I'm working for free .. Frustrating

Have you thought about starting an hourly rate business model? It could be compelling for both you and your clients, which will self-select to ones that actually transact.

go to work for keith burkhardt. he doesn't represent sellers, just buyers. and he gives away 90% of the commission. sounds lucrative, no?

your "safety net" should include doing enough rental business to pay your bills and treat sales as a bonus. it's made me moderately wealthy in a fairly short time in this business (four years). a working spouse is a bonus.

perfect, you should become a doctor, there are thousands and thousands of codes to choose from when getting your money from the insurance company.

For instance,
W22.02XA, "walked into lamppost, initial encounter"
W22.02XD, "walked into lamppost, subsequent encounter"

Imagine walking into the lamppost, visiting the ER, and then a week later you walk into the same exact lamppost.

Then a year later, same thing,
W2202XS, "Walked into lamppost, sequela"

So if you could get
X4532, Commitment letter
X6327G, Commitment letter rescinded, too skinny, not enough BMI

You could be rich

ummmm, you are assuming that you have any real skill set that has any leverage that would compel someone to pay you simply for your time. Brokers have absolutely no skill for anything other than shmoozing. Their job can be completely replaced by a website listing all available properties (already there) or direct communication between seller and buyer (FSBO gaining popularity). One day, you will all vanish into history like travel agents did. And no one will miss you.

Nycrobot, do you know how many fsbo listings there are on Streeteasy? How many broker represented? So when is this revolutionary change going to happen?

perfectquarters, how many more years of crappy environment can you hold on to till you think on an alternative occupation?

Jim- nothing against you personally, but exactly what does a broker to to earn the 6% that I can't find on a website or learn quickly to do myself? Do brokers obtain or approve mortgages for me to buy the place? Do they fill out all of the legal paperwork to make the transaction legit? So what is it that you do that makes you think you won't got the way of the travel agent? And please don't tell me it's your "knowledge of the market" or your negotiating ability that makes you deserve the 6%.

You're not working for free, you're working for the possibility of a 6% commission.

In truth, a broker doesn't do enough on a single transaction to justify that level of compensation -- I hope you recognize that. You get a lot of "money for nothing." But by charging 6% on the deals you DO close, you compensate for all the deals that don't -- the deals where you're "working for free." The idea is to make enough from your successes to be profitable notwithstanding your failures -- to get enough "money for nothing" to outbalance the "working for free." (If you're not able to do so...hey, not every business is profitable. Things are tough all over.)

Now, obviously we could change that system -- make the compensation for each closed transaction significantly lower, but offer the agents more guaranteed money on the ones that don't close. You could go hourly, fixed fee, etc. -- assuming there's no law against it, of course. But if you want the high commission -- the "money for nothing" -- AND the guarantee? Then...sorry, but that's just not likely to happen any time soon.

Isn't this how ALL commission-based positions work? You work for "free" ... until you get paid?

and you get paid for making a sale.

>jim_hones10
>your "safety net" should include doing enough rental business to pay your bills and treat sales as a bonus. it's made me moderately wealthy in a fairly short time in this business (four years). a working spouse is a bonus

Bingo, I tell this to my broker friends all the time, "you have to do both, rentals and sales. Rentals pay the bills and support your often wasted but nice big bonus sales work."