SA real estate a sellers market? (mortgages, loan, broker)

[210]

Considering you have to go to school for some 50-80 hours and then work for a few years in order to just become a "Realtor", I doubt everyone and their grandmother is a realtor. But I love the sarcasm anyway.

[hello13685]

Yes, the 50-80 hours of schooling (which I consider to be minimal) is why I made that comment.

[jules07]

Actually, it's 210 to 270 hours (depending on previous college) of school (yes, still minimal) and a fairly tough State & National test (a couple of years back only about 50% of those taking the test passed on their first try) to become a licensed agent. The term Realtor is used by those who have additionally subscribed to a code of ethics and paid a bunch of fees. It's an expensive business to be in if someone isn't actually producing. Which is why it is truly survival of the fittest!

[wCat]

Originally Posted by kevcrawford

The best indication is how many Realtors have work. The 80/20 rule is very true in Real Estate (more like 90/10). When the market cools, there are going to be a huge amount of Realtors going back to their day jobs, while the remainder of us stay in the business. Right now we've got a ton of Realtors in SA. Too many, in fact.

Nice post Kevin! What do you mean by the 80/20 rule? 80/20 what?

TO: Hello....a lot of people get their real estate license for other reasons than being an agent. Some are investors or are in related businesses and are smart to understand the real estate market/business in order to be more effective in their own line of work.

[210]

Originally Posted by hello13685

Yes, the 50-80 hours of schooling (which I consider to be minimal) is why I made that comment.

But the years of working before you can become a realtor is minimal as well? Come on, give it up.

[210]

Originally Posted by jules07

Actually, it's 210 to 270 hours (depending on previous college) of school (yes, still minimal) and a fairly tough State & National test (a couple of years back only about 50% of those taking the test passed on their first try) to become a licensed agent. The term Realtor is used by those who have additionally subscribed to a code of ethics and paid a bunch of fees. It's an expensive business to be in if someone isn't actually producing. Which is why it is truly survival of the fittest!

Exactly.

[kevcrawford]

To wCat, the 80/20 rule means that 20% of the Realtors do 80% of the business in the city. It's a pretty standard percentage for a lot of different lines of work.

And yes, everybody and their grandmother HAS THEIR LICENSE, but there are very few that do real estate as a full time job successfully. Remember, we're on 100% commission, and of the (typically) 3% we make per transaction, 30%+ goes to taxes, 20% (if you're on a good split) goes to the broker, approximately 20% goes to marketing if you want to stay in business.

So if the average sale is $200,000, that's about $1800 after all is said and done. To make 30,000, you'd have to sell about 17 homes a year in that price range. In SA, many homes are below that.

Real Estate isn't tough to get licensed in, but it's tough to stay in the business. Most don't make it one year.

[hello13685]

Thanks for the clarification Kevcrawford. That does sound daunting indeed, so hats off to those who do well. When you say that 20% goes to the broker, are you talking about the mortgage broker? I was wondering because I want to know why, in the past, I've been pressured by my agent to get my mortgage from a particular broker. When asked, the agent said "Oh, it doesn't matter to me who you get your mortgage from" but then there was also the hard sell. I was convinced my agent was getting some kind of kickback from the mortgage broker, even thought the agent denied this.

[winst0n]

Originally Posted by hello13685

Thanks for the clarification Kevcrawford. That does sound daunting indeed, so hats off to those who do well. When you say that 20% goes to the broker, are you talking about the mortgage broker? I was wondering because I want to know why, in the past, I've been pressured by my agent to get my mortgage from a particular broker. When asked, the agent said "Oh, it doesn't matter to me who you get your mortgage from" but then there was also the hard sell. I was convinced my agent was getting some kind of kickback from the mortgage broker, even thought the agent denied this.

I think he meant the company he is attached to, like for instance keller williams, etc... when my agent got her commision, some of the 3% percent went to keller williams...

[Twinkle Toes]

Real Estate Broker. An agent has to work under a real estate broker in order to get paid.