By Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
In 2006, when the real estate market was booming, there were Realtors everywhere and they were busy.
But, things have changed. Some of those salepeople are leaving the business.
The numbers aren’t huge, but there has been an 8-10 percent drop in the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and the Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service’s primary Realtor members in the last two years, according to Glenn East, executive vice president of NEFAR.
“The business has a tendency over a period of time and with an economic change to kind of flush itself and weed itself out,” said East. “I think that is what’s happened in this scenario.
“We have stayed fairly consistent over the last few years within 200-300. But, if you start comparing January 2008 to January 2007, there was a 2.8 percent drop, but if you check February 2008 to February of 2007, you will see there is an 11.4 percent drop between ‘07 and ‘08. In the last two years we’ve seen a drop of an 8-10 percent range, but overall it’s stayed stable.”
Currently, NEFAR has 6,500 Realtor members.
According to Ron Stephan, executive vice president of the NEFMLS, its actual membership peak was in 2007 slightly behind NEFAR’s peak in 2006. “We are running maybe down about 10 percent from where we were last year,” said Stephan.
The Amelia Island/Nassau County Association of Realtors reports a similar drop in the number of Realtors with their numbers reflecting approximately at 14.5 percent drop in Realtor members since 2006.
Currently, they have 371 Realtor members.
Figures for the St. Augustine Board of Realtors were not made available.
With the drop in numbers has been what we some call a “thinning of the herd” and most of those who have left couldn’t handle finding rough going in rough times.
“When the market was at its peak in 2006 or 2007, everyone was scrambling to get into the business,” said East. “You had people who had not taken the time to go through the professional designation courses and extra training to make this a lifetime career.
“They were in it because they thought they could make some quick, easy money. This type of market has the tendency to weed that out and make the marketplace a little stronger with career-oriented Realtor members.”
The surviving Realtors are those who have continued to work hard to remain competitive in the market now. Also, some had a strong financial support system at home. That also helps when the money isn’t coming in.
“It has, in effect, been a self-weeding process where those that weren’t producing have gone away,” said Walter Williams, owner/broker of Coldwell Banker Walter Williams Realty. “From that standpoint, it has been very beneficial because some of those who were not producing might not have been doing as quality of a job as they should be.”
Williams said that he didn’t notice as big a drop as he expected when the market turned.
“I expected a bigger drop,” said Williams. “But, the market has been affected positively because the Realtors that are left are doing a much better job. I would be shocked if there’s any company in the business that hasn’t lost some agents.”
Some Realtors thought the last influx of Realtors had a very negative impact on the market.
“Untrained and unprofessional agents were everywhere,” said Carol O’Donoghue of All Real Estate Options. “Many didn’t have a clue what they were doing which made a transaction very difficult. Unethical practices were at their peak and it seemed as though no one was controlling it.
“The current slowdown for many agents who did not develop a pool of referrals hopefully has caused these agents to find other employment. Those of us who took care of our customers and took care of the agent on the other side of the transaction are still here going strong. I had four closings last week and all were past customers, or referrals from a past customer.
“I don’t think a drop in Realtors really affects the marketplace except in possibly weeding out the agents who shouldn’t be in this business anyway.”
When the market was overrun with Realtors, many were what others called “order takers.” The professionals who are left now are happy to see them gone.
“I like fewer Realtors being in the marketplace,” said Regina Sooey of Watson Realty. “When the market was at its peak, there were many agents who got into the business to make an easy living. Many of them did not know what they were doing and we had a lot of transactions and things that were not done in the correct way. Hopefully now, the agents who will stay in the business are the ones who are willing to work hard, and who know how a transaction is supposed to go, and knows how to read the contract.
“I think it will take some time to adjust to doing things the correct and legal way, as I know we all got sloppy in the past few years.”
Fewer Realtors means less competition and less mess to clean up. some said.
“Realtors staying in the business are the ones willing to work hard, even harder than ever,” said Joan Reynolds of Realty Executives of Jacksonville. “Also, the title companies have been affected and are willing to lose some of the fees that were beginning to accumulate for the sellers and buyers. Lenders are having a hard time, but there are certainly less of them so it makes relationships very important.
“Getting a deal closed requires everyone’s best efforts and is no longer something that just happens. No one can drop the ball or nobody gets paid. I think the times of picking up the slack for someone not carrying their part will be over very soon. Sellers and buyers are demanding our best. This is a good thing, and something they have a right to expect it.”
Obviously, fewer Realtors will mean less competition for those remaining.
“I can’t think of any downside for the survivors, except that they will have to do with less until the market recovers,” said Ben Walker of Country Club Real Estate of Ponte Vedra.
Most Realtors said they are not sure there are any negatives to fewer Realtors in the market.
“Most agents who are getting out are either retiring after many years as a natural progression or the young ones who haven’t made it a profession,” said Janie Boyd of Norville Realty. “This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Time, money and education must be invested in order to have the return needed in slow times.”