To all the agents in the house,
Most of you are mediocre at your jobs, or so I've been told by you.
"There's a lack of professionalism within the industry," said Ryan Cook, of Homesmart's First Class Realty in Plymouth, Massachusetts, who declared that many agents simply needed to be "weeded out."
"This industry is plagued by the fact that nearly 2 million people claim they are real estate agents," said Michael Lissack of Virtual Realty Group in Salem, Massachusetts. "There are 300,000 agents making a living, and 1.7 million agents who get in the way."
This lament is similar to the industry cliche that "20% of the agents do 80% of the sales" a saw that some have recently updated to "10% of the agents complete 90% of the deals."
It's also been commodified by brokerages like Side, whose motto is, "Not all agents, just the best agents."
A couple of questions on this. First, is it actually true?
Because if it is true, the stark division between "competent, well-paid agent" and "incompent, struggling" agent are extraordinary. For example, whatever divisions there are in other professions, I don't think there's 20% of car salesmen generating 80% of the work.
The second question is whether this is weirdly good for top agents. More to the point: Are the bottom 80% subsidizing the top 20%?
Lissack complains that the National Association of Realtors encourages the current system because it means a bunch of amateurs paying dues to various NAR chapters and local MLSs. But in theory that dues money provides resources, like a frequently updated and running MLS, that even top agents utilize.
Similarly, brokerages like RE/MAX for decades and eXp (and Cook's HomeSmart) today generate revenue from agents paying monthly fees to the brokerage. Those fees partly go into the operating expenses including tech platforms and support staff for all agents.
Finally, if too many agents is a problem, the solution would seem to be NAR, individual brokerages and state licensing boards making it much harder to become an agent. Agents, would you be in favor of that? Is the plethora of agents something that needs serious revision? Or is it more of a secretly good thing to idly remark upon?
Please let me know your thoughts at mblake@housingwire.com. I will not quote you without your permission.
Sincerely,
Matthew Blake
Senior Real Estate Reporter
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