I Write The Words

All industries go through ups and downs.  You hear talk about the seven year cycles.  Businesses expand and contract to adjust to the needs of their clients.  Sometimes, it’s time to tighten the belt, sometimes it’s time to push forward and expand.

Normal business cycles have a way of weeding out the poor business owners, those who . . . → Read More: The Real Estate Cycle

There are many other businesses that use bonuses in combination with a salary.  And real estate should be one of them.  By changing the compensation, you change the model.

No longer will it be in the brokerage firms’ best interest to hire mass quantities of agents.  Instead, the firms will need to pay the agents.  If the . . . → Read More: Changing the compensation – Part 2

If the reason the cost to consumers hasn’t come down in the real estate business is due to the number of agents and the way they are compensated, then maybe it’s time to look at changing how agents are compensated.  Unfortunately the people who have the power to influence legislatures, the National Association of Realtors®, and . . . → Read More: Changing the Compensation – Part 1

As our technology has improved, many businesses have experienced economic savings.   Certain tasks are easier to perform, information is easier to access, more can be done in a shorter period of time.  Real estate commissions seem immune to these economic savings.    Even in the Mercury News Action Line (11/11/2007), the comment from agent is that he  . . . → Read More: Economies of Scale

Real estate agents are required to renew their license every four years.  In order to do this, each agent must complete forty-five hours of continuing education prior to renewing the license.  Given the changes that occur in the real estate business through either legislative or legal means, forty-five hours seems like a reasonable amount of continuing . . . → Read More: Continuing Education

As real estate agents, we are trained, time after time, not to discuss commissions.  We are told that it is an anti-trust violation to so much as share what commissions we charge.  We are told that it is an anti-trust violation to even discuss commissions.

This isn’t true.  It is an anti-trust violation to fix commissions, to . . . → Read More: According to NAR, Discussing Commissions is an Anti-Trust Violation