It's hard to estimate exactly what a person working in the real estate business would earn on a yearly basis, due to wide variances in today's housing market and the differences in real estate prices from region to region.
For example, if you're working with the construction industry to find people to buy newly built homes in popular cities, you're far more likely to earn a high salary than someone who's trying to sell a home in a more rural area where there aren’t as many new buyers in the market.
Real Estate Agent Earnings
In 2006, it was estimated that the average earnings for a real estate agent were between $26,000/year and $65,000/year. This is clearly a large range, with the average earnings covering a median base that spans a $40,000/year difference. One of the main reasons for this earnings discrepancy is that most real estate agents earn the bulk of their salaries from commissions on their sales. |
|
 |
This is the part that can widely vary from state to state as real estate prices in one area may be falling, while others are rising.
Real estate agents at the top of their field can earn $110,000/year or more, depending on their location and area of specialty. In fact, it's not unheard of for real estate agents who focus on commercial or luxury properties to earn $50,000 or more on a single sale. Real estate sales can be an extremely good opportunity for people without college degrees to earn decent salaries, but it's important to remember that you aren't likely to pull in those big numbers until you’ve been selling for a few years.
Those people who work as real estate brokers typically earn more money than traditional agents – the median earnings for those who were licensed as brokers were between $40,000/year to $100,000/year. Again, this large variance is due to the same location and housing market factors. Potential earnings can also go up considerably for brokers who deal in commercial properties and farm land – as opposed to normal home sales and real estate ventures – since the percentage that the real estate broker earns is generally higher on these types of sales.
Many times, the commission from the sale of one house is split between different agents and brokers in the same firm, since it took the cooperative efforts of all of them to both list and sell the home. For example, the real estate broker who puts the house on the market may not be the same agent who finally sells the house. Don't ever try to stiff your colleagues out of their commission in order to make a few extra dollars – working as a real estate agent is very much a team effort and you'll need the support of your team members if you want to be successful in the field.
It's also important to remember that someone who's just starting out in the field may not earn a steady paycheck for the first few months, as there can be a big gap between the time a home is listed and when it sells. Consequently, many new real estate agents choose to maintain a part-time job when they're first getting started to account for this lapse in pay. However, once you become established in the field and know what your limits are and how fast you can move a prospective home, you're much more likely to earn a better salary.
Related Real Estate Career Articles:
|
