Where will all the Realtors go?
NAR and local association Realtor dues are payable by the end of January....many Realtor organizations as well as NAR are curious as to how many members they will loose because of the slow down in the real estate market.
Local real estate offices are also wondering to how many "bodies" they will have on their team to generate income to cover their office overhead.
I wrote professional dues checks this month totaling almost $1,200 - granted - I pay half of that amount to IREM * the Institute of Real Estate Management and the Richmond IREM chapter * so my costs are double what the normal Realtor/agent would have.
According to our local Realtor association, almost 50% of agent members did not have either side * listing or selling * of a real estate transaction this year. A few years with no income will be hard on many newer/unseasoned agents who don't yet have repeat clientele or a referral base for purchasers.
The next few years will be good for the property management business. I frequently get calls from property owners who ask if I am "still accepting properties to manage"....many management firms in CA, TX and FL are turning away properties because they don't have the staff or resources to take on the number of unsold homes that are flooding the rental market.
The IREM publication Journal of Property Management has articles on where the next generation of property managers will come from. I suspect that many will come from the ranks of discouraged Realtors who want to remain in real estate AND make money.
The lure of the BIG REAL ESTATE COMMISSION has always been a myth. As a property manager, I have probably made more money in the last 20 years that 95% of US real estate agents over the same time period.
Maybe the realities of the current market and the actual costs of being a real estate agent will weed out the dead wood in the industry and the market and the industry will come back better and stronger.
