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I was speaking with someone from another company who was trying to recruit me. He asked me how long I'd been in the real estate business.
"Almost two-and-a-half years," I replied.
"Wow, that's a long time. You know in real estate, they say every year counts double."
Kind of like dog years? (I think it but don't say it, though I'm sure he would not have minded).
This is the first I've heard of such a concept. But it makes sense. You work six or seven days a week, so right there you are putting approximately 50 to 100 extra days (or half-days, at least) on the job, assuming you work 50 weeks a year. Odds are good you work 51 or even 52 weeks out of the year, but I digress.
My boss has been known to make disapproving comments at those taking off on, say, New Year's Eve. Government holidays such as MLK, President's Day, or Columbus Day? Forget having those off. That's when you're supposed to be even more available, because people are theoretically using the extra day off to look for apartments. I find people generally don't do the apartment hunt on July 4, Memorial, or Labor Days. Thank the Lord for small miracles.
Speaking of the Lord, I'm not a religious person, but I've come to appreciate the Jewish holidays, because the real estate biz really slows down during that time. Even if you aren't observing anything, it's nice to have a lull every now and then.
So yes, real estate has a way of creeping into every day of your life. People will call you when you're off, or late at night because they think it's okay. Holidays, nights, and weekends don't belong to you 100%. Ever.
Even in your off time, people want to talk shop, want real estate market predictions, etc. They seem to think I have a crystal ball and can predict the future. If that were true, do you really think I'd be doing this for a living? Now I think I sort of understand what doctors and lawyers must feel like. But at least they're paid decently.
For what I'm putting up with and considering what I'm giving up, I should be making triple what I'm currently making.
I was reading a New York Times article on what it's like to be an American living in Shanghai. The role the real estate agent took in the whole relocation process really struck me.
And I quote:
The first order of business was to find a place to live. I had researched brokers on the Web and called one when we arrived. She came right over with a van and took us on a tour of the city. Rental brokers in Shanghai, it seems, are your hosts and hostesses. Not only do they find you lodging but they introduce you to the city, serve as advisers and translators, and continue to look after you and your every need for the duration of your lease.
Wow, just wow. My clients are lucky to get a photocopied sheet of paper with their super's number scribbled on it and a list of who to call to get their utilities hooked up. Assuming, of course, I don't forget to hand off this all-important document at the lease signing.
This part about killed me:
WHEN you rent a place in Shanghai, the landlord gives you presents. This is a terrific shock for a New Yorker. My agent told me I could ask for special furniture, TVs, gym memberships — the landlady would actually take me shopping.
Can you imagine this sort of thing in New York? Hell, if anything, it's landlords who want their asses kissed and palms greased after the lease is signed or a sale completed. A bottle of wine or a gift basket? Perhaps, but usually it's the agent who provides such a gift to the client, or, in some cases, the owner. Often, the owner gets a nice present from the agent in the form of a fat kickback. "Listings fees" or "referral fees," they're called.
Well, China might not have all of the comforts of the developed world, at least not yet, but it seems they conduct real estate transactions in a much more civilized and humane manner than we'd ever consider here in New York.
I passed the brokers test. I may have to find a new place to park my license since the boss didn't seem to take the news of my being offered another job very well. For some reason, I can't log onto my work email account. I wonder why?
What is it like to work on a salary? I've almost forgotten. Seriously, it's been years since I punched a clock, had real benefits, paid vacation, or knew precisely how much money I made per paycheck. Initially, I didn't intend to live this way. It was just damn hard finding a decent job in my original field of work, or any other, for that matter. Real estate was a fallback job, and I never expected to get so used to being able to work my own hours (which turned out to be 7 days a week most weeks), make my own schedule (which included people calling me at all hours), and be responsible for witholding my own taxes. (Hint: it pays to put money back for taxes, but no agent I know actually does this).
The whole "flexibility" thing isn't as great as it sounds. What good is making your own schedule when you're constantly on call? What is the benefit of theoretically being able to take extended time off when doing so could wreck your cashflow? Other agents will practically try to steal your business from you out from under your nose when you're present. If they get wind that you're on leave, fuggedaboutit. (Luckily, the agents in my office are not like this. We're the rare realty firm that works as a team and we don't try to screw one another over. The screwing over, or attempted screwing over, happens mostly in the field, by other asshole agents at asshole firms).
At any rate, the realtor's life is one of constantly being on edge. On edge that you're going to miss that million-dollar client because you slept in for an hour or dared take a day at the beach (Indeed, a weekend in the Hamptons once cost me a deal I'd been working on for a few weeks. This after having zero weekends off for well over a year. The one weekend I took off was the one where the people found another apartment on their own). On edge that another broker's gonna screw you over, or that a client will disappear on you. I could go on, but it'd just depress me.
As for the salaried life, I may yet get a chance to find out, if this job interview I have in a few days turns into more than a polite chat with me sweating it out while wearing the female equivalent of a "monkey suit." I don't want to say too much, but it's at times like these that keeping this blog "anon" seems like a smart decision. A few people have encouraged me to "pimp my blog" and link it up, etc. It's not time for that. Yet.
As for the broker's course--well, I finished it, took the test at the state building downtown, and am still waiting to hear if I passed or not. I feel fairly confident that I did pass, so if I flunk it'll be muy embarrassing. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to actually do with said broker's license (that should be obvious from the previous paragraph of this post), but feel that having it is better than not. Especially considering that next year they're requiring 75 hours of course time. To hell with that noise! It was worth getting over with.
The 75 hour thing is nonsense. We got out of class early every freakin' session. It was obvious they were struggling to fill the time alloted. One instructor even said they were scrambling to figure out what to teach in a 75 hour brokers course, because they barely had enough material to teach now.
My vote is for them to talk more about real life scenarios, not stupid arcane legal terms that we'll never see again. There are so many things that I don't know, even after taking the course. But at least I'm smart enough to have a network of resources--both people and references--to turn to when I don't know an answer. People who know much less than me become brokers and open up their own companies every day. That, my friends, should scare you.
Every real estate agent has a litany of stories about magically disappearing clients. Some clients run you around for days or months. You show them everything on the market, but they manage to find the one "by owner" listing out there and cut you out of the loop. All of a sudden, they won't call you nor will they return your phone calls.
People do weird things when money's at stake, and since real estate is such a personal decision for pretty much anybody, you get even more weirdness. The personal, the financial, important life decisions--any one of these is a big deal, but put them all together and you have a perfect breeding ground for irrationality. Granted, sometimes we realtors can make money off of this manic irrationality. But just as often, maybe even more often than not, this irrationality is at the root of us getting screwed. Which I'm sure is poetic justice to many--apparently realtors are now ranked below used cars salespeople on the list of "most hated professions."
I've learned in this business that people who will actually own up to being shits are few and far between. Most people just hope you'll forget about them, which is often kinda hard to do when you've gotten so friendly with them AND your next pay day was hinging on the deal you were putting together for them. A very small subset of clients in my time working in real estate have had the decency to call and say "Thanks for your work and all your guidance, but we're buying something else." Or "We've decided not to move now." Fine, fair enough. As annoyed and yes, hurt as I might have been, I appreciated the honesty.
Clients acting badly. Hmmmm. This is precisely why I've pushed my career more in the direction of representing the landlord and/or owner. There is enough bullshit to go around in this line of work--I'd rather know I have the listings, because quite frankly, people looking for real estate in this city are a dime a dozen. Actual inventory is the hot commodity, IMHO.
Recently I had a deal going on a retail space. The main person on the deal called me daily, often multiple times, even when specifically asked NOT to. Seriously, if I say I'll call you when there's news, please take me at my word. At any rate, it seemed the deal was going to close pending a few pieces of paperwork. Until . . .
I haven't heard from them since last week, and finally told the owner as much. The owner knows how these things go, and we both know they may well turn up yet. In the meantime, I continue to show the space, and we already have another offer in. If the first set of people lose out on it because they chose to disappear without a word as to why, then it's their loss.
Soon I'll be done with the dreader brokers' course. It's such a snooze fest, it isn't even worth writing about.
In other news, I'm working on closing a deal where one of the principals has awful credit. I'm crossing my fingers that the other involved parties' credit ratings aren't horrible, and the owner is feeling kindly on the day I present the reports to him
Dear New York State,
One does not generally expect much in the way in efficiency in government. However, even by this low standard, the DOS is lacking in one very specific area. (I'm sure you're lacking in others, but I have other more pressing matter to attend to. Like conditioning my hair.)
Anyways, your department need to make it easier for potential brokers to take their licensing tests. There are not enough time slots available when I try to schedule my test via your nifty online test scheduler device. Several of my colleagues concur. Personally, I am trying for a mid-July timeslot, and have been for over a week. So far, my only option is to accept a June time slot and take the test before I have completed the class. Now tell me, how much sense does that make? Oh, wait, on second thought, nevermind. Bureacracy and logic don't have much in common, now do they?
Sincerely,
Your loyal tax payer
