[quote=sdrealtor]JP
As always you greatly overestimate the money people made in RE during the bubble. The real money was made by people who sold homes and are now whining on the sidelines that prices havent corrected enough.

As for the base salaries that is exactly my point. They dont make base salaries they make gross earnings with exorbitant benefits that similar folks in the private sector dont enjoy.

Lastly, cops are different and I dont see folks clamoring for or complaining about their jobs or earnings. The good ones have tough jobs and should be paid for what they have to deal with. While I dont know as much about what they make I would be far less likely to quibble over it. Fireman are another matter entirely[/quote]

Sdr: You make a good point regarding base salaries. I happen to know cops on some of the major metro California forces (SDPD/SDSO, SFPD and LAPD) and their gross earnings are significantly higher than the base salary, and largely due to overtime. One of the cops actually turned down a move from SWAT to detective Robbery/Homicide because of the big drop in pay due to way less overtime as a detective. Working as a SWAT team leader, this guy was making six figures a year, with a large chunk of that coming in overtime pay. He was also former Marine Recon, so I don’t think being a detective appealed to him for other reasons as well.