It seems like everywhere you look, someone within a stones throw has a real estate license. Heck, in my city of 160,000 people, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, there are over 500 licensed agents. Almost as many agents as there are lawyers - (ughhhhhh, me puking).
I think our industry has been somewhat degraded by the sheer number of real estate agents who may sell one or two homes a year. When you only do a limited number of transactions, those transactions become too important to you. Sometimes, the actions that one does for those transactions may not be up to the highest ethical standards.
Why do you think consumers view our industry in the same light, as if we were prostitutes on a street corner, selling our souls for commissions? It's because of the actions of the few, mostly part-time, agents.
This market is unlike any we have experienced for several years. You actually have to work at the business in order to make a living. Personally, I think every industry needs a purging every now and then. Take a look at the mortgage lending industry right now - if that's not purging then I don't know what is. But, this purging, in the long run, will be good for everyone, especially consumers.
Real estate agents should be professional, and FULL TIME. The rest of you part-timers, put your signs down, get off the corner, and go home. Harsh? A little. Truth? Yep.
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They used to all be full time. When there was no MLS (which hadn't been invented until 1952), you were expected to list AND sell your own listings. Prospects went from one office to another to see what was available.
To have membership in any Board of Realtors you had to be full-time, you had to have your license hanging in an office that was in a neighborhood zoned for offices....in other words, not home offices.
It was handled like a profession.
Then we created Wal-Mart Real Estate Brokerage with the advent of MLS. Now everyone's a Realtor. They are hanging their licenses any and everywhere, and they work if and when they feel like it.
But then who am I to talk. I'm sitting here in my shorts and t-shirt. It's 11:45 AM, and I'm in my home office with my broker's license hanging on the wall. Think I'll go to lunch.
(Cute girl, by the way.)