05/02/2024
SO…YOU WANT TO BE A REALTOR
There is a lot of talk in the news about real estate agents commissions. Realtors LOVE what they do and we do it because we LOVE helping people (100% speaking of me) but there is almost always a huge misconception on what we do and how we get paid. It’s not a secret and I am happy to share below 😊
The average FULL TIME REALTOR’s earnings last year was $31,900 @ 40+ hours a week. (Notice I wrote full time 40+ hours not 0-20 hours a week as many say “you don’t work a lot and make easy money”) which is well below the living wage. As a REALTOR we do not get paid a hourly wage or salary , but we only get paid IF we sell a home and it closes successfully . We can only get paid by broker to broker. As an agent you could work with someone days, weeks, months, or years with no guarantee of a sale ever (I have had situations to work 1 entire year until we found the property, had the financing approved and closed 🤪)
Eventually, we wake up each day unemployed, going on Job Interviews (I will name the showing and offer submissions ) and often we deal with constant rejection. For instance you show 5 homes, you submit offers and then there is a bidding war for higher and best 🙄 , we dedicate time away from family, use our time, gas, pay for babysitters, miss dinner and weekends and rarely take vacations. We are on 24/7! We constantly need to be on, or could miss an opportunity. We have lots of upfront expenses that must be paid out of pocket before we even get paid:
Broker Splits and Fees
Office rent and utilities
MLS Fees
NAR Fees
Local Association Fees
E&O Business Insurance
Extended Auto Insurance
Self-Employment Tax
State Licensing Fees
Advertising Fees
Showing Service Fees
Website Fees
Assistant’s Salaries
Showing partners
Transaction coordinator
Yard Signs
Photographers
Videographers
Office Supplies
Business Cards
Property Flyers
Electronic Lockboxes
Continued RE Education
Legal Fees
Gas
Income taxes are not taken out so they have to put that aside around 25-30%.
Don’t forget health insurance if they don’t have a spouse who provides it.👆🏻
Part 2 of this post coming up in next post.
Listing Agent’s duties