June 08, 2007

Today must have been "let's destroy the realtor profession" day at the mainstream media. Like it needed any help being destroyed.

First the New York Times on how homedebtors are better off selling FSBO than using a six percenter


Then there's this story in the Baltimore Sun about realtors who never took an econ 101 class (price elasticity anyone), who are raising their rates as business slows down. Yes, the geniuses think that'll help generate more income. Oh, man, can realtors be this dumb?

And of course, the big story of the day was the expose in the USAToday about how realtors are getting clobbered during this housing crash. Almost made you feel sorry for the little guys. Almost.

HP's message for the real estate clerks of America: Hate to break it to you, but you are buggy whip salesmen. It's over. Find a new job. Really. Find a new job. And hopefully one where you don't have to lie, steal, cheat, spin, fib, distort, con and bamboozle.

Housing slowdown smacks Realtors hard

STAFFORD, Va. — Chris Beach often works through lunch and seldom leaves the office before 9 p.m. So far this year, he's taken 2½ days off from work. And he hesitates now to take vacations, because he fears losing business: potential home buyers or sellers.

"My wife went out and bought two dogs because I'm never home," says Beach, whose hands-free cellular earpiece seems permanently attached to his head.

This is the life of a real estate agent in a market in which in the past year home sales have tumbled 30%, prices have fallen 13% and there's a one-year supply of homes for sale.

For many of today's agents, this is the first housing downturn they've ever seen, and it's become a belt-tightening test of their staying power. Nearly 25% of Realtors nationwide received their real estate license in the past two years, just as the market had peaked and was turning south.

Plenty of them were like Trish Hiles, who didn't "like sales per se," but, tempted by the image of agents earning easy money, got her license in the summer of 2005. The market was so sizzling-hot, she recalls, that a developer told her she would "be turning people away."

Not exactly. Realtors with two years' experience or less earned a median income of just $15,300 last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. After taxes, association fees and marketing costs, they pocketed a mere $9,400.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trish could make 10 times that working the pole at Deja Vu.

NihilistZerO said...

off topic I know but Keith i believe you will REALLY enjoy this article at the daily reckoning. Another well articulated Bubble/Mania article.

http://tinyurl.com/2vnz8w

Anonymous said...

Went out with a group of friends last weekend. One member of the group was a very attractive blonde; we started talking.

her - "oh, i'm a realtor!"

Now i have been a loyal reader of HP since October, i know the plight of the realtors, i am a freedom fighter against the REIC and the NAR, but i kept my mouth shut and said the polite thing.

"Oh, that's great, sales are good i assume?"

her - "oh yeah it's pretty brisk!"

Now i am in Phoenix, so this is obviously a lie. PS she wasnt buying her own drinks, no sir.

Unknown said...

* sniff sniff *

I smell blood in the water.

It's gettin' close to feeding time.

Anonymous said...

Realtors with two years' experience or less earned a median income of just $15,300 last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. After taxes, association fees and marketing costs, they pocketed a mere $9,400.

Hahaha, I like it. I like it alot.

Anonymous said...

Gee - after reading those articles, RE agents should work at McDonalds and make more money - they would work only 40 hours a week and see their family. In and Out Burger here in California pays $11 an hour to their staff - still a family owned company. . .

I talked with a drug dealer one time (long story) and asked him what he made - I figured out his hourly rate (he was on the street all day), and told him he would make more at McDonalds working just 20 hours a week, and wouldn't be arrested, beat up, and ripped off. . .he didn't quit - he was "waiting for the big score.". . .does this sound familiar???? Can we say Realtor (tm)??

Anonymous said...

PARIS HILTON going BACK TO JAIL!! Please, Keith, focus your wits on that one and come up with a post. This surely has some greater relevance in the socio-econo-politi-zeitgeistosphere.

Anonymous said...

7:42:

Um dude no attractive blonde buys her own drinks, realtor or not. Geez are you 15 or something not to have figured that one out yet?

Anonymous said...

We need to discuss what exactly "median income" means!
It means that half the clerk retards made more than 15300 and half made less.
I lost my trainofthought, MUST WATCH PARIS HILTON ON TV.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, they're startin to feel it. An old realtor buddy of mine only sold one house last month. The poor bastard only brought home $14,200.

Anonymous said...

An old realtor buddy of mine only sold one house last month. The poor bastard only brought home $14,200.

liar most likely

Anonymous said...

$14.2K a month, oh man he must be starving

Anonymous said...

I don't think Greg Swann over at BloodSuckingBlog is hitting his $4,000 per day goal. ROTFLMAO.

Anonymous said...

Wow pretty soon the illegals will be making more than the Realtors! LMAO

Anonymous said...

Them reamtors made on average 15K last year? It sounds to me like they are overpaid for the amount of work they do...unless they are getting paid for warming a chair...LOL

Anonymous said...

Muskegon, County (Michigan) food stamp clients have increased 77% over the last 4 years!! was reported in the local newspaper today. I wonder how many of those are ramen eating realtors? (Now buying their noodles "in bulk" off the taxpayers for free)

Anonymous said...

I really enjoy reading 'industry' sites because they illuminate so well exactly what sort of people are involved and how they think...

From http://www.agentsonline.net/

"I pay over $1,000 a year in dues to NAR,OAR, PCBR, local PACs, MLS services, E-Key services and so on.

In my opinnion : They're worth EVERY PENNY! Heck ,i'd pay double if I had to (That is , if there were less agents in the market place, and the dues had to be higher).

I don't mind the NAR's rules, sure I don't understand some of them some times, but they protect our industry, and I enjoy having a job. Imagine , one day that every FSBO could put their home on the MLS for $99....How many listings would a person loose? Hunh? The NAR protects my job, and it's worth it!"

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

An old realtor buddy of mine only sold one house last month. The poor bastard only brought home $14,200.

Yeah right, 14k off one sale. Does he specialize in castles?

The top 1% of producers are doing "luxury deals", the rest of em' are on their knees, begging for crumbs.

RJ said...

The 10 year treasury is at 5.13% today. The dollar rallied a bit but the choice between defending the dollar or defending the markets is looking pretty grim.
There are going to be a lot of vacant properties lying around for a long time. If you've got a good chunk of savings for a large down on a home, the rising interest rates shouldn't affect you much as the market bottoms. For the rest, home ownership may have to be viewed as something other than an entitlement.
In any case, I've advised my economics students against getting into the real estate business. Too late to catch that lightning.

Anonymous said...

average real whore is a BORED HOUSE WIFE so 15k a year is pretty sweet monay.

Anonymous said...

If PH was in my jail id promise to let her out after she ____'s my _____. THEN I WOULDNT LET HER OUT!

muwahahahahah!

Anonymous said...

Waiting for the RE troll to show up and tell us about his great roll he is on.

Waiting....

It must suck for these trolls not only do they get owned on a friggen Internet forum, they are proven wrong on their bank statements as well at the end of each month.

HA! =)

Anonymous said...

I only know of one realtor personally and he's doing ok. The high numbers of realtors in California might be due to the high housing prices. If you were going to sell an $800K house, why not go get a realtors license and save yourself the 4-6 percent? Even at 5% that would save a seller $40K in selling fees in exchange for a 2 week course and about $400 in fees. That's what I would do if I was planning on dumping a crackhouse on an unwitting moron who was eager to go into a lifetime of debtitude.

Anonymous said...

Now i am in Phoenix, so this is obviously a lie. PS she wasnt buying her own drinks, no sir.


do they ever buy their own drinks?

Anonymous said...

women think it is stupid to spend money on drinks in some bar. they always try to get someone to buy it for them. then after a few, they excuse themselves and say adios, see ya later, got to go....same old , same old.....its a hard thing, but i never buy a woman a drink....buying women drinks at a bar is like buying a house in phoenix......

Anonymous said...

just think about it bro. as soon as you get back from iraq, this beautiful macmansion will be here waiting for you. it even has wide hallways and doors for your wheelchair.....now go ahead and sign on dis line homes so we can get dis deal done.......

Anonymous said...

I had several rentals in Phoenix that I sold.

I did not use a listing agent on any of those properties.

I did use discount brokers to get on the MLS $200.00

I did rent lock boxes $100.00

I did offer a buyers agent 3% if they showed the home and their client bought the home.

Of the 4 houses I sold from May 2004 through Aug 2005, none of the sales involved any agents at all.

My total average outlay was 650.00.

The property I sold in 2007 was also FSBO but it was on the market for 9 months. I spent over 1500.00 in marketing including the discount MLS listing. I had to drop my price 15% and pay the buyers closing costs. No AGENTS even showed the property for the last 5 months it was on the market.

I did get literally hundreds of calls from listing agents who mostly said "I have the best marketing plan and you are stupid to go it alone without an agent."

I put tens of thousands of aditional profit dollars in my pocket by avoiding those blood suckers.

For all I care, realtors can go to hell.

If you have an Internet connection and half a brain, you can educate yourself on real estate transactions and the pitfalls you need to avoid.

Most realtors are dumber by far than the average seller. If they can sell a house, you can sell your own house better, and you will put much more money in your bank account.

Why buy a realtors next boat or Lexus at your expense when you have the vested interest to keep those dollars?

Happy Baby Boomer in Glendale AZ

Anonymous said...

Yep, an overrated "occupation". Much like the otuer parasites--lawyers. Top end guys make much bucks, but most lawyers from second and thrid rate schools fill out forms and are happy to crack 60k. Its really true.. My hairstylist (she was hot) became a realtor/mortgage broker. I knew then that things were going to tank....

Anonymous said...

Myths and realities said...

Yep, an overrated "occupation". Much like the otuer parasites--lawyers. Top end guys make much bucks, but most lawyers from second and thrid rate schools fill out forms and are happy to crack 60k. Its really true.. My hairstylist (she was hot) became a realtor/mortgage broker. I knew then that things were going to tank....

June 09, 2007 4:29 AM
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1/2 of all law school graduates never practice law. Only an elite few make any real money right of of law school and many burn out before the become partner. The real money in law is partnership because its all about getting clients & a chunk of each worker-bee lawyer's hourly rate. RE is the same way, the vast majority of agents never make it. The real money is in being an RE broker that gets a big chunk of every agent's commission. You just feed them the leads and they do all the work.

Getting an RE license and just doing you're own buys & sells + those of close family & friends is the way to go. It reduces your costs, give you access to the MLS, avoids you from being black balled when you FSBO but you do not have to answer to someone else and cough up 1/2 your commission.