What in the world does a Basking Ridge real estate agent do all day to deserve those commissions?! Here are the typical responsibilities for a Realtor and an explanation:
Understanding a Realtor’s Income Structure
It takes a special kind of person to raise a family completely on commissions. There is no guarantee from day to day if they will have a paycheck. The bills keep roaring in but there is no regular income at the end of the week. A Realtor is paid SOLELY on their talents and efforts. No one pays their huge operating costs, health insurance, retirement funds, life insurance, mortgage, personal bills or weekly checks as an employer. If a Realtor is not confident in their experience and knowledge, they fail miserably.
Understanding a Realtor’s Outlay of Money
A Realtor has to pay a brokerage for working there. That is a requirement. These fees can be as much as 50% of their entire income!
A Realtor has to pay for all their own computers, desks, office supplies, marketing costs, promotional costs, assistant costs, errors and omissions insurance, health insurance, retirement funds, life insurance and more!
How Many Hours Does a Typical Realtor Work?
The average full time Realtor works about 60-65 hours a week! Realtors work when Buyers and Sellers need them. That means all day and evenings, weekends AND Holidays. Banks and Title Companies are open during the day. Buyers and Sellers are off on nights, weekends and Holidays. Realtors don’t make money unless they are working, so they are highly motivated to work double shifts.
- Incoming Calls: Realtors spend most of their day with a phone stuck to their ear. Check next time you are with one!
- “Floor Time”: Many Realtors are required to answer the incoming sales calls at
the brokerage they work for. It can be several hours a day.
- Problem Solving: Realtors are the solution to many issues in real estate. Clients and customers need counseling along with a myriad of other stressful problems that need solutions.
- Listings: Listings take a great deal of time. The Realtor must do research on the home, present the Seller with all their options, list the home, enter the listing into the local MLS as well as many other vital real estate websites, take all calls from interested callers and emailers, order title work, negotiate offers and bring the listing to the closing table.
- Offers and Negotiations: This is where a real estate agent with experience really shines. There is a huge responsibility representing a Seller. A good Realtor will take that very seriously and negotiate as if it was their own money at stake.
- Inspections: Inspections can be as long as 3-4 hours! Most listings, in today’s world, will have an inspection done by the buyer’s inspector.
- Title Work: All homes have to have a preliminary title search and a final title search done. This means time, paperwork and resolving title lien issues or clouds on the title. The Realtor is responsible for that.
- Coordinating Closings: The Realtor conducts the symphony when it comes to closings. He or she is responsible for coordinating the entire process. Getting a home to the closing table is sometimes a huge undertaking. Buyers and Sellers are high on emotions, lots of stress and money is the common issues. Realtors REALLY work hard on closing a home out.
- Prospecting: A Realtor isn’t built and then they will come! They must go out and get business every day to get paid months in the future.
- Self Promotion: Without promotion, no one would know that particular Realtor exists! Promotion and marketing is the foundation to success for a Realtor.
- Marketing Homes: With the internet firmly in place as thee most powerful form of marketing on the planet, you would think it would be a cinch by now. It’s not. It’s time consuming, expensive and takes education. However, marketing a listing is the only way it is sold in the myriad of homes for sale in Basking Ridge.
- Training and Maintaining a Team: Many successful Realtors just can’t do all these duties on their own. They hire teams of agents to help them in their tasks. The team leader is responsible for all the training for each team member and keeping them on task with the goals of that team. In addition, many assistants are paid on a weekly basis, so the team leader is responsible for paying those bills.
- Ongoing Education: It is a national requirement that all Realtors take a continuing education course or courses every year. Laws, trends and real estate practices change drastically all the time. If a Realtor stays in the 1980’s, in regards to business practices, they will be out of the game completely.
- Paperwork: Watch a Basking Ridge real estate agent in motion, and if they aren’t on the phone, they are filling out paperwork! There are tons of required forms for every part of the real estate business.
Family Life
- With a busy career, a Realtor’s family has to be very understanding. There are long, wild hours and not much time together. A Realtor is working to make a better way for themselves and their family, just like you!
This small article helps one understand the large responsibilities of a Realtor and how commissions pay for the entire real estate process. Call Adrienne Francis if you are thinking about buying or selling a home in Basking Ridge at 201-259-4449.
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