Phillip's Blog

As you certainly have realized by now, I am always casting about for items of interest to voice my opinion about, especially when it comes to the internal workings of the real estate industry.

Naturally I couldn’t help but comment on The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recently released 2008 Member Profile Report. This annual state-of-the-state reveals a number of interesting statistics about our industry, compiled from the previous year, much of which completely blows up common misconceptions harbored by many among the general public.

Here’s an example: according to the report, almost 21,000 members obtained one or more professional designations in the last year, with over 33 percent of all members now having at least one advanced designation (the equivalent in some cases of a graduate degree). Attaining professional designations means a lot of extra education work that the agent sees no immediate income for – and rarely do they receive any reimbursement for it either. What industry can you name that lives and dies on continually educating itself, without the promise of immediate income from it, or corporate support for it? The answer would be “none.”

The other big myth is that REALTORS® make a bunch of money. Sadly, in 2007 the median income slipped to $42,600 down from $47,700 in 2006, with licensed brokers and sales agents earning a median of $65,200 and $31,000, respectively. The median income was $69,500 for those in the field for at least 16 years, $52,000 for those with six to 15 years under their belt, $34,600 for those with three to five years in the industry, and only $10,500 for those with two years or less experience. This below-the-poverty-level wage might explain some of the turnover in our industry. If you have to go TWO YEARS to break the $11,000 income barrier, it’s no wonder that many agents have to seek out alternative income streams.

Despite the low income, REALTORS® are almost universally technically competent. The survey reveals that 92%of Realtors use e-mail just about every day, 88% employ computers, 82% use cell phones, and 60% have personal Web sites. Additionally, 34% use Internet-equipped smart phones, 27% use digital cameras, 19% use GPS devices, 18% use instant messaging, and 15% use PDAs. I think that compared to other industries, we as a group are extremely competent – despite the low wages to help pay for that technology.

Sadly, the survey also reveals a slight drop in membership of 1.5 percent from 2006, though NAR still boasts over 1.2 million members; related no doubt to some of the issues above.

An Interesting Footnote: At the NAR Midyear Conference last week, it was reported in one session that, in 2007, of the association’s 1.3 million members nationally, 500,000 did NOT share in a single transaction during the year!!!

So what does all this mean? It focuses the point that when you hire an agent, you need to ask the hard questions about their experience, knowledge and expertise. The wages are low, technology demands are high. Can the agent you pick deliver both?? Or is it even possible to deliver both? Are they not an oxymoron (meaning diametric opposites)? All rhetorical questions of course, but stuff that needs to be discovered in your process to uncover the agent that best fits your needs.

In 2007 our team closed nearly 65 transactions for a volume of almost $37,000,000. All of our team members are full time and experienced agents. Serious business people with a true passion for what we do. The type of people who are excelling in this market, constantly improving their skill set and winning at this game we call Real Estate!

Ask us the hard questions. You may be surprised by the answers.