I guess if I wanted to be an employee it would appeal to me. If I wanted to be an employee again though, I would go back to my cubicle life in the IT field and make more money with no expense.

It could just be burn out and lack of desire to pursue Real Estate anymore....maybe even if they were going to get 100/hour they just didn't want to do it anymore.

That may be YOUR reality but it certainly isn't mine.

I go around doing commercial deals. I LOVE it and get paid very well for it.

There is no way I would work for the peanuts you are quoting.Sure 20 percent of brokers/agents make 80 percent of the money.So sure you will get 80 percent of the people GETTING BY to work for nothing or say they will.

The broker wanting to quit his company is no suprise as brokerages have a higher fail rate than agents do.The big reasons being mismanagement,lack of experience,and the big one they are undercapitalized.

I don't have agents and average 50k or higher commission on each deal I do. I don't want the headache and I am happy making lots of money and doing my own investments. If someone had fire in there belly I might take them in for commercial training if they truly loved it but that's about it.

funny thing is that i know plenty of brokers who were never great agents so they decided to start a brokerage as they thought it would be better money than being an agent. before they first became an agent they were doing something else and thought being an agent would be easy.

i met an agent tonight at a class at the office. he is coming to my office soon from one of the large national franchises. funny thing is that he came in and introduced himself then stated how he has been in the business for over 20 years. he even pulled out some of his marketing material (it was ok, but gimmicky) any material is good if you get it in front of your target and get noticed. the funny thing is that when i got home i looked him up because i was quorious. he did talk a good game. when i looked him up i noticed that he only sold one listing this year and did not one thing else.....he talks a good game. time in the businesswether agent or broker means nothing. it comes down to how much business an agnet does. if thye dont do much business they will work for an hourly wage. i know that i can make better money any day of the week working on commissions and that is why i would not work for an hourly wage ever again!

broker,

Why don't you work for those wages since you are the one that wants to change our business around.

Like someone already stated, you must calculate our business expenses and daily expenses in order to see how much we are really making. I would never work this business for $20/hour! I think I would be losing money.

Agent 007

I won't work for those wages, but others will.

The point to take away from this is that the barrier to entry into the real estate profession is very low and as such it dilutes the percieved value of an agent in the eyes of the consumer. This is reflected back into the profession in reduced earnings, rebates, etc. We have put ourselves in this position.

Consumers are getting more savvy and agents are going to have to step up their value proposition to buyers and sellers if they want to maintain their current earnings rate.

Consumers pay agents for one reason and one reason only: to get the job done. They really don't care how it gets done... just that it gets done. If someone can do the same job as you just as effectively, for considerably less, that is who the consumer is going to gravitate to. The more real value added by the agent the higher justified earnings can be.

I think you guys need to lighten up on broker a bit - he's posting some thought provoking threads, really.

He's voicing a lot of the opinions of the consumer - whether they are correct or not, that's what they perceive. I think he's playing devil's advocate a bit.

Many realtors are lazy in their thinking, and we need to be able to tell consumers WHY they need us - beyond the typical NAR dictated blather that is mainly meaningless.

Good point, Perky. Someone wrote to me the other day asking how to convince a seller to pay (illustrative only)6%. I responded, perhaps not terribly helpfully - "Well, how DO you justify it? Are you worth 6%? Why or why not?"

It's not really a matter of arguing your way to a certain percentage or hourly fee - if you offer service that's worth the money and you believe with all your heart that it's worth the money (NOT simply that you NEED that amount), then you have your answer. If you can't convince yourself of it, well, then, there's your answer.

My situation is different in that I am a specialist.I charge 10 percent for commercial and land deals BUT I also spend alot to get my clients the best response. For instance just one thing I do is send a hot sheet in an e-mail to over 400,000 investors,developers,and pricipals looking for projects or to hold land (Landbank) for a future date.

That one item alone costs 500.00 to 600.00 bucks.My commercial signs run about 300.00 apiece. So paychecks are bigger but commercial is on a bigger scale then residential.

When you work a niche people pay more for specialized services.I have worked on projects upwards of 150 million in after build value.When you go in for a presentation to list land for regular folks cashing in on there once in a lifetime dream of selling to a developer not many can say that.

My advice is to not accept being AVERAGE.You want your goal when you go into the listing appointment to blow the potential clients away as to what you offer and your depth of knowledge.Will you sign everybody NO of course not.

I just have a constant unquenched thirst for knowledge and then I apply it.If you don't have that hunger it will be hard to stay at the top of your game and be successfull.

I agree that the entry into real estate is easier than it should be. By no means is this business easy though. I also think there are skills that some agents use in their business that are obvious to the consumer.

For example, I specialize in short sales in this current market. That is my niche. I am great at what I do. The hardest job in a short sale is negotiating with the banks. I am very successful doing that. Not many agents can say the same thing. Actually, most agents don't even want to deal with these types of transactions. They are the most complicated residential real estate transaction that exists. So I believe my skills are definitely worth the money I charge. To be honest, I truly believe that I am underpaid on these deals. The consumer should definitely see my value.

On a side note, I work with all types of consumers, investors, primary home buyers, 2nd home buyers, first time home buyers, relocation buyers, foreclosures, REO, short sales and all sorts of sellers. I have skills with each of these clients and their situations. I work extremely hard to protect my client and to accomplish their goal the best way possible. So I definitely know I am worth what I charge, sometimes I feel I am underpaid.

I received this e-mail today. It's easy to figure out at 2,000 hrs p/yr (depending on productivity), that an agent can comfortably make $30+ an hour as an employee where I am:

"40-Hour Work Week
Real Estate Career
Earn $100,000 and Up
For 1 licensed or unlicensed agent with experience and success: an inside sales position, following up on qualified leads (NO cold calls). Join a top producing team, work a 40-hour week, 2 weeks vacation, NO open houses, NO buyer babysitting, TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE. Opportunity to earn $50,000.00 to $70,000.00 1st year, as much as twice that 2nd year in stress-free real estate career.

This is NOT for the brand new agent nor is it for the failed agent unable to make a living. Instead, the agents who do well in this position have been successful, have good communication/organization skills, and could still earn a living in "regular" real estate if they had to, but prefer set hours, with their free time really free to enjoy with family/other interests. They're eager to work with qualified leads. They enjoy freedom from cold prospecting, expensive ads, intense competition and uncertain income. If you left real estate because of the 80-hour a week, on-call-all-day-all-night-all-weekends rat race and uncertain income, but like working with clients, the sense of accomplishment and 6-figure income opportunity, we have a great place on our team for you.

To begin the process, simply call toll free 1-800-xxx-xxx, ID#ABCD. Your inquiry will be held in strict confidence. (Note: the last time we advertised an opening, we were flooded with applicants and immediately filled the position. Do NOT procrastinate.)"

p.s. I know the agent who is advertising personally, he used to be a very successful loan officer, now a RE team leader who is doing well in this market.

Yep I think that is Craig Proctors stuff because one of his high producers Todd Walters uses that same spiel in our area.

can you tell me who it is, Interesting....