The number of Realtors has increased in the last year by 4.8%. Realtor is not an occupation. It denotes people who belong to the National Association of
Realtors and right now there are 1.45 million of us, which is an all-time high. Not all members are real estate salespeople. Some are in real estate-related careers, some are retired, real estate agents.
Considering that about 4.8 million or maybe 5 million houses will be sold in the US this year it seems possible that right now there are more Realtors than there are houses for sale. I can’t find a number for how many real estate licensees there are in the US.
In the local market, I am sure there are more Realtors than there are homes for sale. There are real estate offices that have 100 agents and 20 listings.
Getting a real estate license is fairly easy to do and inexpensive. It takes about six weeks. New agents start out charging the same rates that experienced agents charge.
The failure rate among real estate agents is very high. Everyone knows someone who “tried it out” and then quit. If you plan on working with a real estate agent to sell your home you should be able to negotiate a lower commission. Being a buyer’s agent right now is extra tough because each buyer may need to make an offer on a few houses before one works out.
The current housing market is unique. I feel strongly that we will need to build more housing preferably affordable housing to end what I believe is a housing crisis.
If you were planning on getting a real estate license this year and go into real estate sales expect a lot of competition from experienced and inexperienced agents. Real estate agents are self-employed and without benefits and have bills to pay even when there isn’t any money coming in.
