REAL ESTATE AGENTS
This from MSN Money this morning:
"Evidence is growing that agents, especially in hard-hit markets such as Florida, California and Georgia, are closing up shop in large numbers, experts say.
In Atlanta, the number of agents letting their licenses lapse is growing at a faster pace than the number of overall licenses held. Not helping that trend is the cold fact that, according to Standard & Poor's house price index, home prices dropped precipitously in 2007, breaking the record 6.1% annual decline in 1991.
"In Cape Coral, Fla., where only 30% of agents sold even a single home last year, real-estate agents are "dropping out" daily, says local agent Ginette Young. The Oregon Association of Realtors reports an 11.5% decline in licensed agents statewide in the past year.
"Many of those who leave quietly shelve their signs. Others go out big: In Gilbert, Ariz., the fastest-growing city in the fastest-growing state, RE/MAX 2000 closed 13 offices throughout the Valley of the Sun, laying off at least 20 employees and scores of contract agents right before Christmas. The company couldn't meet its expenses.
"Real estate is a line of work filled with mothers returning to the work force, older workers squeezed out of lifetime careers and young opportunists looking to trade sweat equity for potentially big cash-outs. Indeed, the industry norm is that only 4% of agents choose real-estate sales as a first career. "
Here at Tyler Texas Real Estate, http://www.johncmartin.com/, we're in that 4% who are career agents. After 35 years in real estate, we're here to stay - good or bad. We make our living by serving customers, and that living has been a blessed one.
"Evidence is growing that agents, especially in hard-hit markets such as Florida, California and Georgia, are closing up shop in large numbers, experts say.
In Atlanta, the number of agents letting their licenses lapse is growing at a faster pace than the number of overall licenses held. Not helping that trend is the cold fact that, according to Standard & Poor's house price index, home prices dropped precipitously in 2007, breaking the record 6.1% annual decline in 1991.
"In Cape Coral, Fla., where only 30% of agents sold even a single home last year, real-estate agents are "dropping out" daily, says local agent Ginette Young. The Oregon Association of Realtors reports an 11.5% decline in licensed agents statewide in the past year.
"Many of those who leave quietly shelve their signs. Others go out big: In Gilbert, Ariz., the fastest-growing city in the fastest-growing state, RE/MAX 2000 closed 13 offices throughout the Valley of the Sun, laying off at least 20 employees and scores of contract agents right before Christmas. The company couldn't meet its expenses.
"Real estate is a line of work filled with mothers returning to the work force, older workers squeezed out of lifetime careers and young opportunists looking to trade sweat equity for potentially big cash-outs. Indeed, the industry norm is that only 4% of agents choose real-estate sales as a first career. "
Here at Tyler Texas Real Estate, http://www.johncmartin.com/, we're in that 4% who are career agents. After 35 years in real estate, we're here to stay - good or bad. We make our living by serving customers, and that living has been a blessed one.
posted by John and Flo Martin at 4:55 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home