I posted a thread under this title in the spring, in response to the bad news coming out of FL: one realtor had over 30 listings, and not one single showing in over one month. I reflected that a listing used to guarantee a commission, but in today’s slow market, the listing can easily expire or be cancelled and never purchased. Realtors can actually lose money taking on an overpriced listing, because they incur time and marketing fees that they won’t recoup.
I got an earful from sdrealtor, saying he was on track to have his best year ever. I asked him to prove it, and he got irritated with me. It’s just too hard to believe that someone is having their best year ever when sales are down 30%. Maybe the second best year ever? Anyway, he is anonymous, and although I have since obtained his real name, it is not my business to publish it or his track record. It is his business to remain anonymous on this forum. He has since written about writing business plans, so if he is having his best year ever, why write a business plan?
This gets me back to my original thread from this spring: listings are worthless to a realtor. Buyers are what you really want.
One of my realtor friends is very clever, and took on the role of buyers’ agent. She/he won’t take listings, because she doesn’t want to waste her time or marketing money on a home that might not sell, and most sellers price too high. So she has a niche working only with buyers. It is not up to me to reveal her name (I can just imagine someone would look up my friend’s name and try to discredit her/him).
I also wonder how the realtor still out there, are doing. My son’s music teacher is married to a realtor, and the teacher started, for the first time ever, teaching on Saturdays, and this month he raised his fees from $25 per 30 min. lesson to $30/lesson, the first increase in 5 years. He kept apologizing for the increase, so I know he didn’t want to do it. After 15 years of teaching, he changed his lifelong policy of keeping existing students at their starting rate. We were supposed to have a permanent $25/lesson rate, although new students were paying the higher $30/lesson rate since last spring. Some older students were paying only $20/lesson. Now he was cornered into raising the fees for everyone, and I know he hated doing that. I’m certain that his wife is not selling any houses.
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