It has been written: "Life Imitates Art" Hmmm....
I wonder if Real Estate Imitates Art As Well - especially when it comes to agent compensation?
The public often thinks Realtors are overpaid. The "Million Dollar Round Table" designations have contributed to this - as though all members are millionaires. It's just not so - as the average Realtor makes less than $30,000 a year. But even Realtors have been know to wonder out loud about about the large financial rewards available to those who succeed in this career field. Extraordinarily high incomes, well over 6 figures, are possible for those in the top 2% of all agents.
Jennifer Allen wrote, in "SELL WITH SOUL"
"...Successful real estate agents can make big bucks. For a career that requires only a month or two of education, the rewards can be tremendous."
Now - we know what Jennifer meant. We also know that it takes more than month or two of classes to make big bucks in real estate.
Jennifer does go on to make this point as well... covering the low income of the rookie year and "the Realtor learning curve".
What it takes is a month or two of classes, PLUS lots of EXPERIENCE. As she says, there is an expectation that a new rookie who does not know something is INEXPERIENCED, but after a certian number of transactions, a Realtor ought to know what they are doing or they me termed incompetent instead!
Once a Realtor has that EXPERIENCE, they can make the big bucks.. right? Well Maybe : )
IN SOME CASES, IT APPEARS THAT AN AGENT MAKES $1000 PER HOUR - BUT IT'S JUST NOT SO! After handling some number of deals, and learning along the way, a Realtor might seem to make $10,000 for 10 hours of work - at least on one or two of the easier deals in a given year... But appearances are deceiving in these cases.
AN ILLUSTRATION - From The ART WORLD, On The Same Point:
A friend of mine was an accomplished artist, and was often hired to paint portraits. People would come for a sitting, expecting to stay and hour and have to come back a few times.
The artist would often announce, at about the 20 minute mark - ok, we can stop now. The client would generally say, "That's OK, We can keep going - I'M NOT TIRED YET". The artist would laugh and say, "BUT I AM - SO WE NEED TO STOP."
The client would often be disappointed, saying something like, "I thought you wanted me to stay an hour", and "OK - BUT when should I come back...?" The artist would say - "NO NEED - the portrait is finished".
Clients would then complain - "I paid $300 for that portrait - I want my money's worth, no need to rush..."
The artist would offer that he had done his best. The speech went something like this, "I could not do any better if I started over or took more time with it. Why don't you view the portrait before you decide if you are happy with it or not? If you do not like the portrait then you may leave it and owe me nothing.
Just before the client looked at the painting, he said, " I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THIS PAINTING TOOK MORE THAN THE 20 MINUTES OF WORK YOU OBSERVED. IT TOOK 20 MINUTES - PLUS 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE BEFOREHAND!"
It turns out that Everybody - 100% of the time - wanted to keep the painting and pay the fee.
After he told me this story... I thought about it for a minute: At $300 per painting, and 20 minutes time each, he could paint 3 paintings per hour.
So I asked him the obvious... Do you really make $900 an hour? . He answered with a smile... Well, if I averaged it over my painting career, including classes, practice time, out of town workshops on advanced techniques, weekend exhibitions... as well as sales calls and all that driving around for all of those, plus prepping canvasses, and then mounting and framing and delivering finished pieces... It comes out to about $18/hr. The good thing is, I love it, get to work for myself, don't have to take orders from a boss, and there is nothing I would rather do!
Now, his point was well made - don't you think!
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Note: Image used in this article is used under fair use doctrine, I am writing an article about the art of painting and comparing this to the art of selling. the illustration is used respectfully, and illustrates the article appropriately. The copyright is reproduced intact, and the source of the art is given as www.Michael-Arts.com
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