I know that is true here. I know of one agent that was making $80,000 in commissions in just one month. I hope she saved her money for the slow times.

[momof1in150]

Funny because I am starting school tomorrow night to get my license. I am not the breadwinner in my family so the ups and downs of the market won't cause financial problems for my family. I figure if I can sell in this market it will a lot easy when the market turns around.

[mom-from-missouri]

I wish the slump would turn around. I took the one rental I had on the market off the market. After 3 years with only 5 or 6 lookers.....

[bishop]

I talked with a realtor friend of mine, and he is doing fine, full-time. He told me there were approximately 600 licensed realtors in our city of 60,000. He said maybe 40 of them were actually full-time, making a good living at it. He said most were part-time (a lot of retirees looking for something to do, a lot of "would-be" real estate moguls who tried to get an "in" by being a real estate agent, etc), or just got the license and expected listings, sales, and customers in general to just "show-up" and start buying and selling. Most of these people don't realize how long it can take a good agent to develop a network of contacts, who will give him word of mouth referrals and repeat business. that is where the successful agents make their living. I'd wager most of those agents who are leaving or finding other work, just don't want to put the effort in to build their network up. That's not to say some veteran agents in parts of the country aren't being affected (there are always exceptions), but I try to take these new reports with a grain of salt. I know at least in this area, a very large portion of the "foreclosures" are not single family homes that the family is having to losing, and have nowhere to go...again, a large portion of them are "investment" properties or second/vacation homes that people bought, and can't afford a second mortgage , and those are foreclosing (again, I know some of the homes are from families losing their only residence, but it's not the millions of families being put in the streets, as portrayed in the media).

[Taribor]

I know a few making well $250k/year and they laugh at all the new agents who continuously flood real estate looking for easy money.

The truth is you have to have outstand discipline and work ethic, and know how to prospect for business on a daily basis. Even in good times, well over half of new agents don't last a year.

It doesn't get much more hardcore sales than real estate and insurance.

Best way to enter the business is to work for an established agent to learn the ropes and find a good one who will throw you a bone for deals they don't feel like working, in exchange for a commission split.

[jodi]

I've been a PT agent for nearly 6 years now - and it was EXTREMELY hard to break in. I had to bust my butt when I was doing it FT. Now, I work PT in a different job and have a steady income plus benefits - I still sell real estate PT, mostly for family and acquaintances. I could make a lot more if I was willing to put the time in, but I hate prospecting. I just received my 1099 and I made nearly $8500 last year - not bad for basically working the summer months.
I have to agree with a pp who said that the seasoned agents, who truely work FT and put the effort in, probably won't be too affected. They get the majority of the business, and there will always be houses to sell. As for me, I don't rely on the income, so I'll take anything that comes my way, but won't be hurt if it doesn't. All it costs me is my dues and MLS access fees, but one transaction per year will usually cover that.

[jIM_Ohio]

You need to know a good realtor from an average one. Just because someone made money in the housing bull market, they might not be that good.

We used a realtor to sell our condo, and he also sold my BIL house after another realtor had it on the market for 6 months with no action.

I know the realtor made good money- it was tough at times to get his time, especially when the issue did not directly relate to the selling of my house (when it came to selling he was ALL business). He set me straight on a number of issues and set expectations well. More importantly, I knew when to take someone else' advice.

[sounderella]

Oh yeah....a lot of our agents here have begun to do real estate part-time and take full time jobs. We have desk fees here so desk fees+0 commission= negative funds.