Any Real Estate Agents Here?

[Winsor_Pilates]

I'm thinking of taking the BC real estate course and getting my Real Estate License.

Thought I'd see if there's any agents on CP and get some advice. What are the pros and cons of being an agent? Obvious things such as hours & pay and other things that I may not have thought of yet.

Thanks

[troutman]

Nabber is the man.

[Nabber]

Hey Winsor, I'm a realtor here in Calgary been doing it for a while now. There may be more information helpful to you in this thread:

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=31494

Here's some more things to answer your questions. Pros - you make your own schedule, work for yourself no boss, can take off as much time as you want, potential to earn a big salary, meet new people, no physical labor. Cons - On call 24/7, can do a lot of work and not be paid, you're accountable for all problems, no guaranteed salary, may have to work more weekends and evenings, when you're busy, you're busy, when you're slow, you're slow.

Commissions are in the other thread are for Calgary, I believe BC is fairly similar. Hmmm can't think of much more, fire me more questions if you like.

[Nabber]

Ha ha thanks Trout, just saw your post after typing mine. Just back from too much time off therefore I'll be sending more clients your way for the great lawyer price you offer.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Thanks Nabber. That's good advice and I'll check out the other thread. Have you every worked in presales? because I work for a presale company now, in a non sales role and would like to get into sales with them if I get my license.

[Nabber]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Thanks Nabber. That's good advice and I'll check out the other thread. Have you every worked in presales? because I work for a presale company now, in a non sales role and would like to get into sales with them if I get my license.

If you have a connection like, it's a great way to get experience and clientel when you first start which is the biggest challenge, I would recommend doing that. I would love to work pre-sales and have thought about doing that in the past but never have.

[albertGQ]

Nabber helped me buy my house last November!

[tvp2003]

Nabber,

Question for you as a realtor regarding commissions -- I realize that everyone probably has their own style, and for the most part everyone is generally good, but from my experience, I've found that the realtors I've met with have always "pushed" in a subtle or sometimes not-so-subtle way to buy bigger and better (read: more expensive). Perhaps it's because I was setting my sights too low, or perhaps they felt that I would be disappointed if I didn't aim a little higher, but at the end of the day, a more expensive property also leads to a higher commission. In your experience, is this practice prevalent and/or common amongst realtors?

Also, have you ever heard of realtors steering buyers away from new construction due to commissions (that's what seemed to happen when we were in the market for a condo -- there was an issue as to whether the builder would give the realtor a commission, and perhaps not suprisingly, the realtor suggested we should look elsewhere).

I'm in a home now and don't plan on buying and selling in the near future, but any input would be appreciated for future reference Thanks!

[kermitology]

^^^
That sounds to me like a BAD realtor.

I just bought a condo (firm sale as of yesterday YAY!) and the first thing my realtor said to me was he was looking at everything from my perspective. If it wasn't something that he would buy, then it's something I probably shouldn't buy.

I can't stop thinking about how professional my realtor was. He was just great at finding me places to look at and doing a tonne of fact checking about the areas I was interested in.

[Sylvanfan]

As much as real estate sellers like to whine and complain about a realtors commission....once you get past the first 100k, it's not that much. So really if you spend an extra 50 grand and it's not a double ended sale thats another $750 for your realtor.... I can see why a realtor might try to present the advantages of a property that is their own listing as the double ended sale is the big fish for them in that bussiness. But ultimately most of them are looking to get a sale and in order to do that they do need to find a house that their clients like.

Although when you get into new construction often builders will charge you the buyer more for using a realtor because they have their price that they want. Really do you expect a realtor to help you buy a place where he/she isn't going to get paid anything to do so? Realtors probably have more of their time wasted by fickle folks than any other profession out there. If a condo developer isn't going to pay them anything to sell their place, the onus is on you the buyer to look at it yourself and make the deal with the seller. Unless you negotiate to pay your realtor a fee to handle the transaction...I wouldn't expect a realtor to help you out much there.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Nabber,
Also, have you ever heard of realtors steering buyers away from new construction due to commissions (that's what seemed to happen when we were in the market for a condo -- there was an issue as to whether the builder would give the realtor a commission, and perhaps not suprisingly, the realtor suggested we should look elsewhere).

Generally with presales, the commission is payed in a 50/50 system. 50% soon after the contract is signed, and 50% at completion. For this reason, some impatient realtors may avoid them because they don't want to wait 2-3 years for full payment.

Also, that commision is refundable if the purchaser defaults on their contract. So realtors here assume some risk that they may have to pay back the comission if their purchaser suddenly has no money 2 years later and can't get a mortgage.

Having said that, there are realtors who do very well with presales. With any project we launch, we always do a realtor launch first where realtors get first crack at all the units and at opening prices. For that reason, it may be worthwhile to use a realtor for presales, otherwise you may miss out on all the good units and prices.

We have realtors who bring in 10-20 buyers for each project and make a ton through us without having to show many purchasers to many sites. Thay just all meet there on launch day and joe realtor makes a one day killing by getting all of his purchasers to buy in 1 place at 1 time.

[Nabber]

Hey tvp, I think Sylvan and Winsor answer you question almost the same as I would have. With regards to pushing for the most money I guarantee there are realtors out there who do, but it’s fairly unethical and in the big picture like Sylvan mention the most money is made on the first $100,000, I personally don’t even think about trying to get more spent as it’s not really worth it, as well you always want to get the best deal from your clients for future business.

During the boom I guess I can admit in some ways I would try to stay away from recommending new construction, I wouldn't go as far as your realtor and tell you to stay away from them but the hardest thing is keeping track of all the development as there's no MLS per say. I've taken hits commission wise on new developments and FSBO's but I guess you have to hope it all comes back in the end.