This post is for Kathleen Daniels No Fooling Around April Let's Get Real Contest
Let's get real. People are spending loads of money on one of their largest purchases or investments of their life and we go to "school" for two weeks, take a test and we are licensed and qualified to help them do this? That's ridiculous.
My peeve is twofold, but the two do go hand in hand. What is it that drives me crazy about the real estate industry? It is the public perception that it's an easy job in which we simply drive our fancy cars, open doors and cash our huge paychecks, and along with that perception, the ease in which agents are able to be licensed and begin their career.
Don't get me wrong, real estate can be an amazing career and the sky is the limit, but....
The perception that it is an easy paycheck:
Raise your hand if you think it's an easy paycheck?
In 2004 when my husband and I took our pre-license real estate courses our teacher told us to look to the left and look to the right. He said that within 12-24 months 2 out of 3 licensed agents would be out of the business and that it would either be our neighbors or ourselves. Why? Because real estate has one of the highest failure rates of any industry that I can think of, except for maybe the restaurant business. Why is that if real estate is supposedly so peachy and consists mostly of driving a fancy car, unlocking doors and picking up our paychecks? Well, our teacher was right. Of all the students in our class there are 4 of us left 13 years later (and most did drop their license within 1-2 years). Of those that are left, 3 of us are owners or managing brokers of our own companies and the 4th is my husband :-)
This career may be rewarding, but it's far from easy. Take a look what Mimi Foster has to say about what an excellent agent does for his/her buyers, sellers and our "hefty" paycheck.
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(On a side note, agents, did you learn ALL of that in 2 weeks of pre-license classes??)
If you are in the real estate industry reading this post and you have written or know of any additional blog posts, articles or videos that debunk the myth that ours is an easy ride to the bank or that we get paid piles of gold for nothing PLEASE feel free to link it in the comments section.
Here is my first agent photo when I was 24 - before I knew what I had gotten myself into ;-)
The ease in which people can become real estate agents:
We see it time and again - the market goes up and a gazillion people get their real estate license. Oh, Kasey & John, you are the best real estate agents I've ever worked with but my wife's sister just got her license yesterday, she hasn't sold a house yet, but we've got to keep it in the family right? Right???
The last boom led to thousands of agents in our market area, many who statistically sold 0-3 homes a year (does everyone remember the 80/20 rule?). But, the minute the recession began agents left the industry in droves. Now that everything is great again new agents are joining the industry faster than a speeding bullet.
I'm not saying that people shouldn't have the opportunity to join this industry that allows people to own their own business and has no ceiling in ability to grow. But why is it so easy to get in? Why is becoming a real estate agent easier than becoming a hair stylist?
What we do IS important. And it's difficult. And we should have more education, more mentorship, possibly even a true apprenticeship, before we are left to our own accord to fail our clients because we don't know what we don't know.
And honestly, selfishly, it makes our jobs harder to be constantly working deals with an agent on the other end that doesn't know what they are doing. I don't mean to be harsh, and I know I was new once too, but the difference between working with an experienced agent that knows the laws, the contracts, how to represent their clients to the best of their abilities and a new agent that needs help and education throughout the transaction is night and day. Don't get me wrong, some newer agents are awesome, know their stuff, educate themselves, have zeal and have the time for their clients. But, the ease in which we are able to be licensed and the fact that all we need to do is hang our license with a broker and nothing more but a few post license CE classes leads to a lot of part-time agents and people that just want to give it a shot and see how it goes. I just wish it were harder to get in.
Back to the perception that it is easy. Real estate is a people industry; it's consumer driven and as agents we see the good, the bad & the ugly in people, possibly even more so because there is so much money involved and there are so many emotions at stake. We have a lot to manage. We need to keep up with constant changing laws and standards. It's not always easy. And it's not always fun. People are amazing. And people are frustrating. Love it or hate it, appropriate or not, there are reasons there are parody songs like this one going around the Internet. Sometimes agents are tired and just have to blow off some steam just like any other difficult career.
Because, it is a great career and people are amazing.
And, it is a tough career and people are frustrating.
And it might not be as easy as we sometimes make it look :-)
It just is what it is.
Most days being a real estate agent/broker is a bowl full of cherries. But, some days that bowl is full of rotten cherries. Lucky for the public there are tough agents that stick their hand right in the bowl, sift through the stickiness and pull out the few sweet ripe ones that are left and they are so delicious that it energizes us to remain excellent agents for our past, present and future clients.
And to our wonderful clients, we DO love and appreciate you.
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