Colorado Real Estate

Colorado Springs Real Estate - Colorado Springs Homes For Sale - Century 21 Academy Request Info Form | Links | Life @ Home Newsletter Home | Company Profile Property Info | Colorado Springs Info | Military Info | Multiple Listings Service | Mortgage & Financing | Foreclosures | Careers Looking at homes for sale in Colorado Springs ? Relocating to Fort Carson, Schriever Air Force Base, Peterson Air Force Base, United States Air Force Academy, or NORAD? Interested in commercial properties or vacant land? Century 21 Academy Realty Inc. and our team of professional and award winning Realtors are ready to meet and exceed your Colorado Springs Real Estate expectations. We have been proudly serving the Pikes Peak Region since 1974. Our Colorado Springs Realtors specialize in first time homebuyers, foreclosure and investment properties. Featured Homes Featured Homes Listing Number: 10250 1695 Colgate Drive Listing Number: 8702 10570 Huntsman Drive CENTURY 21 Academy Realty, Inc. in Beautiful Colorado Springs, CO. Two Locations in the Pikes Peak Region 311 Main Street; 80911 Sales: 719.390.7865 School: 888.574.9701 4760 Flintridge Drive; 80918 Sales: 719.598.2000 Admin: 719.591.9889 "Colorado Springs Real Estate - Colorado Springs Homes For Sale " Created and Maintained by Creative Online Services 2003 Century 21 Real Estate Corporation. © and sm - trademark and servicemark of Century 21 Real Estate Corporation. Equal Housing Opportunity. "Each Office Independently Owned and Operated" A ssociates O nly The Best Sales Associates Find A Home Home Listing #

Home Loan Bank of

Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas W e are a cooperatively owned wholesale bank that supports housing and economic development in the communities served by our member institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. Our credit products and other financial services help members deliver financial products to fund housing, small business, rural development and agriculture. Specialized community investment and affordable housing loan and grant programs help finance community redevelopment and expand affordable housing opportunities. Members include commercial banks, savings institutions, credit unions and insurance companies. In The News • Community Investment Program Update • Bulletin 2005-14 Dividend for Fourth Quarter 2005 • Disaster Relief Advances for Texas Counties Affected By Fire • Advisory Council Appointments • Disaster Relief Grant Program • Disaster Relief Advances Available for Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi and Texas Quick Links • Investor Relations • Guides & Forms Send comments, questions, and suggestions to fhlb@fhlb.com . © 2005 Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas. All Rights Reserved. FHLB Dallas website information disclaimer . The material on this site is for informational purposes only. By moving to the next screen, all viewers acknowledge that the presentation of this material (i) does not represent investment advice, (ii) does not constitute an offer to extend credit, a grant or subsidy, and (iii) does not constitute investment solicitation or an offer to buy securities. It is the sole responsibility of the user to check the accuracy of assumptions or other information contained on this site. VIEW FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK OF DALLAS - World Wide Web (www.fhlb.com) PRIVACY and SECURITY DOCTRINE

Selling Home

Home Selling - Home Selling Testimonials - Home Sell a Home Buy a Home Services Mortgages City Profiles Appraisals -- Service Directory Foreclosures Mortgages Service Providers Appraise Your Home Moving & Relocation Home Improvement Title Company Search Insurance Lawyers Virtual Tours Home Builders Real Estate Agents Research What is FSBO? City Profiles City Comparisons School Reports Crime Comparisons Salary Calculator Cost of Living Comp. Home Sale Prices Tools Free eBook DIY Software Mortgage Calculators Home Selling Guide Home Buying Guide Ad Writing Tips Real Estate Forms Home Buying Checklist Utilities Connections Your Credit Report Glossary Real Estate News Edit Your Ad Modify Your Ad Cancel Your Ad Upload Photos Help/FAQ Home Selling - Home Selling Testimonials Sold in 6 hours! Piece of cake! Sold to first couple that looked at the house the very morning the ad came out! - R. Deloach Very good response. Would definitely use FSBO again. - Tony Christy Contract in first week with back up contracts! - Mrs. Doss I received 3 offers in one week! Was asking $149,900, received contract for $153,000. - Amy Benham Sold within 3 weeks! - J olene Baldwin Under contract in 5 days! Great response. - Joseph Barnes Piece of cake! The magazine hit the stands Friday, we had 4 offers by Sunday night! Thanks so much. - Judith Ballina Sold in 5 days! - Mickey Boyette It worked great. Lots of calls. Used FSBO contract, worked out great. Got lots of calls. - Matthew Davis I would definitely recommend FSBO. The class was very helpful. Selling by owner was easy and I saved thousands! - Lisa Davies Sold in one day! - Mr. Colvin Sold within one week-still getting calls closed today. Great response! - Arthur Carpenter Our house has been sold for the full asking price. Thanks for helping us in this effort! - Gail Gompers We have a contract on the house. It was on the market for 3 weeks! - Bob Aquino Sold in 13 days! - Greg Clarkson FSBO was easy and my home sold in 3 days! - Mrs. Gottlieb Sold 2nd day. Had 2 offers, the 2nd day. We bought our buyers home! - Susan Baker Never hit the magazine, sold on the internet. Sold in 72 hours! - Thomas Brown I would definitely recommend FSBO. The class was very helpful. Selling by owner was easy and I saved thousands! - Lisa Davies Sold in 6 days! - Mike Gwartney Sold in 1 week, I am still getting calls. - Mr. Hawk Could have sold 15 or 20 times. It all worked out just great. - Fay Edwards I don't have a support question. I just wanted you to know we took an offer on our home in less than eight weeks! We listed in the Wake Co. and had inquiries from as far away as Hawaii via the Web page! Not listing with a real estate agent allowed us to price our home at a fair market value, so the buyer got our home at a super price and we did better than if we had sold higher and paid even a 5% commission! We have recommended your service to everyone we know. Thanks, Dave Fox Just wanted to say thank you.......... With your help, we sold our home within a month and a half from the date of our listing. A task that our Real Estate Agent was unable to accomplish in over 6 months. In addition, your appraisal link was outstanding. We have and will continue to highly recommend your website to everyone we come in contact with.... SUPER JOB FORSALEBYOWNER.COM Thanks again, Jim & Cindy Linn By the way, your site is terrific. I sold my house on this site last August and this particular ad was for my Dad's house with also sold thanks to your great Web Site. Keep up the great work.Lorraine Miller Hello. We have been out of our house for 7 weeks, after selling it with you in 9 days. the savings we made by not using a Real Estate Agent allowed us to include a full basement on our new home. I recommended your company to a customer of mine. David. On Brisbane in lake in the hills. he called and listed with you the day after I told him what a great experience we had using your company, thanks again you guys are the best! Good Morning, and just wanted to let you know that your on-line program ishighly successful. I had at least 2 dozen persons or companies contactingme about selling my home. I picked one finally and sold the house. It wasonly through your program that this happened so quickly. In this neighborhood houses are taking months to years to sell. I went with you in March and sold the house on the 15th of April. Again, my heartfelt thanks, for you must know what a relief it is to have that pressure off.Thank you Very much. Walter 10070817 Unbelievably simple process. Wonderful buyers. First people to look atthe house bought it; we never got a chance to put the sign in the yard.Your service is outstanding and I'm shouting it from the mountaintops, telling all who ask about our great 'luck' in selling our house.Apparently the word is out among many people in this area since wecontinued to receive calls almost daily for the month that the ad was onyour site. I had dreaded the usual process for so long, but it couldn'thave turned out better! Thanks. Melissa I think your Website is one of the BEST sites I've been on. It's so easy tofind what you're looking for!! I wish all websites would design their siteslike yours!!!! Vicki Just a short note to let you all know how completely satisfied we were with your service. We couldn't believe the response we received from listing our house with you. We have already recommended you to several people and will continue to do so. Thanks again." D & B "I wanted to take the time to thank you for your help and assistance in the sale of my home. My only regret is that I did not advertise in For Sale By Owner Connection years ago! I went through countless real estate agents that did nothing for me except give me empty promises. The showings were at best minimal and I was always calling to find out what was going on as they never kept me informed. And for this kind of service I was forced to hand them 6% commission when it sold! When I heard about your organization, I immediately placed an ad. The phone never stopped ringing; I had several showings, and knew who I was dealing with. In a very short time, I was given a sizeable deposit and the rest is history, including the house. Thank you very much. I wish you folks all the best of luck. Your publication has made me and I'm sure a lot of folds very, very happy." McLaughlin, Jr. "Thank you for your support and encouragement. I appreciated advertising in the For Sale By Owner Connection, and always got a lot of calls each time it was published. I just closed last Friday, and received very close to the asking price. I must admit it was sure a nice feeling not to pay out that 6% commission! I saved over $9,000. Nice! Thanks again." J. Scata "We closed on our condo today! I just wanted to tell you what a great service I think you run! We listed with you only 2 months, and with no additional advertising our condo sold. It was definitely worth it, and resulted in savings of several thousand dollars! I have passed your name and # on to several other friends who are selling, and I would not hesitate to recommend you again. Thanks!!" C. Downes My home was listed with an agent for over a year with no results. I advertised with For Sale By Owner.com and Sold my home in 3 Weeks! Pat I had a buyer the first day the Magazine with my home hit the shelves. Thanks, Bluffdale Just wanted to let you know that our buyer came from you. We had over 150 calls. Jennifer We have received at least 20 call this week from your web site alone. Susan My home sold! What more can I say - Oh ya, I saved $11,326! Scott in Provo We were amazed at the response we got in a five week period after having been with Real Estate Agents for 4 years & no response. We ended up with 3-4 serious buyers. Advice & guidance in your book gave us so much confidence. We tell everyone this is the only way to sell their property. We1ve had our closing this week and are extremely pleased with the way this worked out. Thank you so very much for your help," "I received many calls as a result of my ad in your magazine. I still received calls even after my ad ran out." "Thank you FSBO. My home had been listed with Real Estate Agents for over a year. At the end of August, my contract expired & I listed my home with you. Within 3 weeks it was sold. I was able to lower my price because I didn1t have to pay a commission." "We sold our home through FSBO when all the Real Estate Agents told us it wasn't possible. Thanks for proving them wrong!" "We consider ourselves very lucky. We signed up for advertising for 8 issues. The people who bought our home saw our ad in the first issue we advertised in and an offer was made shortly thereafter. We continued to have telephone calls about the house up till & through closing. The staff was always helpful. The signs were professional. The video & book were very useful tools. We would do it again in the future." "Thank you for the professional services you offer homeowners who don't want to pay a Real Estate Agents Fee. In a tight market for sellers, your services offer the homeowner an attractive alternative. The Homeseller's Kit was most helpful and gave us the information we needed.." "The first issue our home was in FSBO prompted 8 calls. Less than 2 weeks later we signed a sale contract with one of these first callers. We are very happy with the results of your magazine. We will strongly recommend FSBO to anyone looking to sell or buy a home." "We are very pleased with the response to our ad - we have had dozens of calls, many showings, and we have two buyers. In two and a half months, we have had much more activity than a real estate company was able to provide in the 18 months that we were listed in the MLS. Thanks again." "We put our seasonal cottage in the For Sale By Owner magazine in early June. We had in excess of 50 inquiries and over 20 showings. We had several offers and accepted a contract on July 22 and closed on August 9. We are very happy with the response we got and would highly recommend For Sale By Owner to anyone selling a home." "We had our home listed with a real estate agency for 6 months to no avail. We then decided to drop the price by the percentage we would have to pay to real estate and we placed a sixth of a page ad in For Sale By Owner. Three days later, the second couple that came through our house purchased it. We are writing to you now because we had our closing on our home and everything went perfectly. Thank you For Sale By Owner for making it all possible. I would and have highly recommended you to anyone selling their home. We received so many calls from the ad (for weeks and weeks) and there was so much more action than when we had it in the hands of real estate." "We got terrific reaction from advertising in FSBO...as good if not better than during 6 months listed with a big shot Real Estate Agents. In our second issue we sold the house and have been telling later callers they were out of luck. For Sale By Owner works!" "We are happy with the "For Sale By Owner" system. The signs were professional and received many comments. We used the open house attachment on weekends resulting in several leads. After less than 60 days, we sold our house to a couple who were working with a Real Estate Agent and saw our house in your magazine. They asked the Real Estate Agent to arrange a showing. We took a deposit and sold the home!" "Thank you For Sale By Owner! Our home was listed with a very "popular" realty company two years ago - to no avail. We were discouraged and ultimately disgusted when our home did not sell. This year, we listed our home (at a much more reasonable price) in FSBO in May and signed a contract for the sale in June!. We are happily on our way to our new home. Thanks!" "We feel your service is very good. Whenever your guide came out we had many calls regarding our house. Your prices are reasonable and you reach a good deal of people. As a matter of fact, the person buying our home is from FSBO. Thank you for your service. It is reliable and it works!" "Just for your info, our house sold 50 days after we advertised with you. I was so surprised at all the response we got. You are a very worthwhile service. Thanks alot" "We placed our ad in FSBO and our buyers came to our home on two occasions to view the house - their third trip they put in an offer. By June 30th we had a signed contract - 2 weeks after our home started in your listing. We have had more than one offer! Many families prefer homes that are for sale by owner because they deal directly with the owner and obtain immediate answers without going thru a Real Estate Agent. The money saved is incredible. Thanks for your help." "Two days after the May 4th issue, I sold my home - the activity at the Open House and the phone calls were not to be believed!. We had 4 people working showing people through and all were tired at the end of the day from the steady stream of people wanting to see our home. I saved $11,000 by using For Sale By Owner. Great job." "I listed my house in your book & I sold it within 3 weeks of my ad. I had 22 phone calls & am very happy I used your For Sale By Owner. I am building another home in the spring & I will use your book again for this home. I could not believe the response received from this ad. I think its a great way to sell & list a home. Thank you." "We advertised our home in the Daily Gazette, the Times Union and For Sale By Owner. We had response from all three but the 1/6 page ad with the photo of the house was the best investment. We didn1t always ask which publication people had seen our ad in but the couple who bought our home had your magazine with them when they came. Your "Open House" signs made a very professional appearance through our neighborhood." "We were very satisfied with the many calls we received due to our ad. We do feel we could have sold the house many times over! When we think what a Real Estate Agent would have charged and what success we had with "For Sale By Owner", there is no doubt we will highly recommend your magazine to any one who is selling. Our many thanks again for your wonderful service. Continued good luck to you." "Our home had been on the market for almost two years with only one offer. I listed with FSBO and within 2 weeks we had a buyer. Thank you for your help. We must have received at least 100 calls. I am really pleased!" "We highly recommend your service! We sold our home in 2 weeks and saved $6,000 in real estate fees! We do suggest that people get a market value on their home before advertising it. You need to be realistic about the price & not add sentimental value to it." Many Thanks "Sorry I'm late in writing - we are so busy packing. The ads in your magazine brought a deluge of calls - over 100 calls! The people who called the first day bought the house. Thank you. Your magazine is doing a great job." "We put our seasonal cottage in the For Sale By Owner magazine in early June. We had in excess of 50 inquiries and over 20 showings. We had several offers and accepted a contract on July 22 and closed on August 9. We are very happy with the response we got and would highly recommend For Sale By Owner to anyone selling a home." "We had our home listed with a real estate agency for 6 months to no avail. We then decided to drop the price by the percentage we would have to pay to real estate and we placed a sixth of a page ad in For Sale By Owner. Three days later, the second couple that came through our house purchased it. We are writing to you now because we had our closing on our home and everything went perfectly. Thank you For Sale By Owner for making it all possible. I would and have highly recommended you to anyone selling their home. We received so many calls from the ad (for weeks and weeks) and there was so much more action than when we had it in the hands of real estate." "We got terrific reaction from advertising in FSBO...as good if not better than during 6 months listed with a big shot Real Estate Agent. In our second issue we sold the house and have been telling later callers they were out of luck. For Sale By Owner works!" "We are happy with the "For Sale By Owner" system. The signs were professional and received many comments. We used the open house attachment on weekends resulting in several leads. After less than 60 days, we sold our house to a couple who were working with a Real Estate Agent and saw our house in your magazine. They asked the Real Estate Agent to arrange a showing. We took a deposit and sold the home!" The ForSaleByOwner program is great! We sold our home in only 3 weeks while other homes around us that were listed with Real Estate Agents took months. It was a great experience and easy. Thanks for your help. Kirk and Jennifer We just wanted to thank you again for helping us sell our home on Bluffview and saving us over $5,000 in commissions. The money we saved with for sale by owner will allow a few more extras in the new house we are building. Keep up the good work! Tom and Rita Your company is fantastic! The money we saved and how easy it was to sell is unbelievable. I can't believe that everyone isn't using your services. It works and if we sell in the future, you'll have our business again. Jeff and Amy Demara Thank you for helping us sell our home. You saved us over $8,000 this time in commissions. The process went just as smoothly as the other two sales and we estimate that between the 3 properties, we've save over $23,000 in real estate commissions. I bet we hold the record as your best customer and will continue to recommend you to all our family and friends. Jim and LuAnn We sold in 4 weeks. The process was easy and very quick. Thanks for your help and keep up the good work. Scott and Wendy Thanks for your help. Your staff was very helpful and I would recommend you to anyone thinking about selling their home. Joanne Saved $12,000 Fantastic! We had our home listed with a Real Estate Agent for 6 months and we got very little activity so we decided to call you. We got more calls in the first 2 weeks than we did with our Real Estate Agent in 6 months. Our buyer saw our home on the internet while they were still in Texas trying to sell their home. I am going to recommend you to everyone I can - your company is unbelievable! Tonya "For Sale by Owner offered all the services we needed to sell our home by ourselves and allowed us the flexibility we needed. We would whole-heartedly recommend their services to anyone and everyone!" Shelly "I had my home on the market for three months with zero offers. Once we decided to give it a try and advertise with you, we sold it in less than one week!" -Richard Kelly "I received more calls from you than from any other advertising I've done. Now the house is under contract with a buyer who saw the home in For Sale by Owner." -Bill Duncan "We are thankful for the exposure we received through your service. And they provided us with all the resources we needed to sell our home!" Nancy Sold $379,900, 24 hours off the internet!!! I couldn't believe it the signs were up and my internet ad was just in, 20 calls in 24 hours and a buyer! Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Beamer Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" We had our rental house listed for 4 months with a local Real Estate Company with no response. We then listed with another Real Estate Company thinking that they would do a better job. After 3 months, and only 2 showings, we canceled our agreement with this Real Estate Company. We then signed up with the "For Sale By Owner .Com" system. Within a month's time, we had many qualified prospects (not just lookers) and wrote a contract with one of these perspective buyers. After this contract we showed it to 13 more prospects in case our contract fell through. All of these people came through your service. Sincerely, Mr. & Mrs. Brewer Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" We contracted for your package including advertising and Real Estate Agent MLS. We had good response from the magazine advertising, but because our house did not have a lot of curb appeal, we did not expect a lot of phone calls. However, we had 10 Real Estate Agents show our property through your MLS program, and we did write a contract. After our contract we had at least 20 more realtors wanting to show our house. We saved 3 percent by NOT using a listing agent, and we were very happy that we did not have to pay the normal 7 percent. We were extremely pleased with your service, and I'll refer you to all my friends. There is no better way to sell your home! Thank you! Mrs. Jaroch Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" "I could have sold my home 30 times over with the responses that I received from the "For Sale By Owner .Com Sincerely Mrs. LaFlash Sold Fast Cash!! Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" We had problems with our last home sale using a Real Estate Agent but with "For Sale By Owner .Com" Magazine "WE SOLD" - CASH DEAL!!! We're moving into our new home thanks to "For Sale By Owner .Com"! I definitely recommend the package - WHAT A DEAL!! Thank you again Mr. & Mrs. Amberg Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" I would like to thank "For Sale By Owner .Com" for the excellent responses on my property. I received many calls from both in-state and out-of-state prospective buyers. I knew from the amount of calls that I received that I would sell my home within 2 to 3 months. I sold it recently just as my ad was about to expire. The buyer agreed to my price of $125,000 and the sale is currently pending. I saved $7,500 in real estate fees and was able to help the buyer by offering him $2,000 towards his closing costs. I have previously sold homes through real estate companies but never have I had so many showings as I did by using "For Sale By Owner .Com" Thank you all for the excellent ad and photos on the Internet. I have recommended you to several prospective buyers who have asked me about you and who were thinking about selling their homes. I hope they were smart enough to follow through and use your service. Once again, THANK YOU "For Sale By Owner .Com"!!! Joseph & Tina Dear "For Sale By Owner .Com" Now that we are settled in our new home I wanted to let you know how grateful we are to have had the benefits of your company to assist us in selling our home. We had researched several services that cater to the "for sale by owner" client but none of them offered the exposure that you did. The combination of the yard sign, magazine and internet site generated many telephone calls and more importantly, showings. We received an acceptable contract in less than 21 days because of your program. However, the best part of the entire deal was the amount of money we saved in real estate commissions! For the amount we would have put in someone else's pocket we were able to re-carpet the entire house and re-appliance the whole kitchen! We never would have been able to do that without selling our home on our own! A million thanks to you, we will definitely recommend you!!! Sincerely, Karen & Roger Dear for sale by owner What a program!!!!! As you know we had our house listed with a real estate agent for 6 months with no success. After our listing expired we decided to utilize your services. Our only regret is that we didn't come to you first. Using your program we sold our home on our own in less than 60 days and saved over $9000 in commissions. Thanks for all your help! We'll never need a real estate agent again! Best Regards, Bob Dear For Sale By Owner Magazine, Just a quick note to thank you for your wonderful program which helped us sell our home located at 397 Firestone Dr. in Delaware. We received dozens of phone calls and were in contract within 30 days. We closed within 55 days from the time our ad started and saved ourselves nearly $10,000 in sales commissions. We will definitely recommend your program to all our friends and neighbors. Thanks for all your help! Sincerely, Paul Dear For sale by owner From the day I first contacted your company, all your staff have been nothing but courteous and helpful. I was provided a professional listing on your website, I was listed in your magazine, I was provided signs, contracts, and preferred contacts to helpful legal and title services. Your program provided me the necessary exposure, traffic, and knowledge to sell my home quickly and efficiently. I held routine open houses and I always had good interest and traffic. Your program is simple, concise, complete, and results oriented. On top of all that I saved $ THOUSANDS $ of dollars by selling my home by myself rather than using a Real Estate Agent. D. Powell Dear For Sale By Owner The exposure our home received while listed with FOR SALE BY OWNER far exceeded our expectations. After three weeks on the market we were presented with a full price offer. Also, it offered us the opportunity to show our home instead of a Real Estate Agent. Who better to promote the sale of your home than yourself.I have and will continue to recommend FOR SALE BY OWNER to others. Satisfied customers, Mr. & Mrs. Allen Dear For Sale By Owner Publications: In just 60 days I sold my 2 investment properties through for sale by owner. The response was overwhelming. Between the 2 properties, I received 75 inquiries. 5 prospective buyers were disappointed because they delayed their decision to purchase. Because I sold the properties myself, I saved over $18,000 in real estate commissions. Wishing you well, Dolores Dear Rob and Jeff: Our house sold within two weeks of listing it with FOR SALE BY OWNER. We received lots of telephone calls and loads of people drove by to pick up flyers. Most of all, we saved money, too. Sincerely, June As a first-time property seller, I was skeptical and nervous about trying to save on commission by not using an agent. I was quite surprised to find that the entire process was so easy and I saved thousands of dollars that would have gone to an agent. Thanks Edward We signed up on a Friday and had a contract twelve days later and closed nine weeks later! The buyer found our home while giving his father-in-law a tour of Fort Collins. We saved $15,000 in real estate commission. Thank you for all your help -- especially Germaine! Vicki My experience was wonderful! The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and very courteous! My house was on the market for only 4 days and I had 6 calls within those few days. What a relief to sell so fast! I saved 6% off the selling price that didn't go to a real estate agent! My fiance has worked with your company also -- twice! He sold both times within two weeks! Angie for sale By Owner is an excellent service! The staff was always courteous and very helpful. We got a contract three days after placing the ad. The whole process was a very positive experience and we saved $11,400 in commissions! I highly recommend for sale by owner Rolanda Dear for sale by owner, My wife and I were a little skeptical at first, but we now sold on the "for sale by Owner" system. With the information packet and assistance of for sale by owner reps to answer all of our questions, the selling process was a piece of cake. we were able to sell our Thornton home, receiving many calls from around the Denver metro area. With your assistance we were able to save thousands of dollars it would have cost in Real Estate Agent commissions. We would not hesitate to sell another home through you. Sincerely, James & Stacy They said it couldn't be done! My friends doubted I could sell a $300,000,00 house by myself. For sale By Owner proved them all wrong. We had a contract in 30 days and received full price. What more can I say? You guys are great and I'd definitely do it all over again. Thanks! Best Regards, Mark To whom it may concern, We would just like to say "Thank You" for helping us sell our home. We only had the ad in 1 day and sold our home. We can honestly say that doing a FSBO was a breeze. It felt good saving the $ and doing it ourselves. We'll never use a Real Estate Agent again. For sale by owner really does work, especially if you believe in yourself."Thanks" You've earned our future business. Happy "New" Home Owners Michelle & Charlie Dear Homes For Sale By Owner, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for introducing me to the ONLY way that I will ever use to sell real estate; whether it by my own home or an investment property.As you may recall, my wife and I were faced with a situation that we needed to sell our first home after only having lived in it for 13 months. We were listing our home for $295,000, which means we would have to forfeit almost $18,000 in equity just to have a Real Estate Agent sell our home for us! We were also concerned because there was a very similar home to ours that had been unsuccessfully listed with different Real Estate Agents for almost a year without being sold. Fortunately for us, the couple that we purchased our home from had used For Sale By Owner, so we were definitely familiar with the concept. We especially liked the fact that this allowed us to show our own home to potential buyers. No outside party could possibly know as much about your own home as you do. The couple that ended up buying our home mentioned that a big selling point was to see first hand how much we cared about it. Almost 3 weeks to the day after we had our home listed with you, we had two couples fighting to sign a contract with us, for only $2,500 less than our asking price! We turned a situation where we initially thought we were going to lose $18,000 to one where we actually ended up making a nice profit on our home.Oh, by the waythat home that was similar to ours is still for sale. We signed our contract back in October. Thanks again for all of your help! Best Regards, F. and M. Davis Just wanted to let you know that we are under contract on the sale of our home Our closing date is set for 5/28/01. Thanks for providing a great service to homeowners. I was hesitant to try to do this alone until a Real Estate Agent called and told me that "everyone tries to sell by owner and within 2 months or so will then list". He said he could prove that "I would save more money in the long run by listing with an agent versus attempting to sell by owner". That was all the fire I needed. I picked up your magazine and attended the seminar. I knew after the seminar that my home would sell itself. Boy was the Real Estate Agent wrong, our home was under contract 4 weeks after listing with your service and you better believe I called him back and told him the good news that $10,890 was staying in my pocket versus his. His response was just "congratulations" and he hung up the phone. I just gleam inside every time I think about that phone call.... Score another one for the homeowner!. Thanks for all your help! Dave I will never use a Real Estate Agent again!! Selling by owner was so easy, it took only 8 days and my neighbors have been listed for 8-9 months! My ad brought calls from as far away as Texas and Denver but my buyer came from nearby Geneva. Know your market so you price your home right, right from the start and use Homes For Sale By Owner, Inc. Who wouldn't like saving the money we did? If you are selling a house, do it by owner. We had never sold a home this way but absolutely loved the process. If you think about it, since you have lived in your home, you know it better than any stranger, so you should be the one showing it. With the powerful advertising of F.S.B.O. you will sell by owner and save big too. Our buyer came from the Internet and with open and honest negotiations, face-to-face, we put the deal together. Thanks, For Sale By Owner! Even though we'd sold by owner before, we were at a slight disadvantage as we lived at a different house than we were selling. Yes, most people would have therefore given it to a Real Estate Agent but we knew the house and area better than any, so we placed our ad with For Sale By Owner. 3 weeks, 35 calls, 20 showings, and 6 potential buyers later we sold. Would we do it again? Definitely. There's no other choice than For Sale By Owner! For Sale By Owner really reached an area we couldn't touch with our local paper. With our ad we got easily over 30 calls from as far away as Chicago and as close as Wisconsin with our buyer coming from Elk Grove. Realtors charge a 7% fee here in Rockford so selling by owner even makes more sense. Even after selling we continued to get calls while under contract and people asked us to take their names down. Wow! We were still getting phone calls even after we moved and we have received between 200-300 phone calls during our ad placement in H.F.S.B.O. We really enjoyed having control of the sale and not having to deal with pushy or rude Real Estate Agents. The buyers from the magazine were polite and a pleasure to do business with. We are buying new furniture with our savings by owner. Thank you Homes For Sale By Owner! That's right. . .3 days! It happened so fast! The 1st person that came out to see the house bought. Having our townhome in great condition with fresh paint and showing it like a model saved us a lot of time. We will definitely use the you again. Not only did we sell fast but we saved so much money! Our neighbor that was listed at the same time with an agent is still on the market. Thanks again. We'd sell this way again in a heartbeat! Besides the "loads" of phone calls from Real Estate Agents, we got from our ad on average 2 calls a day. It took us approximately 7 weeks to get our contract and our buyer had just sold by owner too! Our neighbor who is listed with a Real Estate Agent can't believe how much action we received with the Homes For Sale By Owner program: the 1/4 page ad, the woodpost sign, and the internet. We saved big and so can you! Selling a manufactured home was not easy, to be honest, but For sale by owner went all out and offered all kinds of advertising advice. With the incredible advertising reach, calls came from as far away as Chicago with an average of 6-7 calls a week and my buyer came from Aurora. I was even listed on the MLS at the same time and calls came from For Sale By Owner 10 to 1 over the MLS. Buyers really pick up this magazine and it just so happens that's where I'm looking right now! Believe it or not, the average market time in our subdivision is 3-4 years! Needless to say, seeing a neighbor in the area sell by owner through F.S.B.O. in 1 month, kind of made it clear which way we were going to sell our home. It didn't happen overnight but we sold in 6 months and got our asking price. 98% of our calls came from you, we even got calls from California and Florida and our buyer came from Schaumburg. We would only sell through For sale by owner next time and we'd highly recommend the signs to compete with Real Estate Agents. WE DID IT!! So can you! We're thrilled we went by owner. Had we listed with a Real Estate Agent and sold, after paying a 6% commission we would have netted $30,000 LESS than selling ourselves! Our phone just kept ringing and still hasn't stopped. We showed the home only on Sundays when it worked into our schedules... We didn't have any Real Estate Agent telling us at any given moment that they needed to show our home. Selling our home using fsbo is the best present anyone has ever given us. Thanks Even when things seemed like everyone else would sell but us, we remained determined we would do it. Perhaps the fact that this wasn't our 1st time selling by owner had something to do with our confidence. We really liked being in control of the process when selling by owner. When selling through a Real Estate Agent, you never know what is being said to buyers, since normally you aren't there. We also knew our home so much better than any Real Estate Agent so we were confident we'd show it better. We were right. It didn't happen with "lightning speed" but we sold it ourselves and saved a lot of $! Thanks again After 9 months of listing with 2 Real Estate Agents and after seeing how things weren't moving in my area, I decided to give it a try, the "for sale by owner" way. Well I did it, and with 4 written offers, plus 4 additional back-up people if things didn't work out. Sell by owner . . . it really works! We sold our home and saved thousands with For sale by owner. You did everything you said you would do. Through full color photo advertising on your website, and the flyers you provided us.The benefits of selling our own home were great. Thank you again for your help in making the sale of our home more economical, more convenient, and easier for us. James & Ruth B. - Clear Lake I have sold four houses using FSBO, saving me over $35,000 in commissions. Paula I want to thank both of you for having created this business. I would certainly gone into foreclosure without you. Thank You. I believe in this system. It is about time homeowners had the option of listing their house having to pay a huge, unnecessary commission. In my case, finding you was a gift from heaven. Jesica I tried to sell my home for six months using a Real Estate Agent and/or the classifieds. With you I sold my home in just two weeks! And we are still getting calls! Thanks. Ann You have a great program! It really works! I sold my house "by owner" and saved over $6,500 in commissions. I am going to tell all my friends about your service. BJ - Pearland I sold my home in three weeks using your services, saving $10,000 in commissions! Gail It's a great service. Maybe offer a local agent to handle paperwork for purchase at a fixed fee. Some states escrow can get complicated. Very happy with forsalebyowner.com website. Two real estate Co's tried to sell this property for two years. It took 5 months for internet. We have had over 1200 hits and only 1 inquiry and that was our buyer. Thank you. Connie Nahser I think your site works extremely well and I thank you for your careful planning. It is user friendly and allowed us to appeal to what we knew was a niche market for historic homes. Together with a very short newspaper ad referring to the web site we got a lot of inquiries from the kind of buyers we hoped to attract. Again, thanks!! Great tool for exposure!!! I would strongly recommend using the "forsalebyowner" web site. After three weeks of local advertising, we placed an ad on your web site. Our house sold in less than 5 days. The internet exposure did the trick. Thank You. Carmeline Gross We are closing on Nov 19th. Thank you for your service -- I have recommended it to others. We have 3 others waiting in line if this does not close. Lots of responsesWe will recommend your program. Thanks again, Burt & Carol Our home was sold within 2 months of listing! Thank You !!! The process of selling a home by ourselves is more than my wife and I have time for now. While I believe that your service has been beneficial, and would eventually result in the sale of my property, we must now turn to a Real Estate Agent to take over the process. I will definitely recommend your service to others. Thank you. You have to have the time! Too many unqualified buyers. Agents do not want to work with you. Had a contract on the house in 3 weeks! "OUR HOME SOLD IN 1 DAY AFTER THE MLS WAS POSTED. THIS PROGRAM SAVED US ~$6,000.00 THANKS FOR THE SAVINGS, GARY AND DIANE. I can't think of a thing you could have done better. We are very satisfied with the service we received. The fact that we could edit our ad at will is especially valuable as we were able to respond based on feedback from those who inquired. Selling the condo was nice and easy thanks to For Sale By Owner. We used the tips that you gave to include the web site in our newspaper ad. With the combination of the internet and local paper, were able to sell within a month. Thank you. Everything went great our home was under contract in just 5 days. The yard sign with direction signs worked out great. Folks drove by on the main road found their way in and then checked us out on the Internet. It is a great system!! It proved to be a great marketing tool - Thanks!! None- I sold my home in about a month without picutures! Your site have literally saved me thouands of $$. Thank you. we recieved almost 2,500 hits and it took only 3 months to have my house sold to a couple from north carolina, Thanks, Jim Haldeman. Would like better image viewing capabilities, something like the ability to view thumbnails that directly popped up larger images. I would also like to see a somewhat of a standard format for room sizes and features, similar to what MLS has. Thanks for helping me to sell my home. Phil Parker I was very pleased with the success of the sale of my house. In 7 days I had two asking price offers. We went to Act of Sale 51/2 weeks after my listing it. The sale seminar was extremely helpful and Damon and Cathy made themselves endlessly available for guidance. Thank you VERY MUCH!!!! Joda Fuxan Privacy & Disclaimer Partner With Us Career Opportunities Press Room Contact Us Buying A Home Your Credit Report Terms and Conditions Home Selling Tips Selling Your Home 1997-2005 For Sale By Owner.com Home Selling Testimonials A home selling source for commission free selling of a home. Site Map Home Home Selling - Selling Home

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Vacation Rentals, Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, and More - Rentalo.com -- Vacation Rentals, Hotels, Bed & Breakfasts Testimonials | Contact Rentalo | Help (Live) Enter a destination: Subscribe "This service is amazing!!! I live overseas, and was planning to meet some family members and stay with freinds in Vail free for my holiday. Two weeks prior to the holiday, my freinds informed me the house was no longer availalbe; wed have to find other accomodations. After three days and many hours of searching through websites, sometimes getting responses and sometimes not, I stumbled upon your service, sent one form off, and over the next 3 days received over 20 responses with places that I would have stayed at any one of! We ended up with a great home, at a VERY reasonable price, and NO STRESS. This service is FANSTASTIC for the renter/user." Cynthia Cupak "I THINK THIS IS A GREAT THING. IT SAVES HOURS OF SEARCHING!!!!" Wendi Kirby " I just wanted to tell you how much time and money your service saved me! Your excellent way of breaking down the listings was great! I did not have to deal with excess verbage. Keep up the good work! Thanks again, Mike Donohue" Mike Donohue "Just wanted to pass along my thanks. This service worked extremely well and I was able to find exactly what I was looking for in Mexico. What I liked best was not having to search for anything and having exactly what I requested sent to me. I have already recommended your service to several of my colleagues and friends who were equally impressed." Sue McGregor "Thanks so much for your help. We were able to book a condo for the dates we required to accomodate our needs. It is still winter in MN so we are really looking forward to visiting Florida. Thanks again for a great site that did the leg work for us." P Rehder "Great service, extremely friendly contact with everyone who has responded." Ty Miller "Thank you very much, you did a great job in making up this web page. Now to hear from potential customers........It is great!" Art Nunes See more testimonials United States Orlando Mammoth Lakes Miami Beach Poconos South Lake Tahoe Beech Mountain Ft Lauderdale Kissimmee Ocean City Las Vegas More... Europe London Zermatt Geneva Paris Interlaken Amsterdam Zuerich Rome Barcelona Dublin More... Canada Mont Tremblant Whistler Blue Mountain Banff Canmore Toronto Vancouver Montreal Victoria Shell Lake Prince Edward Island More... Caribbean Aruba St John St Maarten St Martin Cayman Islands Negril Bahamas Turks And Caicos Islands Bermuda San Juan Ocho Rios More... Mexico Puerto Vallarta Playa Del Carmen Mazatlan Cancun Rosarito Bucerias Tulum Acapulco Ixtapa Zihuatanejo Troncones San Felipe More... Asia Bangalore Jaipur Tokyo Agra Goa Chennai Hyderabad Mumbai New Delhi Singapore More... South America Rio De Janeiro Belo Horizonte Buenos Aires Punta Del Este Georgetown Quito Bogota Brasilia Margarita Island Lima More... Central America Belize Quepos Bocas Del Toro Managua Manuel Antonio El Salvador Antigua Puerto Viejo Limon Puntarenas San Jose More... South Pacific Sydney Gold Coast Auckland Byron Bay Perth Melbourne Coogee Beach Fiji Fiji Island Goroka More... Africa Cape Town Durban Cairo Cameroon Yaounde Egypt Somalia Algeria Libreville More... About rentalo.com - Rentalo is the largest, fastest growing, most relevant global directory for vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, hotels, and other lodgings, with over 100,000 property listings in close to 15,000 destinations worldwide. Travelers & Vacationers - In Rentalo you find the best values in vacation rentals, bed & breakfasts, hotels, and other lodgings. Property owners & managers - With Rentalo you receive the best return on investment (ROI) for your rental or lodging business. Enter your email to view the rental offers you have received help Search New Destination | Vacation Rentals | Press | Affiliates | Newsletter | Site Map | © 2005 Rentalo.com | Legal Disclaimer | Privacy

Real estate agents usually

Real estate brokers and sales agents Skip Navigation Links Latest Numbers U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook www.bls.gov Search the Handbook BLS Home | OOH Home | Frequently Asked Questions | A-Z Index | Contact Us Printer-friendly version ( HTML ) -- PDF ) -- Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents Nature of the Work Working Conditions Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement Employment Job Outlook Earnings Related Occupations Sources of Additional Information Significant Points Real estate brokers and sales agents often work evenings and weekends and usually are on call to suit the needs of clients. A license is required in every State and the District of Columbia. Although gaining a job may be relatively easy, beginning workers may face competition fromwell-established, more experienced agents and brokers in obtaining listings and in closing an adequate number of sales. Employment is sensitive to swings in the economy, especially interest rates; during periodsof declining economic activity and increasing interest rates, the volume of sales and the resultingdemand for sales workers fall. Nature of the Work [ About this section ] Back to Top One of the most complex and significant financial events in peoples lives is the purchase or sale of a home or investment property. Because of this complexity and significance, people typically seek the help of real estate brokers and sales agents when buying or selling real estate. Real estate brokers and sales agents have a thorough knowledge of the real estate market in their communities. They know which neighborhoods will best fit clients needs and budgets. They are familiar with local zoning and tax laws and know where to obtain financing. Agents and brokers also act as intermediaries in price negotiations between buyers and sellers. Real estate agents usually are independent sales workers who provide their services to a licensed real estate broker on a contract basis. In return, the broker pays the agent a portion of the commission earned from the agents sale of the property. Brokers are independent businesspeople who sell real estate owned by others; they also may rent or manage properties for a fee. When selling real estate, brokers arrange for title searches and for meetings between buyers and sellers during which the details of the transactions are agreed upon and the new owners take possession of the property. A broker may help to arrange favorable financing from a lender for the prospective buyer; often, this makes the difference between success and failure in closing a sale. In some cases, brokers and agents assume primary responsibility for closing sales; in others, lawyers or lenders do. Brokers supervise agents who may have many of the same job duties. Brokers also supervise their own offices, advertise properties, and handle other business matters. Some combine other types of work, such as selling insurance or practicing law, with their real estate business. Besides making sales, agents and brokers must have properties to sell. Consequently, they spend a significant amount of time obtaining listings—agreements by owners to place properties for sale with the firm. When listing a property for sale, agents and brokers compare the listed property with similar properties that recently sold, in order to determine a competitive market price for the property. Once the property is sold, both the agent who sold it and the agent who obtained the listing receive a portion of the commission. Thus, agents who sell a property that they themselves have listed can increase their commission. Most real estate brokers and sales agents sell residential property. A small number—usually employed in large or specialized firms—sell commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other types of real estate. Every specialty requires knowledge of that particular type of property and clientele. Selling or leasing business property requires an understanding of leasing practices, business trends, and the location of the property. Agents who sell or lease industrial properties must know about the regions transportation, utilities, and labor supply. Whatever the type of property, the agent or broker must know how to meet the clients particular requirements. Before showing residential properties to potential buyers, agents meet with them to get a feeling for the type of home the buyers would like. In this prequalifying phase, the agent determines how much the buyers can afford to spend. In addition, the agent and the buyer usually sign a loyalty contract which states that the agent will be the only one to show houses to buyers. An agent or broker then generates lists of properties for sale, their location and description, and available sources of financing. In some cases, agents and brokers use computers to give buyers a virtual tour of properties in which they are interested. With a computer, buyers can view interior and exterior images or floor plans without leaving the real estate office. Agents may meet several times with prospective buyers to discuss and visit available properties. Agents identify and emphasize the most pertinent selling points. To a young family looking for a house, they may emphasize the convenient floor plan, the areas low crime rate, and the proximity to schools and shopping centers. To a potential investor, they may point out the tax advantages of owning a rental property and the ease of finding a renter. If bargaining over price becomes necessary, agents must follow their clients instructions carefully and may have to present counteroffers in order to get the best possible price. Once both parties have signed the contract, the real estate broker or agent must make sure that all special terms of the contract are met before the closing date. For example, the agent must make sure that the mandated and agreed-upon inspections, including that of the home and termite and radon inspections, take place. Also, if the seller agrees to any repairs, the broker or agent must see that they are made. Increasingly, brokers and agents are handling environmental problems as well, by making sure that the properties they sell meet environmental regulations. For example, they may be responsible for dealing with lead paint on the walls. While loan officers, attorneys, or other persons handle many details, the agent must ensure that they are carried out. Working Conditions [ About this section ] Back to Top Advances in telecommunications and the ability to retrieve data about properties over the Internet allow many real estate brokers and sales agents to work out of their homes instead of real estate offices. Even with this convenience, much of the time of these workers is spent away from their desks—showing properties to customers, analyzing properties for sale, meeting with prospective clients, or researching the state of the market. Agents and brokers often work more than a standard 40-hour week. They usually work evenings and weekends and are always on call to suit the needs of clients. Although the hours are long and frequently irregular, most agents and brokers have the freedom to determine their own schedule. Consequently, they can arrange their work so that they can have time off when they want it. Business usually is slower during the winter season. Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement [ About this section ] Back to Top In every State and the District of Columbia, real estate brokers and sales agents must be licensed. Prospective agents must be high school graduates, be at least 18 years old, and pass a written test. The examination—more comprehensive for brokers than for agents—includes questions on basic real estate transactions and laws affecting the sale of property. Most States require candidates for the general sales license to complete between 30 and 90 hours of classroom instruction. Those seeking a brokers license need between 60 and 90 hours of formal training and a specific amount of experience selling real estate, usually 1 to 3 years. Some States waive the experience requirements for the brokers license for applicants who have a bachelors degree in real estate. State licenses typically must be renewed every 1 or 2 years; usually, no examination needs to be taken. However, many States require continuing education for license renewals. Prospective agents and brokers should contact the real estate licensing commission of the State in which they wish to work in order to verify the exact licensing requirements. As real estate transactions have become more legally complex, many firms have turned to college graduates to fill positions. A large number of agents and brokers have some college training. College courses in real estate, finance, business administration, statistics, economics, law, and English are helpful. For those who intend to start their own company, business courses such as marketing and accounting are as significant as courses in real estate or finance. Personality traits are equally as important as ones academic background. Brokers look for applicants who possess a pleasant personality, are honest, and present a neat appearance. Maturity, good judgment, trustworthiness, and enthusiasm for the job are required in order to encourage prospective customers in this highly competitive field. Agents should be well organized, be detail oriented, and have a good memory for names, faces, and business particulars. Those interested in jobs as real estate agents often begin in their own communities. Their knowledge of local neighborhoods is a clear advantage. Under the direction of an experienced agent, beginners learn the practical aspects of the job, including the use of computers to locate or list available properties and identify sources of financing. Many firms offer formal training programs for both beginners and experienced agents. Larger firms usually offer more extensive programs than smaller firms. More than a thousand universities, colleges, and junior colleges offer courses in real estate. At some, a student can earn an associates or bachelors degree with a major in real estate; several offer advanced degrees. Many local real estate associations that are members of the National Association of Realtors sponsor courses covering the fundamentals and legal aspects of the field. Advanced courses in mortgage financing, property development and management, and other subjects also are available. Advancement opportunities for agents may take the form of higher rates of commission. As agents gain knowledge and expertise, they become more efficient in closing a greater number of transactions and increase their earnings. In many large firms, experienced agents can advance to sales manager or general manager. Persons who have received their brokers license may open their own offices. Others with experience and training in estimating property value may become real estate appraisers, and people familiar with operating and maintaining rental properties may become property managers. (See the Handbook statements on property, real estate, and community association managers ; and appraisers and assessors of real estate . ) Experienced agents and brokers with a thorough knowledge of business conditions and property values in their localities may enter mortgage financing or real estate investment counseling. Employment [ About this section ] Back to Top In 2004, real estate brokers and sales agents held about 460,000 jobs; real estate sales agents held approximately 24 percent of these jobs. Many worked part time, combining their real estate activities with other careers. About 6 out of 10 real estate agents and brokers were self-employed. Real estate is sold in all areas, but employment is concentrated in large urban areas and in rapidly growing communities. Most real estate firms are relatively small; indeed, some are one-person businesses. By contrast, some large real estate firms have several hundred agents operating out of numerous branch offices. Many brokers have franchise agreements with national or regional real estate organizations. Under this type of arrangement, the broker pays a fee in exchange for the privilege of using the more widely known name of the parent organization. Although franchised brokers often receive help in training sales staff and running their offices, they bear the ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of their firms. Real estate brokers and sales agents are older, on average, than most other workers. Historically, many homemakers and retired persons were attracted to real estate sales by the flexible and part-time work schedules characteristic of the field. These individuals could enter, leave, and later return to the occupation, depending on the strength of the real estate market, their family responsibilities, or other personal circumstances. Recently, however, the attractiveness of part-time real estate work has declined, as increasingly complex legal and technological requirements are raising startup costs associated with becoming an agent. Job Outlook [ About this section ] Back to Top Employment of real estate brokers and sales agents is expected to grow about as fast as average for all occupations through the year 2014, because of the increasing housing needs of a growing population, as well as the perception that real estate is a good investment. Relatively low interest rates should continue to stimulate sales of real estate, resulting in the need for more agents and brokers. In addition, a large number of job openings will arise each year from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force. However, job growth will be somewhat limited by the increasing use of technology, which is improving the productivity of agents and brokers. For example, prospective customers often can perform their own searches for properties that meet their criteria by accessing real estate information on the Internet. The increasing use of technology is likely to be more detrimental to part-time or temporary real estate agents than to full-time agents, because part-time agents generally are not able to compete with full-time agents who have invested in new technology. Changing legal requirements, such as disclosure laws, also may dissuade some who are not serious about practicing full time from continuing to work part time. This occupation is relatively easy to enter and is attractive because of its flexible working conditions; the high interest in, and familiarity with, local real estate markets that entrants often have; and the potential for high earnings. Therefore, although gaining a job as a real estate agent or broker may be relatively easy, beginning agents and brokers may face competition from their well-established, more experienced counterparts in obtaining listings and in closing an adequate number of sales. Well-trained, ambitious people who enjoy selling—particularly those with extensive social and business connections in their communities—should have the best chance for success. Employment of real estate brokers and sales agents often is sensitive to swings in the economy, especially interest rates. During periods of declining economic activity and increasing interest rates, the volume of sales and the resulting demand for sales workers falls. As a result, the earnings of agents and brokers decline, and many work fewer hours or leave the occupation altogether. Earnings [ About this section ] Back to Top The median annual earnings of salaried real estate sales agents, including commissions, were $35,670 in May 2004.The middle 50 percent earned between $23,500 and $58,110 a year.The lowest 10 percent earned less than $17,600, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $92,770.Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest number of real estate sales agents in May 2004 were as follows: Residential building construction $54,770 Offices of real estate agents and brokers 37,970 Activities related to real estate 32,460 Lessors of real estate 25,840 Median annual earnings of salaried real estate brokers, including commission, were $58,720in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $33,480 and $99,820 a year.Median annual earning of real estate brokers were $61,550 in offices of real estateagents and brokers and $44,920 in activities related to real estate. Commissions on sales are the main source of earnings of real estate agents and brokers.The rate of commission varies according to whatever the agent and broker agree on, the typeof property, and its value. The percentage paid on the sale of farm and commercialproperties or unimproved land is typically higher than the percentage paid for selling a home. Commissions may be divided among several agents and brokers. When the property issold, the broker or agent who obtained the listing usually shares the commission with thebroker or agent who made the sale and with the firm that employs each of them. Although anagents share varies greatly from one firm to another, often it is about half of the totalamount received by the firm. Agents who both list and sell a property maximize their commission. Income usually increases as an agent gains experience, but individual motivation,economic conditions, and the type and location of the property also affect earnings.Sales workers who are active in community organizations and in local real estate associationscan broaden their contacts and increase their earnings. A beginners earnings often areirregular, because a few weeks or even months may go by without a sale. Although some brokersallow an agent to draw against future earnings from a special account, the practice is notcommon with new employees. The beginner, therefore, should have enough money to live forabout 6 months or until commissions increase. Related Occupations [ About this section ] Back to Top Selling expensive items such as homes requires maturity, tact, and a sense of responsibility.Other sales workers who find these character traits important in their workinclude insurance sales agents ; retail salespersons ; sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing ; and securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents .Although not involving sales, the work of property, real estate, and community association managers ,as well as appraisers and assessors of real estate, requires an understanding of real estate. Sources of Additional Information [ About this section ] Back to Top Disclaimer: Links to non-BLS Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement. Information on licensing requirements for real estate brokers and sales agents is available from most local real estate organizations or from the State real estate commission or board. More information about opportunities in real estate is available on the Internet site of the following organization: National Association of Realtors. Internet: http://www.realtor.org OOH ONET Codes [ About this section ] Back to Top 41-9021.00, 41-9022.00 Suggested citation: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook , 2006-07 Edition , Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents , on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ ocos120.htm (visited December 29, 2005 ). 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