House Agents in Phoenix Surviving the Real Estate Downturn

House agents in Phoenix are trying their best and using all the resources they know to survive the real estate downturn.
During the housing boom, there were almost 80,000 real estate agents and brokers in Arizona, according to the Arizona Real Estate Department. Housing was the biggest industry in the Phoenix metro area. Today, the number has fallen by 20 percent since two years ago.

Many of the realtors are temporarily working at clothing stores, restaurants, grocery stores and offices while waiting for the recovery of the housing market.

During the boom, real estate agents were selling about ten houses a week, earning six-figure salaries and commissions. Now they are using up their savings as they maintain foreclosure properties for lenders and wait for listings.

In 2005, home prices in metro Phoenix soared to their highest levels, with speculators sparking bidding wars to make quick profits.

In 2006, house agents can earn 3 percent from a house easily sold at $270,000 without much work. Now, agents can get only 2 percent from an $80,000 foreclosed home sold after spending a lot of time and effort marketing and sprucing up the home.

Tom Farley, head of the Arizona Association of Realtors, affirmed that it has been a hard time for real estate agents. He added that membership has fallen by 21 percent.

Some resourceful agents are now accepting work that they never did before. Many of them now work mostly for lenders that own a lot of foreclosure homes. They maintain and secure homes in exchange for the right to sell the properties and get a higher commission.

Oftentimes they are also used by lenders as representatives during evictions. Some do not like the responsibility as they do not like seeing sad and upset families. However, if the lenders offer cash for keys, the work is easier because the agents feel better thinking that the $2,500 offered by lenders can help families look for another housing.

Several agents are now also doing broker price opinions, which are sometimes called mini appraisals. These typically consist of photos of the house being appraised and the street in front of the house and a report on market conditions and comparable sales.

Compared to the more thorough regular home appraisals, these mini appraisals take only 4 to 6 hours to complete and must be submitted to the lenders within 24 hours. Even if house agents earn only about $40 to $60 from each of these appraisals, they accept them to get acquainted with lenders while waiting for the housing market to recover.