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Bye, Bye Ms American Real Estate Agent?!

By
Real Estate Appraiser with PahRoo Appraisal & Consultancy

Don McLean had it right when he sang that soulful reminiscent song about life that used to be.

But did Don McLean have the foresight to contemplate Realtors would go the same way as those yester-years?  Probably not, but surely it can be applied.

In an article by Eric Wolff, published in the New York Times, Real Estate Agents have been leaving the profession in droves....as seen in the graph from CalculatedRisk blog on 5/20/2012.

Real Estate Licenses

 

So, what is one to make of all this activity? Or lack thereof? Well, if you are one of those individuals who was chasing easy money, then you are probably now singing, "But I knew that I was out of luck The day the music (real estate market) died".

Yet, for the majority of the industry, this is not a job, but a profession.

And for every member of the real estate industry who approaches this as a profession, akin to a person going to medical school to become a doctor, they are in it for the long haul and short term obstacles will arise, but the those who are committed will find a way to thrive amidst what was a devastating decline in the real estate market.

As Eric Wolff notes in his article, just look at Southern California, their numbers of Realtors are rising.


Michael Hobbs, PahRoo Appraisal & Consultancy

Comments (5)

Rob D. Shepherd
RETIRED - Florence, OR
RETIRED

We have less than half the agents in our area that we had in 2007. We are down to 58 and I expect less for next year, mostly due to retirment age.

May 23, 2012 11:32 PM
Judith Abbott
Coldwell Banker Residential - Dallas, TX

There is a huge difference between having a real estate license and being in the business of real estate.  I saw a statistic yesterday that said that 4% of the people with a real estate license are doing 73% of the business. That might well be accurate.  I believe that it is generally accepted as accurate that about 80% of the people who get a license don't make it through their first year in the business.  The only way to learn how to do what it is that we do is to get out there and do it.  It is experientially based.  It does't surprise me that current market conditions are helping strip out the people who just hold a license.

Thanks for the post.  Love love love CalculatedRisk.....

May 23, 2012 11:51 PM
Doug Rogers
RE/MAX Coastal Properties - Destin, FL
Your Real Estate Resource!

I'm starting to see people enter real estate as a "refuge of last resort". Folks who cannot find other work are getting a real estate license and throwing their last few bucks toward startup. This market will likely chew most of these folks up.

May 24, 2012 12:07 AM
Laura Filip
Laura Filip Broker , Opening doors for All Seasons of Life - Whitesboro, TX
What can we do for you today?

good day to Each of you I see that we have alot of older folks that are retired that are trying to be Real Estate agents, It appears to me that they like the extra funding every so often but find that they do not carry the contract all that well. For example I just closed a deal with a real estate agent that had retired from another job does this part time he called me up said we can not close on the day that was set up in the contract that his clients could not get there before five we would need to extend until the following week. I said wait a minute Sir that is not going to work the title company can stay open late your clients can get here the day that we set for them to be here. Oh he said well well let me talk to them and low and behold the only reason he wanted to hold off is he wanted to go out of town for the weekend and leave before 7 that night which is when his buyers could get there after they left work..... and then guess what he left did not give them the keys and who gets a call well of course me and I left went to the house got the keys out of my lock box to later get an email from him saying he forgot to get the keys ya right his wife was saying hurry up we need to leave to go out of town.... Those type of real estate agents should leave the business and let those of us that work on this full time get the job done.

May 25, 2012 02:27 AM
Charles Stallions
Charles Stallions Real Estate Services - Pensacola, FL
850-476-4494 - Pensacola, Pace or Gulf Breeze, Fl.

Here we have dropped to below 1998 levels and it wouldn't hurt to lose 50% more as far as I am concerned. We see so many jump in to make easy money and slither back out when the going gets tougher

Sep 22, 2012 12:39 PM