^^If you are good at what you do the market wont determine your success. I personally work with hundreds of realtors and mortgage brokers and I have seen many of them make a ton of money but I have also seen a good number leave the business recently because of the slower market.

 

My wife just did a mail out last week. She got two listings today from that mail out and has another listing appointment set for tomrrow. Wow what a chitty market!

 

+1. My wife deals with all types of characters in this business. Half don't answer or return their calls. They got in when the money was good and they didn't have to work hard. Now they are losing the shirts off their backs because they suck at what they do.

 

maybe in miami dude, but i can assure you it is not "normal" in jacksonville. We currently have 2 houses, priced below market that have not sold in over 6 months. These are updated, immaculate homes in near new condition...both listed on mls.

Multiple buyers for both homes have failed to follow though after making a contract. This is not normal at all. The state regualtory comission is so backed up on contract binder disputes it is currently taking months to get a decision when a buyer backs out.

In my new neighborhood, they have not sold a single new home in 6 months.....this is with over 100 empty lots available and 4 builders to choose from.

 

6 months market is not a long time. The days of being in MLS for two weeks and getting a contract are over. That was not normal anyway. This is a normal market. If the houses are not selling then they need to drop the price. There are so many cities where values of homes are 50% to 100% over where they should be. The frenzy drove the values up, but they can't sustain now that the marekt has cooled. What goes up must come down if there is no demand for it.

 

I would not the current market in florida as "normal." I might said we are in a "normalizing" market, but certainly not normal. We underwent a radical shift of over-demand (producing from the fastest rise in property prices) to a very heavily over-supplied market. The shift happened so fast that housing prices have come down close to 20% in some markets (from their all time peak.)

Homes are still selling, but it has become purely a value driven market. With so much supply, buyers have a ridiculous amount of homes to choose from, and homes which offer the "most for the least" are the ones that are selling.

from a realtor's perspective, it doesn't make sense to take over-priced listings in this market. Also, you need to make your sellers aware of the current market conditions and make sure they are prepaired for fewer showings and low offers.

In my market, I am seeing activity in the lower, more afforably priced homes and also in the $2M+ market.

 

well to update this thread...im sending out all the paperwork to Tallahasee tomorrow, and getting the electronic finger printing done...class starts march 14...

 

they do electronic finger printing now? that's cool!

Pay attention in the class....they will spoon feed you all the info and make it very easy to pass the class......the state exam is a different story all together. The state exam not only tests your knowledge, they want to make sure you know the intricacies of the material.

 

yea got the finger printing done today...theres an art to it...lol...youll hear a lot of buzzes to let u know that ur doin it wrong lol...dude was cool as hell though...
yea ive heard the classes is what you need to take notes on...and read up on the chapters over and over again to not get rusty...but than again...you can take the test as many times as you need to pass!!! lol...
appreciate everyones input...ill keep checkin on this thread and keeping whoever is interested updated when i start class...thanks!

 

Tell me about it. I passed the class with a 94% and figured I didn't have to worry about the state test......Well, I got a 74 on the state exam I missed it by 1 point without studying.

I went back the next week, studies my butt off and passed. They don't tell you your score when you pass.....I believe the computer stops counting once you get 75 right.

On the broker's exam, I knew not to be a dumb *** and I studied for it. I passed the broker's class with a 92, and took the test about a month later, and passed it on the 1st try.

Once you pass your state test, sign up for a GRI 1 course. you can use it for your post licensing requirements. Then, if you go on to get your brokers license, you can take the GRI 2 and GRI 3 classes to to satisfy your broker's post licensing requiremtents.

If you do it all in a timely manner, you can have your broker's license and be a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI) in about 2 years.

 

once u graduate from the realtor institute...do you still have to take 15 hours of class each year still?

 

every 2 years, you have to take either a continuing education course or an at home test. Most people take the test; It is an open book test. Why waste the time sitting in class.

I have yet to have been requires to take any continuing ed course or test yet!!!!!...and it has been 5 years come march!......

I will fianlly have to do it next year.



of course, I probably have over 200 hours of time from salesperson class, brokers class and GRI I, II, and III.