Fact: Atlanta has more part-time realtors than anywhere else in the nation. Wynd Realty knows this because we began our company in 2008 as “Atlanta’s Leading Part-time Agent Advocate”. The “idea” of a part-time agent doesn’t really exist much outside of Atlanta.
The Atlanta market has always been a NON-NAR market. This allowed companies like Wynd Realty to create alternatives to the traditional franchise format. In NAR markets Wynd Realty wouldn’t be allowed. NAR dues coupled with $100+-a-month Broker fees and commission splits made being a part-time agent financially unviable.
Wynd Realty with a low monthly fee and no split commission is ideal for the part-time or occasional agent. Today, Wynd Realty has 100s of part-time agents within our community. Now with NAR virtually gone in the rest of the U.S., whose to say Wynd Realty-like brokerages won’t spring up everywhere. Their message, like ours, will promote the concept of a realtor being a “gig” worker. That could have a significant impact on the trade of real estate.
Realtor: A crappy full-time job, OR, the greatest Gig job EVER!
I can attest that having a real estate license IS the greatest gig tool to have. As more part-time agents enter our markets nationally, how will it affect the status of the full-timers? Especially considering the strong possibility that future sales commission will be reduced.
To date agents outside of Atlanta haven’t really had to compete against the part-time agent. They soon will and I can also attest part-timers can make compelling cases. And they will win many of them.
Every realtor needs to ask themselves how they can make $100K or close to it? Because if you can’t make $100K, remember you have taxes to pay, you don’t have a very good full-time job. And without NAR, making a $100K just got harder.
Wynd Realty loves part-time agents. I can honestly say it’s been an incredibly rewarding experience to help agents. I often tell the story of a young day-care worker who got a real estate license. The franchises didn’t want an agent like her and on her day-care job money she couldn’t afford them anyway. She could afford Wynd. And when one of the parents of the children under her care decided to purchase a home, they chose her to be their agent.
Wynd Realty made $350 on her transaction. But I was the lucky guy that got to give her a check equaling two years pay. Trust me, there’s a lot of joy in that. The point is part-timers aren’t going anywhere. And if sales commission in the future will be less, they don’t care. It’s all good.
The Atlanta market has more little “r” agents than it has NAR big boy agents. That happens ONLY in Atlanta. This means the Atlanta market is very used to dealing with part-time agents. The rest of the nation, not so much. The next 12 months will be very interesting.
Is being a realtor still a full-time job?
In our next blog we will look at the $100K goal. How many houses to do you have to sell to make $100K? What kind of lead funnel would you need to have for support a $100K income?
Making $80K a year as a full-time realtor is nothing anyone aspires to. (Don’t forget taxes) An agent could make half that on a part-time basis and have time to do something else. Perhaps something more personally rewarding?
Full-time agent or part-time agent?
Observationally I can tell you consumers like part-time agents. They get a more personal touch. Part-time agents have fewer clients, more often dealing with one client at a time, so they can focus more on the client. Full-time franchise agents often have that churn and burn, you’re just another number persona. “I gotta sell 3 house this month!” Part-time agents don’t have that pressure.
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