I think Josh asked the question because you stated you had only one house which was on the market over 120 days. I expect most houses to be on the market that long, unless you can convince the seller to price it right. You’re more astute than most realtors. However, your experience working in real estate has been only in the good times, and that’s about to change. How you adapt determines if you will be one of the survivors.

SdRealtor, when you entered the profession, there were about 300,000 realtors in CA. Today, we have over 470,000 realtors.

As sales volume declines, many realtors will leave the profession. Still, there’ll be a smaller pool of realtors chasing a smaller pool of homes for sale. Those homes are falling in value, decreasing the commission. As homes fall in value, sellers will seek out agents who charge lower commission. I used Help-U-Sell, and paid 3.5%. My agent was fabulous! I suspect with the federal suit/investigation into realtor commission price fixing, eventually the market will become competitive in commissions. I see the job market for realtors changing, and it’s necessary to adapt.

So, how long will it take for all those who entered the profession in the last few years to leave, how will the remaining ones survive, and how can you get sellers to set a reasonable price? As lending standards tighten, how can you keep finding buyers? Have you networked with those in the biz since the 70’s, to learn from their experience of dealing with a down market? I suspect you will survive, but only if you can succeed in a down market.

I don’t mean to single you out Sdrealtor. We had a discussion a few days ago about outsourcing, and a few people in the software industry voiced concern about losing their jobs to China.

We each have to consider the threats to our livelihood, so since this is a housing bubble site, I’m interested in how the slowdown is affecting realtors.