"The typical member is a 52-year-old married female with a gross personal income of $47,700, who works 43 hours a week. She is a sales agent who has been in the business for 13 years and has been with the same firm for five years; the firm she is affiliated with operates a single-office and is independently owned."
According to a new survey by the National Association of Realtors, the typical member today has double the experience in real estate of their counterpart in the 1970s, and is making widespread use of technology to better serve clients.
In 1978, the typical broker had 11 years experience vs. 20 years today. For agents, the median was three years in the business in 1978 compared to eight years experience in 2001. Experience is a major factor in member income. The typical Realtor with 11 to 15 years experience earns almost $41,000 a year more than a real estate professional with one to five years experience.
The 2001 National Association of Realtors Member Profile, based on a survey of 40,000 members earlier this year (response rate of 19 percent), covers diverse characteristics of NAR members including demographic data, current business attributes and technology use
NAR President Richard A. Mendenhall said experience is one of the greatest assets a RealtorÒ brings to the real estate transaction. "The typical RealtorÒ today has greater skills in guiding their customers through the home buying and selling processes," he said. "Our members also are more adept at using technology, including the Internet, to better serve customers - this includes placing listings on a variety of Web sites and using e-mail to communicate," he added.
Dr. David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said technology continues to influence the industry. "While nearly nine out of 10 RealtorÒ members have a computer, more than three-fourths use e-mail and the Internet for business purposes, and four out of 10 have a Web page," he said. "For residential brokers, 87 percent post listings on at least one Web site, and 54 percent report some of their sales and other business is generated directly from online services," he added. He noted the Web postings are in addition to automatic postings of MLS data on REALTOR.COM
Lereah said 4.0 percent of members generate over 20 percent of their business online. "While this isn't a big number, it demonstrates the possibility of generating significant amounts of business online," he said. Other findings show four out of five members spend at least 50 percent of their time in residential brokerage. Three-fourths are compensated with a percentage commission split, seven out of 10 have a home office, 20 percent have personal assistants and 19 percent have conducted business in a language other than English.
Other findings:
- 56% of NAR members are women.
- in 2000, the median gross income of brokers was $73,400, while agents earned $34,100.
- two out of five agents are affiliated with firms that are franchised.
- two-thirds of agents represent firms with three or fewer offices.
Pat Rioux
