How Much Do Real Estate Agents Make? 2018 Update

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The National Association of Realtors puts out a Member report annually. In the 2018 report, NAR lets us know:

Real Estate Agents Made $39,800

According to NAR this is the median gross income of all Realtors from real estate activities in 2017. Realtors median business expenses for the year totaled $4,580. After all taxes and all expenses, the median net income of Realtors in 2017 was a mere $25,900. The Realtors who worked less than 20 hours a week had a median gross income of $8,930 a year and those who worked 60 or more hours per week had a median gross income of $102,630. For experienced Realtors with over 16 years in the business, the median gross income was $78,880 and the median net income $48,750. Of course, from coast to coast home prices (and cost of living) varies tremendously. So real estate agents in Chicago, for example, that complete the same amount of sales as real estate agents in Portland would have a significantly higher median income, but also, of course, a higher cost of living for themselves as well.

What does the average real estate agent look like?

The typical Realtor is 54 years old, sells 11 homes in a year, and worked 40 hours a week. Interesting the NAR reports, “the typical Realtor was a 54-year-old white female who attended college and was a homeowner.” Again, all of this information is from the National Association of Realtors 2018 member report.

Want to become a Real Estate Agent?

Realtor membership is at a record high. Read our 2018 update article on exactly how many Realtors there are right now. Competition is fierce, and the average income levels are poor. I can’t say I’d recommend it. However, if you are excited and determined to become a real estate agent, I highly recommend joining a real estate team as a paid intern when you’re starting out. It is a great way to learn the ropes. I do not recommend starting out as a 100% commission sales agent, that is a tough road and only a few make it. Bottom line, the majority of real estate agents do okay, plenty do not do well at all, and only a few do exceptionally well.

Work with a top 1% Realtor in Portland

Only 5% of Realtors sold more than 51 homes in a year in 2017. Only 5% represented sellers in more than 11 listings a year. The Stephen FitzMaurice Team will have sold over 300 homes in 2018, including over 200 listings for home sellers, and about 100 for home buyers. We are a small team made up of a few sellers and buyers real estate agents. We have done well due to our customer service focus and our pay less and get more model. We charge a reasonable 4.25% commission to sell, but pay more to market our homes so they sell faster and for more. We also have recruited the very best real estate agents in the city (in my opinion) to represent our home buyers well. Real estate agents are not all the same. I would never recommend working with a real estate agent based on a referral from one or two people who had a good experience. We have hundreds of verified online reviews, over 1,000 local sales, and a successful track record that started 15 years ago.

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What My Clients Are Saying

We have worked with many Realtors over the years and Stephen is by far the best we have ever met. He's very knowledgeable and gets the job done quickly. We had multiple offers after one day, not because we were under priced but because we had maximum exposure at the appropriate price!

Karen