What do average RE agents earn in your area?

[Brandon Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

The average home price in my city is $149,000 and I think Brandon's is similar. I think some people are really bad at math and don't realize that being an "active" agent is likely costing them money.

That's correct. And the numbers I quoted are all agents including retirees, hobbyists, and part-timers. There is a significant difference between those types the full time career agents that do it to earn a living in both income and skill. That's why "average income" for agents is a such a hard number to quantify. There are some agents that won't close a single deal and the top dog in my market will probably close around 300 deals this year.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by Brandon Hoffman

That's correct. And the numbers I quoted are all agents including retirees, hobbyists, and part-timers. There is a significant difference between those types the full time career agents that do it to earn a living in both income and skill. That's why "average income" for agents is a such a hard number to quantify. There are some agents that won't close a single deal and the top dog in my market will probably close around 300 deals this year.

Last year the top agent did 211. All of the top 10 here are REO/HUD agents, except for one who is a new construction agent.

[BoBromhal]

Originally Posted by things and stuff

It's such an odd profession, to me. Really hard to grasp what realistic expectations are.

According to an article I read, many agents only sell 4 to 7 homes a year. This doesn't translate to very much money, in my mind.

many agents WISH they sold 4-7 homes a year, unless those 4-7 are all $1MM+.

[Wayne S Sullivan]

I agree with Brandon H. There are a lot of real estate agents making less than $20k a year. Real estate is a very tricky field. It is also attractive because you can make a lot of money with less education per income earned. With that attraction many people enter into the RE world expecting to make a lot of money.

The facts are: Real estate is very hard to break into and become successful without these factors:

1. Good {office reputation - broker - training - support - commission split / office fee ratio}
2. Joining associations National Association of Realtors® and others.
3. Supra - Lock box - etc.
4. A small budget at least $150-300 mo. for various fees and marketing
5. Excellent - sales, customer service, follow-up, and negotiation skills. At least have 2 of the 4 qualities.
6. Image and professionalism.
7. Established network of people - family, friends, co-workers, etc. (who like and trust you.)

There are others anyone can add. My point is real estate is harder than most real estate agents think.

It would be easier to focus on a niche market when first starting out also. Become a buyer's agent. Finding someone looking to buy a home can be easier than finding someone to list their home because of the investment they've already made when they first bought their home. The emotions attached and what they went through to maintain it. They would be more looking for a more seasoned agent they feel they can trust to list their home. Home buyers on the other hand are scared and apprehensive in the whole home buying process are looking for someone who will take the time with them to sort out their difficulties and will take more risks by doing less research on agents which is good for buyer's agents.

Hope I helped.

[HonestOne1]

The average agent in my area makes 50k per year.

Fortunately every single agent we have is above average. They all told me so.

[NinaN]

There are an amazing number of very part time agents that bring down the average commission number.

In our office of 65 agents, we see the same 20 at all the office meetings, working deals, going on the agent tours, etc. Another 2-3 have full time jobs so we see them on the weekends but they are clearly working. The rest do a couple deals a year for their friends/family members. But with an average home price of $450K in my suburb, just a couple deals a year do cover costs as well as bring in some extra cash. We also have a couple agents that are strictly investors and don't have a separate client base.