I really don't think you can evaluate a residential transaction the way you are asking. Every one is different. Every seller is different and every buyer is different. Add into the mix agents, lenders, appraisers, inspectors, HOAs and other players and it can get complicated real fast.

How much brainpower does it take to manage all these players? A lot!

On a scale of 1 to 10, any deal, at any time, can be a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten--subject to change with the next phone call, email, inspection, appraisal, or participants' actions or thoughts. 

Project management is really what we do and there is no transaction that is alike - the players change, the properties change and the attitudes change. 

We have to proactively think on our feet and be ahead of every single aspect of the transaction - some take micromanagement, others are easy peasy!

Debe Maxwell, CRS has an excellent description of our role in the process --- project management.   And the 1 -10 reference really does depend on the individual transaction as Theo Shaw and Bob Crane answered.  

Depends on

• the home
• the municipality
• the state
• the sellers
• the buyers
• and a few other things.

I can do this with my eyes closed. What does this mean does your number change if you're the listing versus buyer's agent? 

Every transaction is different. I have one right now that is taking a very high skill level and tons of patience and we are nowhere near the closing table yet.

Thank you for you question Señor Anonymous.

If you're not a Realtor, it's a 10.

If you're a good Realtor, it's a 1.

It's just like brain surgery.  If I tried to do brain surgery it would be very difficult... maybe like 100... because I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm not trained at it.  I'm not a rocket surgeon.

      Some are 1, some are 10.  It depends upon the property, the buyer, the seller, the other agent(s) involved, the lender, and lots of other factors.

I could not say it any better than Corinne Guest, Managing Broker 

I prefer to be the listing agent as I have more control over the transaction therefore making it less stressful and"easier" to manage.  When working with a 1 on the other side ... not so much.

Not as difficult as posting a question Anonymously. 

Both the listing agent and buyer agent have to know how to handle paperwork - it's pretty much the same actually. On both sides there are various disclosures and right to represent forms and the like.

To be clear, though, the paperwork is the smallest part of a real estate job. It's the knowing what to do and how to do it that takes time and skill and effort. As Debe points out in her response, real estate professionals are project managers. In addition, they are business owners. In addition to knowing how to work with buyers and sellers, you need to know how to plan, budget, prospect, communicate, market, and more.

Good luck.

There are so many factors that can intervene and turn what appears to be a simple transaction into a nightmare. It's a lot of work even if everything go well! It really is managing a project, and a number of tasks, deadlines, and players.

I would say it's somewhere between 1 and 10. It depends on the transaction because some are very simple and some are very difficult.

Each transaction deserves a score  of its own!

Corinne Guest, Managing Broker nailed this one!

Every transaction has challenges. Some are easy and many are difficult.

Every transaction is different.

Everything is easy if you know what you're doing.

practice makes perfect!!! and on a scale of 1 to 10 it's a 4

1.  It always amazes me that transaction coordinators exist and that some agents can't operate w/o them.

Joseph Domino 480-390-6011 says it all.   Can't say it any better than that.  

If you think it is 'difficult' it is, if you think it is easy, it is...

It's harder to post your photo.

Corinne Guest, Managing Broker summarized it beautifully.

This is a hard question to answer because each transaction is so different. A straight forward cash sale with no contingencies is very easy. A transaction involving many contingencies, water rights, septic issues, home repair issues, encroachments, lack of permits, etc is very difficult. On top of that, how responsive is the other agent on the other side? When you have lack of communication, the work load escalates.

It will be a 1- 10 depending upon the transcation!

Every transaction is different.

I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist, but you do have to be able to hold a transaction together to get it to close successfully.

I will ask The Count from Sesame Street.

great read here, depends on the property 

No idea.

Depends of transaction

The more you do the easier it gets.

I agree with Corinne, easy transactions are hard to come by nowdays.

It all depends