can a reator still make money in Vancouver? (short sales, 2009)

[Foreverking]

Im considering moving to Vancouver, I am a realtor. Everywhere is overcrowded with realtors as Im sure vancouver is, but I just want to know if its still a place to make money.

[trilogy7]

Hi- I'm married to a very experienced and knowledgeable agent who gets the majority of her business through customer repeat business and also their referrals of friends and relatives. For 2007 she and her team were the only ones in their office whose income went up instead of down.

In 2008 we have seen some of our friends and colleagues go the first 6-8 months without a single closing and at least one of them is now in bankruptcy. And these are good, hard-working agents.

This year several of her closings have been of 'short sales' which usually require so much extra time and energy dealing with the seller's lender that you feel you might not be really earning more than minimum wage if you really kept track of the time and expenses you are paying.

Agents who are used to having business come to them will not likely make money in this market. There are still too many agents for the number of viable transactions available (buyers and sellers who must buy or sell in the next 30-60 days).

But if you're mindset is to succeed despite the slow market, and if you're willing and able to go after what business there is, then you'll be able to hold body and soul together until things pick up again (Fall of 2009 by some people's reckoning).

Good luck!

[Balco9]

95% of agents are only looking out for themselves and are bad for the business.
Crooks is a good name for most agents!
Also working for a team you are most likely to get cheated by your seniors.
Hopefully eventually all agents will work from salary vs commission.

[Foreverking]

what about concentrating on buyers, is this a better bet in the vancouver area

[trilogy7]

The short answer is probably 'yes,' working with buyers is better. Unfortunately the immediate next phrase needs to be 'depending on...'. Depending on...

• their motivation, not just in the sense of 'degree of urgency,' but also their attitude. It's a given that this degree of a buyer's market is going to bring out a desire to bargain hunt in many/most buyers. But if your buyers are primarily speculators and only willing to buy at a price below even the current market values, you may spend a lot of time writing and negotiating offers that are ultimately not going to go together.
• their purpose in buying. If your buyers have been transferred to the area and want to finalize a purchase so they can get on with 'real-life' (getting kids into schools, getting settled into a new job, making new friends, etc.), they are likely to put some boundaries on their bargain hunting and choose one of the many bargains currently available.
• their ability to deal with uncertainty. 'Short sales' (where the bank agrees to sell a property for less than is owned on it, due to falling values and the hardship of their borrowers) not only take a lot longer to close on than regular sales, they often have a cloud of uncertainty that hangs over them until almost the last moment. The bank often reserves the right to accept a 'better' offer from another buyer until very near the end of the process.
  
  It's also not uncommon for lenders, near the end, to ask for a higher price. And often it is somewhere between difficult and impossible to get any kind of feedback from them along the way to prepare your buyer for this. It takes a buyer with a lot of fortitude (or no urgent need to purchase) to live with the stress that can create. And you as the agent are pretty powerless to change any of that.

[renet]

This is an excellent area for Realtors. If you develop long term relationships with plenty of folks you will have a great referral business. In general that is true. But, I can tell you that in this area referrals go a long way.

I have found in the Clark County area (may be true all over Washington) that people will ask for referrals and will actually call them! Where I came from in California folks may have asked but would not have taken the time to call. Remember down there they don't even know their next door neighbor of 20 years so why would they bother calling.

The general trend of friendliness here makes it easier to pick up the phone and call someone you don't know!