!

!

!! Business! October!13,!2013!

!New!real!estate!agents!joining!ranks!after!thousands!left!in!bust.!

The!ranks!!of!real!estate!agents!in!the!

Sacramento!area!exploded!in!last!decade’s!

housing!boom,!only!to!shrink!dramatically!in!

the!bust.!

By!Hudson!Sangree!

Vivamus!

Lorem! Vivamus!porttitor!augue!

eu!lorem.!Proin!facilisis!

nulla!non!mauris.!

*! Suspendisse!quis!magna!a!dui!

vulputate!vestibulum.!

*! Duis!sagittis,!turpis!id!tempor!

sollicitudin,!velit!neque!

condimentum.!

*! Ornare!ut,!elementum!sit!amet,!

vehicula!elementum,!magna.!

*! Vestibulum!ut!nisl!quis!erat!

placerat!faucibus.!Nunc!aliquet.!

Now,!a!few!newcomers!are!getting!into!the!business,!seeing!it!as!

a!good!time!to!gain!experience!as!the!market!recovers.!!!Unlike!

those!who!grabbed!an!opportunity!to!make!a!quick!buck!in!the!

boom,!today’s!new!agents!are!having!to!earn!their!commissions!

by!knocking!on!doors!to!drum!up!business!and!writing!multiple!

offers!over!a!period!of!months!for!buyers!struggling!at!a!time!of!tight!

inventory!and!tight!credit.!

“It’s!better!to!start!out!at!something!like!this,!learn!it!when!it’s!hard,!

and!then!you’ll!learn!the!skills!to!make!a!living!at!it,”!said!Chris!Little,!

president!of!Sacramento!Association!of!Realtors!and!a!broker!in!east!

Sacramento.!!!“If!you!just!want!to!be!an!order!taker,!you!start!out!

when!it’s!going!gangbusters!and!you!don’t!have!to!do!anything.”!

Thousands!of!new!agents!earned!their!licenses!in!the!midT2000s.!!At!

the!peak!of!the!market,!MetroList,!the!multiple!listing!service!for!the!

greater!Sacramento!region!and!the!northern!San!Joaquin!Valley,!

Continued!on!page!2!

!!!!!!!!!!Full!Sacramento!Bee!article!available!at!http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/13/5811418/newTrealTestateTagentsTjoining.html!!!

!!!!!!!!!!If!your!property!is!listed!with!a!real!estate!broker,!please!disregard.!!It!is!not!our!intention!to!solicit!the!offerings!of!other!real!estate!brokers.!

!

!5!

Lorem!Ipsum!Dolor! Spring!2016!

1

counted!about!25,000!subscribers!–!an!indicator!

of!the!number!of!agents!in!the!area.!!

Now!there!are!approximately!16,500!

subscribers,!a!34!percent!drop,!said!MetroList!

president!and!CEO!,!Tom!Beede.!

The!Sacramento!Association!of!Realtors!said!it!

had!about!3,000!member!agents!in!2000.!Its!

membership!includes!most!of!the!agents!in!

Sacramento!County.!!By!2005,!the!number!of!

agents!who!were!SAR!members!jumped!to!more!

than!7,600,!then!fell!steadily!to!5,325!in!August,!

the!group!reported.!

Yet!even!as!overall!figures!fell,!new!agents!

signed!up!with!area!brokerages.!

Statewide,!about!2,800!individuals!took!the!

state’s!agent!licensing!exam!in!June,!1,100!more!

than!the!same!month!a!year!before,!the!

California!Bureau!of!Real!Estate!reported.!

Locally,!“we!are!seeing!an!increase!in!people!

joining!the!association!–!50,!60,!70!people!every!

month!are!becoming!Realtors,”!Little!said.!!

!

2

Take!Pat!Quan,!with!Coldwell!Banker!in!El!

Dorado!Hills.!!A!former!software!salesman,!

Quan,!52,!became!an!agent!about!a!year!ago!and!

has!closed!more!than!a!dozen!transactions!

representing!both!buyers!and!sellers.!!

He!said!he!thought!about!starting!his!own!small!

business!for!years.!!In!2012,!when!the!market!

started!rising!from!the!abyss!of!falling!prices!

and!foreclosures,!he!decided!it!was!the!right!

time!to!enter!real!estate.!

“My!analogy!is!you!buy!stocks!when!they’re!

cheap,!not!when!they’re!expensive,”!he!said.!

Quan!said!he!was!drawn!to!real!estate!by!the!

low!cost!of!entry!and!the!fact!that!he!wouldn’t!

have!to!“go!to!the!same!building!every!day.”!!

Plus,!he!could!drum!up!business!by!beating!the!

bushes,!not!by!waiting!for!customers!to!find!

him.!

He!said!he!has!enjoyed!good!results!from!the!

oldTfashioned!but!grueling!method!of!knocking!

on!doors.!!One!El!Dorado!Hills!family!liked!him!

so!much!after!he!met!them!that!they!selected!

him!to!sell!their!home!over!two!other!agents!

whom!close!friends!had!recommended,!he!said.!

A!key!factor!was!that!Quan!thought!the!family!

should!ask!10!percent!more!than!the!other!

agents!had!suggested.!!They!were!not!as!up!to!

speed!on!rising!price!trends!as!he!was,!he!said.!

“As!it!turns!out,!it!sold!almost!at!exactly!what!I!

priced!it!at,!about!$400,000,”!Quan!said.!!

(continued)!

!!!!!!!!!!Full!Sacramento!Bee!article!available!at!http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/13/5811418/newTrealTestateTagentsTjoining.html!!!

!!!!!!!!!!If!your!property!is!listed!with!a!real!estate!broker,!please!disregard.!!It!is!not!our!intention!to!solicit!the!offerings!of!other!real!estate!brokers.!