http://www.rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/13478/1/1/

"Real Estate Latecomers May Have Tough Road Ahead

RISMEDIA, Feb. 15 ­ (KRT) ­ When Brandon Realtor Connie Johnson hosted an orientation for prospective Tampa Bay area Realtors last month, she gazed into a mass of 165 freshly licensed agents hungry for advice.

Johnson didn’t want to be a downer, but hadn’t they heard the news? The bloom may not be off the real estate rose, but its petals are definitely showing the first signs of wilt."

"Realtors with two years of experience or less earned median incomes of $12,850 last year, according to the national association. That’s almost equal to the U.S. poverty level of $12,830 for a family of two."

With the regular job market picking up and with unemployment at 4.7% (and falling), most people would choose the security of a paycheck, benefits & career mobility with a traditional company rather than as a real estate agents which doesn't offer any of that.

It is going to be a tough sell when the corporate sector offers so many more opportunities and where there are an abundance of high paying jobs

I want to know where these income stats come from. Are they from full time agents? There are many agents who are members of NAR, but have no intention of selling. If they count towards the stats, then we have disrepancy in the number of actual agents out there who want to make a living a this...versus someone who has a license to purchase their own house.

I keep seeing stats that say, "The average REALTOR® makes 24k per year, 18k per year", etc. The numbers never really say where this comes from and if they surveyed the salaries of professional agents versus part-time, some-time, assistant, or other people who have licenses, but are not as productive.

I am an instructor and REALTOR for the OKMAR here in Oklahoma City and maybe I am being a little naive but honestly think that the new (young) blood that is coming in will dominate this market because of their tech savvy. They embrace new trends in technology that reach today's buyers and sellers that most "veterans" brush off as "trendy Hodge podge trickery".

I do think that the average person over the age of 35 with very little computer, web browsing and/or website knowledge that's just now getting into the RE field has a SIGNIFIGANT disadvantage as far as their longevity and prosperity in this business (It still shocks me how many agents (old and new) that I meet that doesn't have their website or e-mail on their biz cards)

Anyhow, just my .02 but I think that $12K per year is a little off the mark. Heck, I know agents that screwed around in this business and made $15,000...IN OKLAHOMA! That's like one deal on one of the coasts.

That figure is probably derived from the blended
figure.In other words some make no sale,some a little,some alot then they average it out.

If you think there is no business then you are right there isn't,people are going to need to buy and sell no matter what the market is because life happens and changes situations.

There will always be a need to buy and sell,if agents choose to think there will not be enough business to go around then that is your choice and you are defeating yourself with your negative thinking.

I realize that you say average person but in my experience age is not a predictor. I am 36 and lived, breathed, and slept computer for longer then an 18 year old has been alive. I embrace all new technology more readily then a lot of the 20 somethings in my area. I have found that some people have no idea what to do with a computer and others that are very tech savvy and age is not a common denominator. I find in my area being up on technology is not very common. Case in point...our broker had a class with handouts on jumpdrives...what they are and how to use them...I was the only one beside the guy explaining it that was using one...out of a 100 agents. And I would say 25% are under 30.

"Median" means the middle number in a series of numbers, half are above that figure and half are below.

The numbers, BTW, came from NAR

I can beat that but it's cool to see other "geezers" like myself:

- I'm 36 and had my first PC at age 12. That's be 1981 or so. I wrote my own programs in BASIC. I was offered a job at a computer store in a mall because none of the salesguys knew how to demonstrate computers.

- I had Internet access before there was a World Wide Web in college in 1990. I had an email address and used USENET and learned enough UNIX to get around. Back then few college students had Internet access or even knew what it was.

This oklahome.com guy is a little over-smug and is underestimating the competition.

I might have you beat, Jim. I am 45 and have been on the internet since 1981, when I was a new transfer student to MIT and it was still called the Arpanet.

I, too, started programming at an early age...in FORTRAN at terminals with inch-wide punch tapes. Only later did I graduate to IBM punch cards.

After college graduation, I worked for Symbolics. The very first company to have its own domain name. In fact, I've worked for three of the first 100 registered .com domains.

And I worked as a UNIX sysadmin for three years from 1990-93 for one of the Baby Bell's research sites. Things have certainly changed a lot since then!

When i come across someone like that and I know what a BBS is/had my own/wrote my own modem strings etc. their attitude changes usually because they don't know what I'm talking about.

If you got smug out of what I said, I respectfully think you're off base. What I said was that people JUST NOW GETTING INTO THE BUSINESS that ON AVERAGE have no computer skills, are going to have a hard time competing in this industry given the very technology driven aspect that is carried in this business.

Somehow this seemed to have gotten turned into, "Everyone over 35 doesn't know computers and is doomed to fail in real estate." which is not what I said.

You guys obviously have, Tech-"knowledge"-y. But think of how many people get their RE license everyday, that never visit this board or others because they haven't grasped things like, Search Engines, Forum Groups, Blogs, etc. They never realize that there is a large support group out there (like this board) that offer very insightful aspects to the industry like how to start gaining clients, how to get listings, buyers, marketing yourself and all those things that your RE course didn't teach on how to be successful and your broker doesn't have time to do.

I will guarantee that there are more "wash outs" in this industry than we know and I would stake half of my earnings that says a lot (not all) of it's because they were technoligally challenged when it came down to it.

Yes most people do wash out. lol That is just the odds of our proffesion. A good worker who is determined can succeed if you have a plan and try real hard. I have seen PHDs wash out. Yes they passed the license part but had no salesmanship. You must be a people person. We build bridges between people that is our job amongst many other duties.

Totally agree "TerrinVA". Well put.

But you can have an 18 year who is technologically challenged just as easy as you can have a 35+.

I gave my 65 year old father a computer in 2 years he was upgrading the computer and learned most of the basic funtions such as e-mail and how to google. He also leaned how to burn Cds. My Dad was 80 when he passed but was on the computer everyday.We all got his 20 e-mails a day it was a big joke at the Memorial service.