Real estate has plenty of competition
It’s no wonder easy things can get garbled up. Take, for instance, theories about things that others pontificate about which are totally wrong on the surface. One can get a lot of dander up around a “fact” that is full of holes, especially if you know something about the business.
With currently more than 2.5 million real estate licensees, competition has never been greater and consumers have never had more choice regarding whom to work with when buying and selling homes.
The notion recently popped up at a public workshop hosted by federal trade regulators that real estate offices and REALTORS® have no competition.
Totally wrong. Real estate licensees selling homes in the United States know the meaning of the word “competition.” This comes from a lot of dedicated hard work. What were they thinking at the workshop? Have they ever purchased or sold a home? Do they really know anything about competition?
Better yet, have they ever been in a real estate office? There are small, large and medium-sized offices around the nation — and in Spokane — with REALTORS® at their desks or in the field working with clients for the most part because they were chosen for the job. There are more than 1,900 agents serving the Spokane area. The client saw something in this particular agent that they liked and trusted the agent to buy a home for them — possibly the largest investment most will ever make.
If helping someone buy or sell a house looks like an easy job, try it some time.
You can’t start right away — you have to take classes so you know what you are doing.
You also have to take tests in the state where you will work. These tests are not the easiest in the world. It takes time and study and a trait that allows trust. REALTORS® also must take continuing education classes to keep their license current.
As a REALTOR®, you also will choose a REALTOR® company that complies with the laws of the state in which you would operate.
When you get your license to sell real estate, you generally know a little about the various styles, areas of the city or country. No need to worry, as once you get involved in real estate sales, dealing with buyers, sellers, mortgage companies, etc., you can learn as much as you wish.
Hours at the job are usually longer than the average 40-hour week. REALTORS® work when most everyone else is not working — Saturdays, Sundays and some holidays. It makes no difference as the REALTOR® is on the job locating what the clients are seeking and helping them through all the paperwork to complete the sale. That is their job. And, there is a lot of paperwork to cover most purchases.
Lawrence Yun, the National Association of REALTORS® senior economist, summed up the competition in the real estate brokerage industry by saying, “Consumers are bombarded with choices on television, radio, newspapers and the Internet. They are enticed by offers of flat fees, rebates and other incentives.”
And that is the truth. The Spokane Association of REALTORS® at last check has 1,912 members who are licensed to sell real estate in the state of Washington. October home sales numbered 774. Active listings of properties listed for sale during October numbered 1,683. Those numbers indicate nothing but competition in real estate in the Spokane area.