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Is California Saturated With Real Estate Agents?
One of my agents emailed this to me today. It’s part of a newsletter from National Realty News….
An Open Apology From The Publisher of The National Realty News
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Last November several of our staff attended the National Association of Realtors annual convention in New Orleans. Over the course of that event, we interviewed hundreds of agents, broker owners, and managers. During the course of these interviews, it became quite apparent that many seasoned real estate professionals, including many NAR executives and staffers, were predicting a noticeable decline in the number of agents as the real estate market continued to struggle.
Several senior managers from large brokerages voiced their opinion that many areas in the country were saturated with real estate professionals. A classic example of this saturation is in the state of California. In 2006, California had more licensed real estate agents than there were deed transfers in the entire state.
The article concludes by advertising for a seminar that will give attendees the “secrets” of the top producing agents who are surviving. I just thought the comment about California was interesting.
A Cloud of Mosquitoes
I was pre-qualifying a buyer last night who works for the U.S. Post Office. Midway through the conversation she tells me that she and her husband do loans and real estate. Oh really. They work under the pastor at their church who is also an agent/lender who put them through real estate and loan school. Her husband is a sheet metal guy by day. I’m sure those skills will come in handy. Two more real estate professionals to add to California’s statistics.
One of my Keller Williams agents today suggested that when we get that little organ donor dot to stick on our drivers licenses, the DMV should just issue a Realtor dot and a mortgage broker dot at the same time. I don’t know. If the ER crews knew we were in the real estate business, would they even use our organs.
Comments? Questions?
April 20th, 2007 at 7:07 am
Where is the apology?
Love your website HOWEVER….your cynical comments regarding your buyers the Postal worker and sheet metal husband are a little shameful. Many if not most realtors and mortgage lenders did not grow up to be one or the other. Many in fact also had to work another job until they developed a pipeline to sustain lifestyle, even some of the top producers that i know. Understanding that we that have been in the business for the long haul may have some resentment for those that we “perceive” to have gotten for the windfall. Many of these people were brought in by long term professionals and not given the proper training or skills during a market that didn’t not allow any of us to breath for four years. This is the afterall the USA, where everyone is entitled to create a better lifestyle. Better that we encourage those “part-timers” to continue to educate themselves so they might one day reach the level of full time success we hold so high, so they too may look upon part-timer’s with such arrogance.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:33 am
Thanks for your comment Michelle. I suppose I do sound cynical as you say, and you make some excellent points.
At a time when the industry is indicted daily in the press for steering the unsuspecting into risky real estate and loan choices, I regret that we haven’t built a higher barrier to entry. Most of my industry peers who hawk “pay option arms”–the most dangerous of all mortgages to the consumer–do not understand the first thing about how the loan works. The companies that recruit them look for people with no past loan experience, because they don’t want knowledge and ethics to hinder their willingness to sell the loan with the biggest commission.
By leaving the barrier to entry so low that anyone can crawl over, we destroy our image as professionals and create cynicism in the consumer.
April 20th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Interesting. I strongly agree with this article,Marc. I can’t tell you how many of my friends, in their early 20’s, entered into this business….only to find they are back at the local Starbucks, working part time. Not to say that as an insult BUT, the bulk of people my age (in the industry) didn’t know well enough to properly educate consumers. They were simply trying to get in when the “getting was good.” Neither of them were eager to train or learn more, or they would be sticking it out through this transitional market.
April 20th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Thanks for your comments Kelly. There is certainly a difference between those who view this as a career and those who view it as a job where they can make a lot of money. Those choices lead to two very different places
Although we try our best to convince the public otherwise, the real estate and mortgage businesses can be complex. The mortgage business isn’t rocket science, but it IS a business of a thousand tiny details. Get one wrong and someone’s escrow is delayed, or worse.
I find it challenging to stay current on changing loan programs and guidelines, and I’ve been doing this nearly 20 years, and I’m part of a big company where I have easy access to the collective knowledge of 400 peers. How does someone part time with no experience offer insight, understanding, and quality advice to the consumer?
April 20th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
I have a degree in finance and I too wish we had much stronger restrictions for entry, but more so I wish that the criteria to become a VP at some of the larger banking institutions was more than the size of your pipeline….we can only hope that the licensing efforts at Federal & RESPA level will come up with a stronger education program, until then, those of us that grew up in it and decided on it as a career really owe it our peers, employees and consumers to help educate, I teach classes at various programs in my city at both accredited schools and as a guest at mortgage companies….I really enjoy it. I am seeing more 1-4 yr LO’s signing up for starter classes which is a good sign…..
April 20th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Interestingly, Michelle’s 2nd post gives a lot if insight to where she was coming from in regard to her 1st comment. As a portion of her livelihood is tied to the training of mortgage and real estate professionals, it is in her best interest to take a defensive position to your most recent comments.
I completely agree with Marc and his cynicism, whether intended or not. (Arrogant, I think not.) Understandably, there is a learning curve to anything new, especially changing and/or learning new professions. I’m sure that Marc’s intent was to point at licensed individuals who merely have a license for the purposes of “making a little extra money” by supplementing the earnings of their “real jobs”. If you are not successful enough to make a living doing what you’re doing, either you’re not working hard enough or you’re doing the wrong thing.
There is an overwhelmingly large “get rich quick” mentality in society today, evidenced by the “bandwagon” of people who flock to the most recent “get rich quick” scheming of the lemmings around them. What happened to a good honest day’s work, reaping what you sow, etc… Rather everyone wants to be an overnight expert in the latest money trend. (Not to say that there is anything wrong in trying to get rich quick, just don’t pretend that you’re an expert and/or whine when the “cash creek” runs dry.)
The Post Office employee and Sheet Metal worker are exactly that, employees of their respective professions. If they were real estate professionals, that’s what they’d have indicated. Dilution of the pool of professionals in any field only makes the true “professionals” who they are in respect to these part-timers.
I’m tired of people needing unnecessary apologies for having their feelings hurt under the PC banner. Grow a spine and deal instead of whining.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Michelle, thanks. I sincerely hope that you are right, that more newbies are looking at this as a possible career in which they are willing to invest time and money, and forego the temptation to line their pockets with the blood of their victims. The career view makes a big difference in how lenders behave. We should adopt Hippocrates admonition to “help, or at least to do no harm.”
Leroy, thanks for your articulate comments as well.
Michelle may have a vested interest in training, but at least she is optimistic for the future. We can always use more of that.
I do tire of the get-rich-quick thinking that has translated locally into the get-slaughtered-quick reality. Everybody is looking for that short cut to riches, even if it means trampling the meek on the way to the BMW.
There is an Amway quality to the postal worker story that nags me. Although our professional reputation was dragged into the mud some time ago, I really resent this new insinuation.
Thanks to all of you for making this an interesting conversation. I do hope you will stop by again and help me lend clarity to this whole discussion.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
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