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do real estate agents make a good living?

how much do most real estate agents earn annually? how much money do successful agents earn?

Public Comments

1. Depends on the kind of houses you are selling,if you are selling nice houses,yes. If not ,probably not. Hope this helps!!! zebraprint78 :)
2. Think of it this way: some 50% of people who qualify for real estate drop out every year. Most last two years. That said, yes there are real estate people who make a good living, some make huge amounts. But their rewards are based on how many places they list and sell each year. Take a look at the number of sales in your area, apply roughly 1/4 od the commission rate to the average price of houses sold, multiply by the number of houses sold and divide by the number of active real estate people. The average is not close to the average salary in the area.
3. It all depends on how good a real estate agent you are. I have a friend who is a very good buyers broker. She's sold 6 houses in the last few months. Her co-worker (also a buyers broker) gets leads from the same sources...has not sold 1 house in the last 6 months. Does not matter what other real estate agents do or what the average is. It only matters how good a real estate agent you are.
4. To be honest this question is impossible to answer. Where I live it is common to see new Realtors enter the business all the time but the majority of them quit before the end of the first year because they couldn't make enough money after the numerous expenses involved in business to keep their heads above water. The other issue is regarding the market where they are working. For example a house that sells for $800k in California sells for $175k in KY but the Realtor makes the almost exactly the same percentage in most cases. The last issue is that becoming a Realtor is like opening your own business and allowing you to determine your own income based upon how well you do your job and how much effort you put into it which results in limitless income possibilities. Sometimes there are no easy answers. Sorry.
5. Being a real estate agent is commission only. Therefore, if you are really good at what you do, the sky is the limit as far as potential earnings. There is no *average* number that they make. It depends on how many houses they sell and close on a month/year.
6. 10% of the agents make 90% of the money. i was an agent for 6 yrs, i busted my azz and bought enough property during those 6 yrs i could live off my rental income and i quit selling for other ppl and got rid of my license. went into just buying and selling my own property, been doing it over 30 yrs, an having still a ball.
7. As the others said, this is tough to answer. Most new agentsleave the business in 6 months, the vast majority leave in less than 2 years. Successful agents name their salary, you can work like a dog and make 7 figures in some markets. But that is rare, and requires a LOT of discipline. Most agents earn less than $20,000 a year, but many are part time, retirees, basically housewives that do this on the side, etc.. So those factors bring the averages way down.