By David Silva
Owners aren?t the Only Ones Hit in this Market
Real-estate agents also are feeling the market crunch
CTW FEATURES
It may be said that one of the best side effects of the housing downturn is it made a lot of work for statisticians.
Here?s another statistic to chew on: At the pinnacle of the housing boom, just as the market was beginning its long slide south, the National Association of Realtors boasted a total membership of 1.37 million licensed
Realtors, or nearly one Realtor for every 110 Americans.? Today, that number is 1.24 million ? about 130,000 fewer real estate agents than just 17 months earlier.? That?s nearly a tenth of the former number.? The Romans had a word for the reduction in ranks by one-tenth: Decimation.
With few exceptions, the sudden disappearance of 130,000 practitioners of a given profession would be considered an earth-shattering event ? one of those watershed occurrences that change the face and outlook of the profession forever.? But amidst a national crisis in which every revealing statistic is analyzed to death, that 130,000 figure has passed almost without comment.
Why? Perhaps it has something to do with a sense of misplaced anger among homeowners toward those they see as part of the problem.? It?s natural to feel bitter toward the person you may feel helped arrange a frustrating situation.? However, according to some experts, the real reason may lie in the nature of the realty profession itself.? Realtors, at least the ones who?ve been around for a while, are not only used to seeing their comrades fall by the wayside during the lean times ? they?ve come to expect it.
?Real estate is like any other boom-and-bust business,? says Elizabeth Blakeslee, a Coldwell Banker agent and vice president Region III of the National Association of Realtors.? ?During the boom time, a lot of people are going to try their hand at it.? The phenomenon of younger Realtors is interesting because they bring different skill sets to the industry.? What they don?t have is the skill set that you develop when you?ve had a long-term real-estate practice ? that of how to survive the bust time.? When the market cools for them, the don?t have that background to fall back on.?
Blakeslee, whose district covers Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, says that Realtors who vanish when the going gets tough usually are those who never learned to solidify their client base.? Familiar only with the luxury of a red-hot market, they?d rush from sale to another and never look back.
?A key to survival in this business is keeping in contact with your clients so they?ll return to you ? a basic referral network,? she says.? ?So, when the market cools, they don?t have that network to support them.?
Moreover, says Debbie St. Germain, an agent for Keller Williams Realty Sonoran Living in Scottsdale, Ariz., ?Boom-time Realtors have trouble acknowledging that the real work of an agent begins when the market is down.
?The 80/20 rule has always been a constant in this business,? she says.? ?What we find is that if you take a look at what?s happening in the market, you have 80 % of the Realtors who are doing the actual work, while the remaining 20% are sitting around talking about how the market?s killing them.? The market isn?t killing them.? It?s just that they?re used to not having to do very much, and now they?re dealing with a totally different market.? They just need to change their environment.?
Like many Realtors who have seen them come and go, St. Germain takes a tough attitude toward complaints from new agents.? How would she, if she were running the show, address such issues?
?The NAR should be looking at setting minimal production standards for Realtors,? she says.? ?The enrollment would change significantly.? Our local board has lost about 8,000 members since the beginning of the year.? In reality, I?d be more than happy to hold the door open for them.? They came in through what is a relatively small threshold ? they took a couple of classes and then called themselves Realtors.? It takes a lot more than just getting a real estate license to survive in this business.?
Blakeslee dismisses the suggestion of minimal production standards ? licensing requirements differ from state to state, she says, making a universal standard unrealistic. But she agrees wholeheartedly that the best thing suffering Realtors can do is to get off his or her duff and work it.? Oh, and maybe think about getting a side job, too.
?I would say to the struggling Realtor, ?If you need money, look for something to supplement your real estate income but [one] that doesn?t take up all of your time,?? Blakeslee says.? ?For example, I knew an agent who needed extra financial support, so she started tending bar.? I, myself, worked Christmas at a department store.? When you become a real-estate agent, it becomes a fairly serious investment of time, money, and investment in technology needed to run your business. You hate to see someone give it up.?
? CTW Features
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