Real Estate Salesman....our new endangered species! (RE agent, commissions, contracts)

[Mike Cason]

I got into real estate sales in 1992 after being armed robbed and shot at in my electrical service work in Houston.

In 1996 I returned to the electrical work in the Kemah, League City Texas area working for another contractor because I couldn't make enough sales in real estate.

In 1999 I started my own electrical business and did quite well working for several quality builders and after working for so many folks, I had a good client base then. I even built my own new home in 2002. In 2004, Texas changed their licensing laws and I was forced to close down because they refused to grandfather my master's license.

Lord, I was forced back into the real estate business. I dreaded the thought!!

In 2004, I sold nothing and worked months getting up to date with all the new changes and building my own website.

In 2005 I sold one boat slip and one lot for a generous gross income of about $900 for the year and took bankruptcy to keep from losing my new home.

In 2006, I sold 4 houses for a net income of 19k.

With the pressure from the feds on the mortgage companies, appraisers, title companies, and the slump in the economy and housing market, 2007 and 2008 resulted in -0- sales. No doc, low doc, stated income loans are getting harder to obtain and are going away, appraisers are under appraising properties to CYA and home inspectors are now using the statement: "I think the heat exchanger is leaking, or I think the slab is cracked" to protect themselves and I'm hearing other similar statements from them.

These past two years I've showed hundreds of homes, had listings, written many contracts and have been cheated out of more commissions by other agents wanting both sides of the deal than all of the years I've sold real estate combined. It takes a lawsuit to collect and they aren't pleasant so I haven't pursued them.

The fees are enormous: Galveston MLS $90/quarter; Houston MLS $75/quarter; Har, Nar, Tar, Supra, Trec License fees, MCE fees, CSS Central Showing Service costs, car signs, yard signs, frames, business cards, lockboxes, Supra key rentals, software, decent computer equipment, color printer and $100 cartridges for each color, a necessity for flyers and MLS printouts If you want to properly serve your customers, website hosting and inernet fees.

Now we have $4 to $5 per gallon gas.

Now, how many of you want to be a real estate agent? Please raise your hands! .............. Wait, I don't see any~~~~~~~~~

I've re-opened my electrical contracting business with a master electrician who I've become close friends with and am using his license to master the company and I am so happy. I'm giving my last listing away in the morning and Friday my license is going inactive again.

My website domain name will be up for sale and I'm so happy to be away from all of the potential legal ramifications of being a real estate salesman. With the lack of sales, it has also had a bad impact on my social security I will hope to receive when I'm at the retirement age because I didn't make much for my 365 day per year real estate career these past 4 years .

Licenses will be, and are probably already are going inactive at an alarming rate now, which is my guess.

Just my .02

Mike Cason

[kevcrawford]

I'm down the highway in SA. First year I did $900K in sales part-time. Second year I went full-time and did $4 million. This year I'm on track to do $8-12 million and have $9 million of current listings. I worked my tail off to get where I am and will continue to, but I'm not getting the same vibes you are from the Texas market.

[Mike1306]

Seems to me that you are an electrician who tried real estate.

Most of the licenses that go inactive will be others who were in another line of work and thought RE would be easy.

Most of the true agents will muddle thorugh as they have before.

[Mike Cason]

I didn't just try real estate....I worked hard at it. I knew it wasn't going to be easy well before I got into it because I had bought and sold homes as an investor as well. I was top listing agent in my office two months after starting in 1992, but it was a different market and market area as well.

Every real estate agent alive did something else before getting into real estate. You didn't graduate high school as a Realtor. Your comment certainly doesn't apply to me, and is not appreciated.

All of my past and current clients praise my work as I am very thorough. I've got letters of recommendations posted on Active Rain and could get many more if I asked for them.

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

Seems to me that you are an electrician who tried real estate.

Most of the licenses that go inactive will be others who were in another line of work and thought RE would be easy.

Most of the true agents will muddle thorugh as they have before.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by Mike Cason

I didn't just try real estate....I worked hard at it. I knew it wasn't going to be easy well before I got into it because I had bought and sold homes as an investor as well. I was top listing agent in my office two months after starting in 1992, but it was a different market and market area as well.

Every real estate agent alive did something else before getting into real estate. You didn't graduate high school as a Realtor. Your comment certainly doesn't apply to me, and is not appreciated.

All of my past and current clients praise my work as I am very thorough. I've got letters of recommendations posted on Active Rain and could get many more if I asked for them.

You had an electrical service and got into real estate in 1992 and were in it for 4 years.
Electrical service was obviously your line of work and you decided to try something else.
Then you were "forced" to go back into real estate in 2004.

As far as getting into real estate out of high school. There are some that do just that. There are other that go to college first with the intention of going right into real estate. I myself did not but I have been in sales since I was 15 so moving into real estate was no big leap.

I will stand by my original post that you were an electrician that tried real estate and it just didn't work out for you.

There is no shame in that but to make it seem as if all agents are dead in the water just because you were not successful is not true.

[dixiegirl7]

It seems you made a good move getting out of a profession you were not suited for. Any type of sales is tough and some people just are not cut out for it. I have been in various sales fields and I will admit, real estate is uniquely frustrating at times, but I do enjoy it for the most part.

[Mike Cason]

Yes, I used the word forced because that was the only other work I knew well. I had moved to the Clear Lake & Galveston Bay market and my sales went down due to the limited market here, unlike when I got into it in 1992 when I lived in the growing and robust FM 1960 market area of Houston.

Our area is heavily saturated with agents that have been around for a very long time and hold the market's share of listings. There are probably more agents in our area than anywhere else I know.

The work isn't cut out for me if I can't provide an income for my family, that's for sure. It's not because I'm an electrician and can't be proficient at real estate, it's the combination of all the things in my original post. I do well at sales and get almost every job I bid because of my ability to work with people. Real estate was easy for me because I'm personable and communicate well with my clients. I have also built and remodeled homes which is a plus when working for buyers.

I didn't say all agents were dead in the water, but many of them in this area are very close to that point, and several others I know have sent their licenses back to TREC.

Hang in there guys & gals......the crunch has to be over sometime. I needed to go back to work to take care of the family.

Mike

[palmcoasting]

And the very best to you with your move Mike. We all wish you nothing but a little peace and less stress. Enjoy it.

[Gretchen B]

I had done a little analysis of my local market a while back, and I totally understand what Mike C is talking about. Looking at last year and comparing the number of home sales with number of agents, it equates to about 1.5 transactions per agent per year. Whoa! You know a lot of us are doing quite a bit more than that, so obviously there are lot of agents not even closing one deal during the past year. Ouch!!!

We have a lot of retirees and part-timers in real estate around here. And there are a few agents doing well. However the wealthy agents are the ones that have other investments to supplement their real estate commissions. I can only think of a handful of agents who have been able to sustain a 6-digit income longer than 2 or 3 years without diversifying into investment income to cover them during this downturn.

In locations where the market remains relatively balanced and isn't saturated with agents, a realtor can do well. However, even though ours was once a very hot market, it's a different story for most agents now. We now have 100 listings for every 4 sales. And although a number of agents have left the business there are a ton of agents that will probably stick around despite only doing 1 transaction a year. It does make my marketplace a rather difficult one to survive in.

I would caution those in a "hot" market not to get too comfortable. Once things start to turn it goes rather quickly. I've seen top listers in the $20m+/yr range drop down to less than $5m last year. I'm seeing established agencies close their doors. Make sure you're building your referral business and working with buyers, too, because doing listings alone can be a huge drain with marketing expenses and very few sales.

And let's all hope we're finally starting to see the bottom. The holiday weekend brought a lot of buyers. Let's hope that trend continues!!!

[Mike Cason]

Palmcoasting & Gretchen B.....

I appreciate your support and comments.

When I was in Houston in 1992, I was a multi-million dollar producer, but my move to this market area changed that. After 2 years working the market here, I went back to electrical work. That's why I dreaded going back into real estate sales. Our market is very saturated with agents and tons of part timers, many of those having great reputations and excellent sales figures you spoke of.

I was almost robbed again so I moved to this area to be closer to the water and away from the big city crime and came to a whole new market. Many of the part timers and have done the same thing and so that's why we have so many Realtors here.

I was creative and got people financed who couldn't get financing, put people in homes and out of apartment living and the personal reward made real estate a pleasure. I am a problem solver and got things done other agents couldn't or wouldn't take the time to do.

I took college courses and learned to build computers and have much higher computer skills than most agents. That has been a plus for me.

I've worked with the late Tammy Fay Baker (Reisner) from the PTL club and a couple of other high profile clients and enjoyed the work, but when the income stops, the fun has a tendency to leave the arena.

I wish I could continue as a Realtor because crawling in attics and wiring homes and commercial buildings as an electrician is very hard and hot work, especially at 56 and with heart conditions. The real estate work is mostly done in an A.C. environment.

I wish the best to all in who participate in these forums.

Mike Cason