Why do we constantly go on and on about how overworked and under paid we are?  I am not.  I am paid what I am worth.  If I were not, I would not continue working as a REALTOR®.

We are adults.  We have the option of saying no to people that refuse to pay us what we believe we are worth.  If we go ahead and work for them for a lesser amount it is because we have agreed that we are worth a lesser amount.

As REALTORS® we have a lot of choices.  We can determine where we wish to work.  Do we want to concentrate on condos, short sales, foreclosures, resort properties, land, in a country setting or in an urban area.  Yes, it may require moving but we have the choice.

Most of all we have the choice of whether we want to be independent contractors or not.  If we feel that we must have a certain amount than we need to look for a job that pays that amount.  By electing to be REALTORS we know that there are times money will be more easily earned and times when it may be more difficult.  This is an arrangement that can work if one plans to be in the business over the long haul.  It is about averaging.

We have the choice of whether we want to work for a firm that takes half the commission leaving us half or do we want to be in a position to take more risk and earn 100% of the commission.

Yes, we have many expenses that the public is not aware of nor do they often care.  In order to make it viable for us to continue working in real estate when the transactions are fewer and further apart, we have to make wiser choices with our marketing expenditures and how we allocate our time.  Granted we work harder to often earn less.  Much of this changes when times get busy.  Then we work very hard trying to keep on top of everything. 

Is our time spent really listening to our clients so that we can do the best job possible in the least amount of time.  That translates into a money saver for us and a less stressful time for the client.  The more we spin our wheels the more costly each transaction becomes for us.  The bottom line gets smaller.

Is enough time and effort spent keeping in contact with our sphere of influence, a main source of referrals and repeat business? 

Is our time almost always spent wisely?  Productively?  Prudently?  Advantageously?  I know mine is not.  That is no ones fault but my own.  I cannot blame that on someone else.

Why do we sometimes focus on the deals that go sour?  Think only of the contracts that fall apart a day or two before closing?  Or the people that we work with for weeks, months, even years that never buy anything or worse yet, buy something using another agent that they just happened to meet at an open house that day? 

Don't we remember the times we take clients out for the first time, write a contract that is accepted, go to settlement without a problem, all in a matter of days?  I have had enough of these or circumstances close to this to realize they are gifts.  I am sure you have had your share of gifts also. 

When we were in the midst of a very hot market, which was really not that long ago, very few if any REALTORS® were going around saying we were being over paid and had it relatively easy earning very good incomes.  Why not?  True it was tough with all the multiple contracts and the fast sales unless you were the listing agent but the rewards were great.

So much of what happens is in our control.  Granted the market is tougher now.  So is it in the general work place.  When we have so many people unemployed we know that there are going to be areas where real estate is not going to provide enough opportunities to make a decent living.  If the 'job" is gone, the job is gone. 

Unfortunately, there is no unemployment insurance to help tide us over.  That is one of the benefits we give up for the freedom of being self-employed.  We have to learn to budget for when times are not as profitable.

When times are tough economically real estate earnings are bound to be down.  When the economy was booming so were our incomes.  Again, it's about averaging.  We simply do not have regular, steady incomes.

Let's remember that this is a very special profession.  It has enabled many of us to work a schedule that often suits us, meet and work with people (that's a plus for people persons), and earn a six figure income with much less formal training and education than many other professions.

Being a REALTOR® has been wonderful for me.  Hopefully it has been for you too.