DU: How does YOUR Job situation look? (poll)

[DumbAss Tanker]

I'm quite secure, I probably would have been retiring about twelve months from now had the economy not tanked, as it is I will work a year or two longer than I would have otherwise.  Whether the economy comes back fast or slow, I am looking at moving on to better things in the mid-term.

[InfamousAndy]

I am doing great!  I got my BSBA (MIS) in December and obtained a nice promotion & raise.  I intend to buy my first home this year!

[Chris_]

Welcome to CC!  You around the Austin area? 

Glad your job seems to be fairly stable.  I think corporate real estate would be fun but I don't know much about it.  Are you licensed working for just one company?

No I'm in Midland, Tx. I've been licensed in real estate since 1992 and have been a fully licensed broker since 1994. I got tired of the commission only ups and downs, and about 6 yrs ago got into appraisal work. Got that license, and then about 2.5 years ago went to work where I am now. I do everything a full service broker would do, but just have one big and steady client, with deep pockets. We buy, sell and lease in 11 different states for our business locations. I'm so glad I made this choice - it's all commercial and very interesting and fun work.

My dream job after I finish up this MBA degree, is to work for the GSA. I think that would be the ultimate crown in my real estate career. With our move under Barry to a totally socialist state, he'll be taking our property rights aways soon and have a lot of new federal property on his hands, so maybe they will be hiring ...... 

[Texacon]

No I'm in Midland, Tx. I've been licensed in real estate since 1992 and have been a fully licensed broker since 1994. I got tired of the commission only ups and downs, and about 6 yrs ago got into appraisal work. Got that license, and then about 2.5 years ago went to work where I am now. I do everything a full service broker would do, but just have one big and steady client, with deep pockets. We buy, sell and lease in 11 different states for our business locations. I'm so glad I made this choice - it's all commercial and very interesting and fun work.

My dream job after I finish up this MBA degree, is to work for the GSA. I think that would be the ultimate crown in my real estate career. With our move under Barry to a totally socialist state, he'll be taking our property rights aways soon and have a lot of new federal property on his hands, so maybe they will be hiring ...... 

Wow!  You are a busy woman.  I have ridden out to west Texas a time or two but I have not gone far enough north to be in Midland.  We have ridden out to Big Bend and the surrounding areas a couple of times and I had a friend in Monahans who would meet up with us and go riding in the area with us.  I should be rocketing past that area in June when we take a ride up to Angel Fire, New Mexico for a few days.

Your job sounds fascinating.  I do primarily residential lots/homes/acreage with a smattering of commercial acreage here and there.  I got my real estate license in 2000 and my brokers license in 2007.  I don't want to mess with that license test again so I think I'll hang onto the brokers license for a very, very long time!  LOL

Do you travel a lot doing what you do now or are you able to do most of it from your home location?  If you are actually going to the places and doing the ground work with the CMA's and such it sounds like a very interesting job.  Do you have to work with a lot of different realtors?  I gotta tell ya. The thing I hate most about real estate is working with other realtors.  They seem to be a greedy lot.  Some of them I have worked with have been absolutely outstanding but more often than not ..... they are horrible to work with.  They want you to do their job then they have their hand out at closing wanting to be paid.  Coming from a contruction background that doesn't sit well with me.

KC

[debk]

Wow!  You are a busy woman.  I have ridden out to west Texas a time or two but I have not gone far enough north to be in Midland.  We have ridden out to Big Bend and the surrounding areas a couple of times and I had a friend in Monahans who would meet up with us and go riding in the area with us.  I should be rocketing past that area in June when we take a ride up to Angel Fire, New Mexico for a few days.

Your job sounds fascinating.  I do primarily residential lots/homes/acreage with a smattering of commercial acreage here and there.  I got my real estate license in 2000 and my brokers license in 2007.  I don't want to mess with that license test again so I think I'll hang onto the brokers license for a very, very long time!  LOL

Do you travel a lot doing what you do now or are you able to do most of it from your home location?  If you are actually going to the places and doing the ground work with the CMA's and such it sounds like a very interesting job.  Do you have to work with a lot of different realtors?  I gotta tell ya. The thing I hate most about real estate is working with other realtors.  They seem to be a greedy lot.  Some of them I have worked with have been absolutely outstanding but more often than not ..... they are horrible to work with.  They want you to do their job then they have their hand out at closing wanting to be paid.  Coming from a contruction background that doesn't sit well with me.

KC

Be glad you don't sell foreclosures then.

Most of the agents who don't normally sell foreclosures, when they do....it is beneath them to do any work.
I had one agent tell me "she had other things to do....after all, it was only a $35,000 house"..... To say that I exploded on her, would be an understatement! I was the list agent, she was buyer's, didn't do her job....and we were a week late in closing. Cost her about $150 for not doing her job.... (paybacks are hell when you mess with a redhead.... )

[Texacon]

Deb, I work in a fairly specialized market on the lake.  We are about 80 miles from Houston and what I get tired of the most is agents who want the commission but don't want to drive to the lake.  Rather than send them to me and ask for a referral fee (which I would be more than happy to pay) they will try to get me to work with their clients then they want to write a contract and collect 1/2 of the commission.

I had an agent not long ago who wanted me to work with her clients to show them a couple of my properties.  Her client called me and wanted to see some others in the area that were not my listings.  When I told both of them I wouldn't do it you would have thought I called them foul names (I actually got cussed out by the agent).  The agent was the prospects sister and the prospect was bound and determined the sister was going to get paid.  They knew how agents worked and got paid yet were willing to pull this crap.  I have no idea what they ended up doing but they didn't buy anything here.

KC

[Chris_]

Oh we should start a 'Realtor's nightmares" thread. I could tell a few of those stories myself. I used to live in Brownwood and know exactly what you mean about lake property. I had one really good agent friend that lived at the lake, and I lived in town. So we sent all our referrals back and forth to just each other. If they wanted to see property in town, she'd send to me and if lake property I'd send to her. Then we paid each other referral fees that were very reasonable. It's sure pays when you find another trustworthy agent to work a mutal partnership deal like that.  

I've never sold forclosurers like you Debk, but I was a HUD certified broker and did do one or two of those sales. We just never had many of them in the areas I lived in.

And Texicon, I had one of those relative deals too - they assured me they did not want their Realtor relative having anything to do with the deal --- then after I spent hours and much gas showing them around, they bought one I found for them using that relative and cutting me out altogether. I learned that lesson the hard way. You were wise to refuse showing them.

I do work with a lot of Realtors now, but we usually pay cash for everything we buy so it's very clean and easy work. We have a lot in South Texas near Houston (Katy, Victoria, etc). I'll sure contact you if we do anything near you. Mostly industrial yards are what we do, it's a well service and drilling company. As for traveling, with email and digital cameras I don't really have to / get to travel much. Usually our local manager will find the property through local Realtors, and then send in one or two that he's looking at to me for review. Once it's to the point of writing a contract or actually putting a lease together, then they turn it over to me to finalize with the local Realtor. Then I do the usual with the title company, surveyor, etc to put it all together and close. A big part of my job is compliling reports for the CEO & CFO with company-wide rent projections, capital budget expenditures, etc to give them an overall picture of real property. That's why the sudden desire to go back for the MBA.

[Chris_]

Working....but less hours   (11 votes, 7%) Vote

<side rant>
Goddamit, no wonder people can't win "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader."  The word "fewer" seems to have disappeared.  Including commercials, political speeches, newspapers, etc.

</side rant>
 

[Eupher]

<side rant>
Goddamit, no wonder people can't win "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader."  The word "fewer" seems to have disappeared.  Including commercials, political speeches, newspapers, etc.

</side rant>
 

  And spot on, of course. H5.

[ScubaGuy]

Hi, my name is Texacon and I'm a Realtor.  It's been 2 days since I wrote my last contract and ....

 

All kidding aside.  We didn't have a bad year here and 2009 is BOOMING.  We have about 6 contracts working right now and will probably close somewhere in the neighborhood of $500,000 for January.  God is continuing to bless us.

Not to mention my son, who just turned 16, applied for one job and he starts Thursday.  Guess he's smarter than the DUmmies who can't find work.

KC

I had lunch with my real estate agent friend last week and she's doing great.  She feels that the downturn was a good thing since it weeded out most of the crappy agents who left to pursue other work.

[debk]

I had lunch with my real estate agent friend last week and she's doing great.  She feels that the downturn was a good thing since it weeded out most of the crappy agents who left to pursue other work.

My company has several offices in the area....and had over 600 agents back in the spring.

One office was closed back in the fall, and the agents that stayed were either absorbed into my office or the primary office.

My broker told me that several in our office, did not pay their MLS dues the end of the year, and she asked several others to move their licenses to somewhere else as they were not doing any business, therefore not bringing in any money to the company. (company gets 20% from each commission I get)

When I became an agent here, 12 years ago, there were not quite 1800 agents in the MLS. A year ago, there were well over 5000! I don't know many have not renewed their licenses in the last year (it was license renewal year), but we have lost probably 20 out of my office which had over 100 in it the first of last year.

Most of the company's offices have laid off at least one or more secretarial staff. We lost one...the one who had been there the longest...same in one of the other offices. They were paid the most....