It’s that time again—our annual deep dive into the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers! This is your chance to learn what’s really going on in the real estate market and how it impacts your business.
We’re covering:
Why the typical first-time homebuyer is now 38 years old.
How buyers are adjusting to higher interest rates and home prices.
What’s driving sellers to move (and where they’re going).
Key takeaways for Realtors about repeat and referral business.
FSBO stats that will make you feel great about your job security.
Plus, we take a hard look at the numbers behind agent income, transactions, and tenure in the business. Spoiler alert: If you’re feeling like the market’s been tough, you’re not alone!
This episode is packed with actionable insights and the data you need to prepare for 2025. Don’t miss it!
Key Quotes/Takeaways
“The typical first-time buyer is now 38 years old, and first-time buyers make up the smallest share of the market since 1981.”
“90% of sellers used a real estate agent this year, and FSBO sales hit an all-time low at just 6%.”
“The median income for Realtors is $55,800, with 41% of agents still relying on a second source of income.”
“Buyers are using the internet 100% of the time in their home search. Professional photos and a mobile-friendly website are non-negotiable.”
“Only 21% of repeat buyers used the same agent they worked with before. If you’re not staying in touch with your clients, they’re moving on.”
Products, People & Previous Episodes Mentioned
Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers Report – Available on NAR’s website: nar.realtor/research-and-statistics
Forever Home Episode – Learn why no home is truly forever: hustlehumblypodcast.com/forever-home
Agent Systems Course – Stay organized and grow your business: hustlehumblypodcast.com/agent-systems
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The following is a rough transcript provided by Otter.ai.
Katy 0:01
So like a quarter of buyers are like, I just had to. I didn’t want to, but I had to understanding and performing the paperwork. 10% were the most difficult steps for the for sale by owner. You don’t say, yeah, don’t say when people ask you how the market is. You could say interesting stats, like, did you know that agent listed homes are at an all time high of 90% only 6% of houses sell for sale by owner. Can you imagine saying that to someone?
Alissa 0:36
Hi, y’all welcome to hustle. Humbly, it’s Alyssa and Katie, and we are two top producing realtors in the Baton Rouge market. We
Katy 0:42
work for two different companies where we should be competitors, but we have chosen community over competition. The
Alissa 0:47
goal of our podcast is to encourage you to find your own way in business, so stop comparing yourself and start embracing your strengths.
Katy 0:54
Hi, Alyssa. Hey, Katie. Welcome to our listeners. Favorite episode of the year, the profile of home buyers and sellers. 2024 edition.
Alissa 1:06
You guys love some data. This is our third or fourth time. Definitely third, maybe fourth. Yeah, to do this report, it is shockingly well received, and the data is very interesting, especially coming off of some like unstable years where it’s right to predict things. Now that we have made it to this year of 2025 we can actually look back and see the overall trend. Yes,
Katy 1:30
I remember when we recorded this last year, and we’re like, look, these numbers are not quite right. And I’ll tell you why. It’s because the report is run between July of 20 this one is July of 2023, through June of 2024 Yes, okay, and we are obviously going through it at the end of 2024, and airing at the beginning of 2025, you have to keep in mind it’s not talking about how you feel about the market today, because that’s six months. Is not actually in the report, right?
Alissa 2:01
And it’s not even necessarily January to December.
Katy 2:05
No, it’s July to June, right? So that’s what we’re covering, July of 2023, but remember, last year we were like the end of 2023 was so hard.
Alissa 2:14
It was, I feel like July of 2023, through June of 2024, was a very similar, I
Katy 2:22
think that’s an accurate description of what’s been going on. So this should be a little bit better than last year’s. It was still riding that high, yes, of like, low interest rates and all that jazz. Yeah, those are gone now. Okay, and the people who are, who are actually surveyed, are recent homebuyers or sellers who completed a transaction between those dates. This report has been published since 1981 wow. So there is a lot of historical data here that we’re not going to go through. We’re just going to do this year’s. But I just find it to be interesting, because I if you’re a member of NAR, the National Association of Realtors, you can go to the website, log in and download the summary. I believe the summary part is free, and that’s like a solid 14 pages. And honestly, that’s all we’re gonna go over today, and it’s all you really needed. The full report you can get. No, I lied. The summary cost me 15 bucks. Okay, okay, as a member, if you’re not, it’s like 100 or something. Wow. And the whole report is like $200 but other professions, other industries, use this report, so they go and buy it, because they need this data. Yes, okay, but we need it just to know how our business is running. All right. So are you ready to get into it? What part are you most interested to hear
Alissa 3:39
about? So Katie, you know this, this report is hundreds of pages. Yeah, Katie, took the buyer and seller profile correct, and I took the agent realtor profiles right?
Katy 3:53
Because, yeah, it’s important for us to know what’s going on buyers and sellers, but it’s also sort of grounding to know what’s happening with the rest of agents. Oh,
Alissa 4:03
it was very eye opening and grounding to be like, Oh, this is what the industry norm, right?
Katy 4:08
So if you’re feeling down on your production or yourself, you’re going to help them with that. This will make you feel better. I’m going to tell you why, and then and then, unless it’s going to make you feel better, like you’re not alone. Yeah, you’re not not alone. Okay, let’s say we’re just gonna start with buyers. Interestingly, you now as a first time home buyer are reporting that you need income over $97,000 a year to buy a house. To buy a house, this year’s report shows that the median. So let’s quick, y’all. We’re gonna say median a lot. Median is not an average. I don’t know if you remember that day of grammar school, but it’s very confusing. Average is when you take all the numbers and add them together and then divide them by however many numbers there were, right? Yes, and it’s so it’s an average exactly even. So you could have outliers up and down there. All put into the average together. Yes, these numbers are all median, which means it’s the most common. Okay, so what is the point where most people were Yes, so we’re more interested in a median price and a median. These numbers make more sense, because it’s more common. Yeah, the average. It could literally be anything. You’re a
Alissa 5:19
good teacher. Oh, my God, thank you. I’m
Katy 5:21
trying so hard. Okay, so repeat buyers have been using the highest down payment seen since 2003
Alissa 5:32
repeat buyers are buying, okay? Have the biggest down payment that we’ve seen since 2000
Katy 5:38
Yeah, the typical down payment for first time buyers was 9% and repeat buyers was, I think, 23%
Alissa 5:45
Holy moly. Well, I guess the repeaters have equity in other real estate. If they’re selling or want to do a Hela, correct, they have
Katy 5:54
a lot more money because they’ve owned a home. Yeah. And poor, sad first time buyers, this is the highest down payment that they’ve used since 1997 because 9% because they’re trying to deal with, how do I afford this
Alissa 6:10
note? Right, right? We need to put more down so that the note isn’t so high because
Katy 6:13
the interest rates are high and the prices are high. Okay, good news, 92% of home buyers are satisfied with the process. Oh, good. Which is shocking still to me. I
Alissa 6:24
know I thought we’d at least get a B
Katy 6:25
in that category. You managed to eke into the A’s. I don’t know why. 90% nine zero of sellers sold with the assistance of a real estate agent, up from 89% last year. Keep it on up. Only 6% were for sale by owner sales. That’s super low. An all time low, all time low. Wow. So here’s the good news, if you’re targeting business, I would for sure be targeting listing business. Sellers do not want to do this on their own. Yeah, they don’t want to. They still find value and more value in you every year, right? Okay, we’re gonna dig in even deeper to the buyers. Are you ready? The age of home buyers reach all time highs? Oh, okay, first time buyer increased the median first time buyer age to 38
Alissa 7:16
years old. That’s what was it before 35 last
Katy 7:21
year. Wow. So it even jumped. It’s not like, it’s like, it was not like 3536
Alissa 7:26
38 that is to be a first time homebuyer, super old. Is it because of the generation that they always say lives at home for so long? Right? Because they’re
Katy 7:34
saddled with student loan debt, they don’t have money for a down payment. House prices have gotten high interest rate. It’s financial, yeah, for sure, things are all financial, while the typical repeat buyer also increased in age to 61 Okay, from 58 last year. So both jumped a little So, and the share of married couples increased to 62% of all buyers, which makes sense, because you almost have to be dual income
Alissa 8:01
at this point. Gonna say you need both to make it worth it, right?
Katy 8:05
73% of recent buyers did not have a child under the age of 18 in their home. 73% people who bought a home did not have a kid. Why do you think that is, well, I have my speculations, but I’m guessing that a lot of these people are like, I are locked in. Yeah, they’ve got a good rate. They’re like, I don’t I don’t have to move. Yeah, I’d like a bigger house, but, but
Alissa 8:34
kids are expensive. Kids are getting more expensive. They’re high. So we’re gonna stay put, and y’all are gonna share a bedroom, and you’re gonna like it. Yeah, yeah. They’re making it work. They’re making it work, which is why our inventory is so low. So on mine, it said that in 2023 they are recording it as a difficult year for the housing market, I would say, no surprise there, and the volume of home sales was the lowest level since 1995 and the reason is because there’s not a lot of inventory, because people are staying put. And it makes sense that when you have little kids, you’re especially staying put. It
Katy 9:11
has to be enticing to move Yeah, right. They’re just or you have to have a pain point that’s so painful you have to do it. Yeah? Okay, well, yeah. So there the ages are all moving up again. That is the highest share on record of how many people, what percentage had no kids. 17% of home buyers purchased a multi generational home, the highest share of that in the data series. Top Reasons for a multi generational home purchase were the cost savings. 36% okay, taking care of aging parents. 25% children over the age of 18 moving back home. 21% and children over the age of 18 who never left, 20%
Alissa 9:54
who never never left, never left. I think my. Mom, pack my bags for me. Bye. Alyssa.
Katy 10:03
Right. Bye. Bye. Okay, let’s go into first time home buyers. They decreased to 24% of the market share, down from 32% last year. So what I would like to say as we’re reading these the biggest takeaways are, if you are serving a niche or speaking to a certain type of client, whether it’s a buyer or seller, you should really be taking this data and helping yourself. I mean, if you’re only talking to first time buyers, your your business is down, your business is going to be down. So just be aware of that. Again, that’s the lowest share of first time buyers since NAR began collecting data in 1981 that’s the lowest, the lowest amount of first time buyers. Well,
Alissa 10:47
it says that mortgage rates reached a peak of almost 8% in october 2023 right? So that falls into this range when they were getting higher and higher. So it makes sense that, because it used to be, we’re screaming from the rooftops. You know, rent is more expensive than a mortgage. Well, not this year, so much,
Katy 11:07
yeah, not so much. So much more, I know. And the house prices have they, as they have increased, it also pushes that affordability out of the reach of so many buyers. And
Alissa 11:16
I know agents say, well, at least you’re paying a mortgage, and you’re paying yourself, and it’s like, yes, but you’re still having to pay it. Yeah, you can’t, if not in the budget, it’s better to rent for a minute. Why figure out what you can do monthly? 100%
Katy 11:30
16% of recent buyers or someone in their home were veterans. I thought that was interesting. And look, that’s almost rivaling the email or first time buyers. Okay? 43% of all buyers said that timing was just right. Like, why? The reason they purchased for only 43% said the timing was right, and 23% said they didn’t have much choice. They had to purchase when they did. So, like, a quarter of buyers are like, I just had to. I didn’t want to, but I had to, all right, let’s talk about the types of homes that were purchased. I think you’ll find these interesting. 15% of buyers purchased a new home, okay, okay. 85% obviously, then purchased a previously owned home. Buyers typically purchased a home that was built in 1994 like, that’s just the Yeah, yeah, the median, right, right, right. This is a rebound after the last two years when they purchased a home built in the 80s. So somehow they have found newer
Alissa 12:28
homes. Yes, maybe people are renovating. I don’t know, all these disasters around the world causing renovation. I mean, perhaps
Katy 12:36
so they’re buying, they’re buying more resales, but the resales are slightly newer.
Alissa 12:41
I would prefer a 90s, like, Would I like to an 80s? For us in our market, if a house was built in the 80s or 70s, you’re likely looking at a ranch style home with low ceilings. Yeah, I don’t like that. I know, and there’s nothing. The thing is, with that, you can’t do anything about that, not the ceilings. A 90s home in our market, you’re at least gonna get some good ceiling height and probably some crown molding, like some things that were just starting to come around show up architecturally. Yeah, I can work with that.
Katy 13:15
Yeah, it’s workable. Okay, how about the type and size? Do you want to give me a guess on the square footage,
Alissa 13:21
I feel like it’s gone up, like people, well, I feel like people want and need more space, okay, but maybe it went down because they can’t afford it.
Katy 13:30
You’re gonna take a guess, or we’re gonna have to tell you 300 Oh, 1900 Oh, square feet with three bedrooms, two baths. Is that up? It didn’t tell me, sorry, but it does sound up. I feel like last year it was 1800 or something. Yeah, I think, but I don’t remember, to be honest with you,
Alissa 13:46
okay, 18 103, bedroom, two bath.
Katy 13:50
The distance they’re moving. Remember all the remote workers and they all move far, far away. The median distance between the home that recent buyers purchased and the home that they moved from was 20 miles. Okay, this is down, which makes sense, from 2022 when it was 50 miles. People were like, yes, go out
Alissa 14:08
of town. Who cares? I can live and work from anywhere, because now I work remotely,
Katy 14:13
yes, but 20 miles, which is what it is now, is still elevated from the distance of 15 miles, which was from 2018 to 2021 it was always about 15 miles, like pre COVID. Now we’re still at 20 miles and in 20 2250 Yeah, so fascinating that you can track it in that way. And you know, and we know why. We know why you can only see it after it’s over, yeah, and you see the big picture. Yes. Correct. Diving, correct. Okay. Location of the home purchased, 45% of all buyers purchased in a suburb or subdivision, 23% in a small town, 16% in an urban or Central City, 14 in a rural area, 3% in a resort. Or recreation area good for you. 3% enjoy that retirement purchasing in an urban area or Central City is the highest share recorded since 2014 so 16% moving into the city is a high share. I
Alissa 15:17
wonder if a lot of people are coming back,
Katy 15:21
probably away during COVID, they’re 50 miles away. Now they’re isolated, and now they’re get back in the city. Yeah, I’m sure. Okay, convenience of the of the home buyers, Job has declined incrementally and is now at 34% so the reason like, why they’re moving being close to their job is down, okay? Because that was really high. It was 38% last year, and down from 52% in 2014 so in 2014 people, half of the people wanted to be conveniently located to work this year, it’s at 34% they’re like,
Alissa 15:55
who cares? It spiked, and now it’s leveling
Katy 15:56
around, you know? Okay, this is the one this one, everyone stop what you’re doing. Buyers expect to live in their homes for a median of 15 years, while 25% wait for it. Because, you know, I feel about this, 25% said they’re never moving okay, but y’all can go listen to forever home episode. 25% said forever. 25% said they’re in this home. Forever. And how many said for 15 years? The median so the majority of the majority, yeah, said 15 years they’ll be in this home, expected length of ownership.
Alissa 16:40
It’s a long time.
Katy 16:43
It’s a very long time. Okay, any thoughts before I move on? I think I’m still in I might be done with buyers. Okay, no one more thing. Okay, you’re gonna love this. This is this home search process again. Y’all just reading the summary of this typically, 190 page report is fascinating. So yeah, okay, real estate agents played a crucial role in the home search process, with 86% of all buyers using an agent. Okay, it’s a lot. You think that’ll go down next year. Maybe the rule. What the rules change? Yeah, it’s hard to say. I really still don’t know. Data is not is not back yet. We’ll be curious to see on what happens all buyers remember when we this is what you need to remember when you go to your listing appointment. While all buyers use the internet in their search, not 90% not 95 for a while it was 97 all buyers use the internet in their home search, mobile or tablet devices were also widely used at 69% of buyers using those tools, which means if your website is not mobile optimized, you’re going to lose those people, right? Okay, but all buyers, yes. So do you need professional photos? Yeah. Okay. Open Houses, while not as popular, were still deemed very useful by 23% of buyers. I
Alissa 18:12
think that’s gonna go up even higher.
Katy 18:17
Okay, website features were considered important with 41% of buyers finding photos to be very useful. 39% valuing detailed property information, so getting all the information on there, and 31% like a floor plan. Yeah, I love a floor plan. So the buyers like the photos, the detailed information and a floor plan. Okay, very helpful. All right, buyers spent a median of Give me your guess how many weeks searching for a home in 2024, 510, whoa, five. Center short, they viewed. You want to guess how many homes they viewed in person? Eight, they viewed seven homes. Two only online. So five in person. Oh, five in person showings, okay, okay. 32% of first time buyers cited saving for a down payment to be the most difficult step. Yeah. So they’re like, it’s not finding a house, it’s that I cannot, I cannot get this down payment together. All right, now, let’s talk about the real estate professional. From the Home Buyers perspective, 88% of home purchases were made through a real estate agent or broker. I’m just going to speed through these. 5% of buyers purchased their home directly from a builder or builder’s agent, and five bought directly from the previous owner. Okay, 92% of buyers of previously owned homes relied on an agent or broker. So
Speaker 1 19:48
it ends up being 88 Okay. Total, okay, over half of all buyers. 53% said their agent helped them understand the home buying process. Good job y’all. 53 53% said their agent. 3% said their agent help them understand the process about the other 47 Well, that’s a great question. It’s breaking it’s breaking down what is wanted and the benefits of their agent. So they’re having to rank the benefits of their agent. Oh,
Alissa 20:15
so it’s not that 47% were unhelpful. They’re just ranking this an order of importance, yes,
Katy 20:21
because 49% said helping them find the home and negotiate negotiating terms. At 14% were the most helpful their ranking. I see what is the most important to me?
Alissa 20:30
But over half were like, what did they say was the most important thing that we did for them,
Katy 20:35
helping them understand the home buying process? Oh, okay, I think that’s good. Yeah, any most important thing, any, any Joe Schmo can go on the web and find out, find a house. Okay, this service was even more critical. So helping them understand the process for first time buyers, saying 80% that their agents assistance in understanding the process was invaluable. 80% of first time buyers, yeah, okay, how the buyer found their real estate agent or broker? Oh, tell me. Real Estate Agents are frequently referred by personal connections, with 40% of all buyers finding their agent through a friend, neighbor or relative, so a referral correct. This trend was especially pronounced among first time buyers, where 51% relied on referrals from their personal network. Okay, 37% of repeat buyers, this is I find fascinating, found their agent through a referral. 21% used the agent they had previously worked with. Only 21
Alissa 21:39
that is so low, you know, I just sent out Christmas cards. And as I’m going through my database, there’s, like, you know, I have like, 400 people on there, and there’s probably nine to 15 that I’m like, I sold them a house back in 2012 Yeah. And I send them cards, and I do things, and some of them aren’t on social media, and okay, like I have never heard back from them ever, right? So I’m in the process now of going through my database and because I remember these people, but clearly my relationship has not grown, grown because I haven’t spoken to them, really, or gotten responses from any anything, okay? But I am now going through, I highlighted them in yellow as I was going through them, okay? And I’m looking at their address in MLS and tax records to be like, maybe they moved and didn’t call me, and I don’t know yet. Well, it’s kind of like, don’t you
Katy 22:40
also use the return mail method, like, if it comes back, then it triggers
Alissa 22:44
that. But I’m like, How come? Like, some of these never come back, but they might live there still. I know. I’m just curious to see I can’t wait please. Please update us later.
Katy 22:57
Okay, most buyers only interviewed one agent, probably
Alissa 23:02
because it was a referral, they’re going to go with the referral.
Katy 23:06
Yeah, with 77 most buyers only interviewed one agent before making a decision. With 77% of repeat buyers, so that with the repeat buyers, they only interviewed one but they only 21% of them use the one they used before.
Alissa 23:20
That’s so low, so low. So people, I think, I think agents sometimes think, because you sold them that house, you’re their agent for life. So not the case, no, and they’re being marketed to by other agents. If you are not working your database, yeah, there’s a you’re gonna be one of these people that you’re just a stat. Yeah, you’re set in the 79% don’t become a statistic. 9% where their their clients are not repeat.
Katy 23:44
They’re like, No, no, thanks. That’s a big number. Yeah. And here’s the here’s the really crazy part, at least 90% of buyers expressed satisfaction with their agents, responsiveness, knowledge and the purchase process, honesty and integrity, knowledge of the real estate market and people skills. So they’re 90% satisfied, and yet still don’t use their agent. 88% of home buyers would use their agent again or recommend to others. They say so right after they purchase, they’re out talking to these buyers the year of their purchase, they’re on their high I love my agent. 90% are happy. 88% say they would recommend or use their agent again. 10 years goes by. Guess what? We’re down to 21% 21% after purchasing. Within the last year, 61% of home buyers have already recommended their agents. So those are the those are the good ones, though, yeah. So like it just happened, you’re fresh in their mind, they’ve told at least 61% of them told someone else. Yeah, they’re your past client has to hear from you. Yes, if they don’t hear from you, they forget you. They do. And then they get a referral. I can’t remember
Alissa 24:53
my agent. Who did you use? I’ll just call the neighbor’s agent. Uh
Katy 24:56
huh. You want to talk about financing the home, and then we’ll move on to. Sellers, okay, okay, 69% of repeat buyers financed,
Alissa 25:06
wow, only 69 I guess we’re seeing more cash buyers because of the rates
Katy 25:12
and because they have so much equity, yeah, uh huh, the median percent financed for first time buyers was 91 obviously, because we talked about their 9% down payment, that’s down from 92% last year. The median percent finance for repeat was 77 which is down from 81 last year. Okay, 26% of all home buyers paid cash for their home an all time high for cash buyers. Wow. All time high. Did you find that you had more cash buyers this year than you would say? Is normal or not any? Or do you remember zero? So it’s like, where are these people?
Alissa 25:52
Not here, not in Baton Rouge,
Katy 25:55
right? Okay, median down payment among all buyers was 18% so for both, any type 9% first time buyers, 23% repeat, we said this. This is the highest down payment for both. Well, for first time buyers since 1997 and for repeats since 2003 highest down payments, okay, okay. 52% of first time buyers utilized a conventional loan, 29 FHA loan, and 9% used a VA loan. The share of first time buyers using FHA loan has declined from 55% in 2009 to 29% in 2004
Alissa 26:34
for FHA, Mm, hmm, and it went from what to what. It went from
Katy 26:38
55 in 2009 so over half of buyers used to use this loan, and now it’s at 29% and a huge difference. I have some thoughts about this. Okay, I think, well, first of all, your typical FHA buyer is needing it, because the lowest down payment, if we’re now putting 9% down, I don’t need this as much, right, correct. Secondly, I think they’re trying to be competitive in these markets where they’re getting multiple offers, maybe being an FHA borrower was dinging them. Yeah? So they just started to go conventional, I’m guessing. What do you think? Yeah,
Alissa 27:13
I think if the goal is to put more down to help your monthly note, FHA is not going to be your answer. Yeah, yeah,
Katy 27:22
yeah, I don’t know. It’s very interesting. It is interesting. Okay, thus concludes the home buyer section. Do you want to do membership now? Take a break from me talking. We’ll
Alissa 27:31
give you a little breaky break. Okay, because I have some fascinating data on our peers, yes, yes, all the agents out there. So this isn’t about our clients. This is some some realtor stats, okay, oh, man, okay, where to begin, where to begin, where to begin. Okay, so one thing they that they were asking the agents about, yes, 2023 was a hard year. Okay. Why do you think that is 26% said just lack of inventory. They had buyers that would purchase now, right? But just actually cannot find anything that they would feel comfortable putting an offer on another identical 26% said that it was prices like the prices for what the house is. Yeah, it’s just too much. I know I’m seeing that here, yeah, like 2019, and below. If you could go to at least 215,000 I could find you a decent starter, right? I just don’t think I could do that. Now, what do you
Katy 28:33
think the starter home price seems to be? Now here, I
Alissa 28:38
would say at least 250 Yeah, and that’s hard, but 275 might be like a sweet spot to get a house that you would want to live in. Yeah, don’t you think I agree? I agree. I think we could find something for 250 but we’re gonna be digging and competing and competing. That’s the hard part. That is the hard part. Okay, so that’s what I think, okay, and then 9% was just difficulty finding the right house, okay, which seems like it’s hard.
Katy 29:10
You almost can’t even be picky, because there’s nothing to pick from, yes. But if
Alissa 29:14
you’re picky, you’re in real trouble, right? Yeah, so can’t be picky, right now, no, but like, if you have a specific need, yeah? You know, like, if you need something, right, you might be looking you need to be in a position where you can sit and wait, yeah, if that’s the case, like, if you 10 weeks, apparently, if you have to have, let’s say, like, a guest house, yeah, for an in law or something like that, yeah, you must hope that you’re somewhere where you can just live there until, yeah, that becomes available, okay, and that you’re not under a time crunch, hopefully, because if you’re under a time crunch, it may not meet your time frame, right? Maybe it doesn’t pop up in that time right? 19% of Realtors expect that mortgage rates will come. Down this year. I should have only 19. That was not a lot. Yeah, I guess, see, I always like to flip this, yes, but I’m 19 is not very much that are, like, expecting it to go so that means, like, 81%
Katy 30:12
it’s not expected. I read, I’ve read some. It’s not, yeah, I heard the Yeah. It’ll stay in high sixes. I think right through 2020, 20 we’re not gonna see two. You’re not gonna maybe see. You’re not gonna see a five in 2025. You don’t think not what I’m reading. Hmm, I think it’ll stay in a high six, maybe mid six. We could be high fives, low six. I think that’s very optimistic, very optimistic. But okay, we’ll see. We’ll see. But regardless, only 19% of people
Alissa 30:42
think it’s good. Okay, there was a lot of good statistics in this report this year about comparing how long people have been in the business. Yes, yes. Like, okay. This is helpful. And I also think it gives good perspective, okay. I think also too, you know, I started so young. And, you know, because I look younger than a lot of other agents, sometimes people are like, well, how are you doing it? I’m like, Well, I’ve been doing this for 14 years, yeah. And they’re like, Oh, I’m only in my second year, but I want to do what you’re doing, yeah? And I’m like, you can’t. And my second year, I don’t want to repeat it. I put in my time. I did all that. I did all that. So I think it’s very important. I know that when we’re new agents, we want to rush, rush, rush, make money. I need money. Must support family. But that’s just not the real estate world, and that’s not how it works. I can’t wait for you to tell us the incomes.
Katy 31:38
In fact, I don’t ever want to hear them.
Alissa 31:40
I know. Let me skip. I’m actually going to go to the chart because I liked the chart. Okay, okay, oh, man, for agents who had been in the business two years or less. Okay, our new friends, our new friends here, 62% made less than $10,000 okay, so 62% of agents. So if you are been in the business for two years or less, and you made more than $10,000 you’re way above average. You’re above average. Way to go. Congratulations. I don’t know how you put food on the table, but the next highest is 15, 14% okay, made between 10,020
Katy 32:27
5000 Okay, still in the same new agent.
Alissa 32:32
So that would be 76% made less than 25,000 Right, right, if you add those two together, okay, see what I’m saying. See what I’m saying. I got you 2% made $150,000 or more. Wow. So there are some two percenters out there that are breaking some records. What an anomaly. I know would love we don’t compare ourselves to them, though. No, we don’t. That’s hilarious. Now, okay, let’s compare it to the 16 years or more. Okay, we’ve been in there a minute. If you have been in the business for 16 years or more, only 9% made less than 10,000 and they probably did that very intentionally. Yeah, they’re probably part of time at this point, my way to retirement. Yeah, 15 years. I mean, how many years have you been in the business?
Katy 33:25
It’ll it’ll be, I’m working. I’m into my my 20th. It’ll be 20 years. In August, this will be your 20th it’s my 20th anniversary. That’s a big deal. In August, it’s a long time. That’s a very big deal. Yeah, I feel like I need to, like, write this down. What are you gonna do then, I don’t know. Send me a note series. Yeah, you survived 20 years.
Alissa 33:50
But the highest percentage, if of agents 16 years or more, okay, the highest percentage of income was 30% okay, made at least $150,000 or more. Yeah. So 30, so 16 years, yeah. Now I just, I wish YouTube could, like, see this chart. I know, I know you can’t YouTube, but I think this is a great way to set your expectations for new agents. 2% two years or less, made 150,000 ignore, and then three to five years, 11% made 150,000 or more. Okay, six to 15 years, 23%
Unknown Speaker 34:29
made, made 150,000
Alissa 34:32
more. And then, by the time we got to 16 years or more, we were at 30%
Katy 34:37
right? Because the longer, the longer you’re and the more likely you are to stay in it, yeah, if you’re, if you’re doing well, right? So, like, it’s almost like, by the time you get to 16 plus years, they’re like, well, we stayed because it’s working, correct? And I’m, I worked it, it’s working. And that would be the worst time to cancel. You put the work in already did. You have finally started making money. You’re on the. Don’t give up. That’s what I’m like, you’re on the train. It you almost have to jump off while it’s rolling. Uh huh. Like, it’s not you don’t just leave the train. One thing I thought, very interesting.
Alissa 35:09
I thought, with the new like, buyer rep agreement and things like that, I know that when this survey was taken, the buyer rep agreement was being talked about. It was not officially, yeah. So I’m curious to see these numbers next year. It’ll be real fascinating, because I kind of thought with the interest rates being high, it’s a hard market throw in the buyer rep agreement, which makes some people uncomfortable. Yeah, we were going to see a lot of people not renewing, but that wouldn’t be reflected in this report. No, be reflected in correct this year’s report is really about the interest rates, and I think membership was almost flat according to this report. And I think we’re gonna see that change next year. Well, NAR, I’d read
Katy 35:49
on their website or in an official statement, is predicting an 8% reduction in membership in 2025
Alissa 35:59
I would have thought a little bit more we’ll see. It’s kind of hoping for a little bit we’re gonna see. Yeah, we’re gonna see. But as at the time of this survey, I thought these numbers would be different, because they’re act they’re asking, Will you stay in real estate at least the next two years? Oh, two, two years, the next two years, what would do? They tell us, and they categorized it by they asked agents who were in the business two years or less, three to five years, six to 15. So I thought these numbers would be different. Okay, they’re they all answered between like 70 and 75% say they’re gonna stay. They’re gonna stay. So it’s almost like I thought maybe the people who have been in it two years or less, that number would be much lower. Like, I thought maybe they were like, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go back to corporate America, yeah, or but in
Katy 36:47
the people that were in a long time, it’s all kind of the same, all the same, interesting. So if
Alissa 36:53
they asked agents who had been in the business two years or less, do you think you’ll be here in two years? And 75% said yes, yeah, they’re hoping so, yeah, they’re hoping so. But, but same, three to five, 70% yes. They asked six to 15, 75% yes, I’ll be here 16 years or more. 71% yes, and that might only be down a tad, because they’re approaching like not working retirement. Yeah. So okay, I thought those numbers would be different. Agree. But at the time of this survey, people were fairly confident they’re not going anywhere for two
Katy 37:26
years. They also, some of them, I think, still had their head in the sand about what was coming, yeah, for sure.
Alissa 37:31
Okay, let’s also give y’all a nice little breather in reality. Check on the median number of transactions. Please
Katy 37:41
tell us the median number of transactions, the median number
Alissa 37:44
of transactions performed by agents during this survey was, Do you know the answer? Would you like?
Katy 37:51
Is it good? I think it’s is it 10? It’s
Alissa 37:53
1010. 10 houses sold? Yeah, okay, okay. Now let’s break that down into the agents who were in the business two years or less, okay, versus 16 years or more. Okay, the median number of transactions for an agent who has been licensed for two years or less, okay, was two houses, two, two just which is why their income is less than 10,000 makes sense. Okay, the median number of transactions for people who have been in the business for 16 years or more, okay, was 1212, 12 houses a year,
Katy 38:32
and they’ve been in the business 16 years or or more. So it’s, it’s, that’s not a lot. That’s,
Alissa 38:40
that’s one a month. At least. They’re getting paid kind of regularly. Yeah, that’s very low to me. Very low to me too. And what’s funny is the number is the same, six to 15 years, 1212, so after six years and higher, they’re saying the median. We just, we everything about 12 houses a year, one a month.
Katy 38:58
Now, it wasn’t in these reports that I saw, but I did hear a stat recently. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but they were saying that 35% less transactions happened in 2024
Alissa 39:11
since COVID. You know, I do my chart every year. Yeah, I have personally experienced a tremendous drop in vol, uh, in a number of transactions. But my actual volume hasn’t really changed that much because the prices are so much higher. Yeah, and I’m sort of getting that repeat referral, the repeat moving up now. So I’m selling the Yes, I started office so much for some home buyers, and now, so I’m seeing that as well that, you know, I was so close to hitting 100 a year, and now it’s like maybe 70. Yeah. Transactions, transactions, yeah. So volume wise, if you have been in the business two years or less, selling a median of two houses a year, your volume production was around point. Four so 400,000
Katy 40:03
Okay, that was your two you sold two houses, equaling $400,000
Alissa 40:07
Yeah. According to the survey, if you have been in the business for 16 years or more, you had an average volume of 3.1 Okay,
Katy 40:16
with 12 houses. Yeah. What is that? Let me do some fast math. While you do
Alissa 40:21
that math, I found, I thought it was interesting that the six to 15 year people right under that, their average was 3.3 million a year. So if you sell 3.1 million a year, and that’s 12 houses a year, that’s about a $258,000 price point correct, which is slightly higher than average home buyer, yeah, which makes sense. I love that. This just like all makes sense, it does all make sense. Math is really quite helpful. Oh, we love some data for repeat and referral business. I love these stats. Okay, zero to two years. Zero,
Katy 41:05
nobody. Nobody’s repeating, obviously, but no one’s also referring me
Alissa 41:09
based on the survey. They’re like, I’m too new. They’re like, No. They’re like, I’m not gonna I’ve told you all the story before where I was a newly licensed agent. It’s been a minute. I should share this more. Okay, if I my dad calls me and he’s like, Hey, Alyssa, you know, we just had a family friend call. They need to sell their house. They were asking for a referral for, like, the best of the best agents. And I was like, Yeah. And he’s like, obviously I can’t refer you, right? You’re not the best of the best. Obviously. You’re like, Oh, shucks. Thought I was gonna get my first listing, but he was honest, yeah, it wouldn’t have been my first listing. It would have been like, my third Right, right? So I wasn’t totally green. I could have fought my case and been like, Dad, I’ve sold two houses. No. He’s like, I’m not doing it, Alyssa. He is my father, and he loves me, and he was not gonna send it to me. He sent it to someone in my office. I think that’s great. So anyways, zero to two years said no repeat referral business. By the time we get to three to five years, they reported 8% repeat and referral business, okay, when we get to six to 15 years, 22% repeat and referral business once it got to 16 years or more, 42% repeat or referral, repeat or referral, y’all and and that’s what I want people to know, is that it’s a long game, Uh huh, full of relationships and consistency, and
Katy 42:41
it builds exponentially on itself. Yes, so that is why this is always my argument for the agents who are dead set on paying for online leads. Fine, yeah, fine. But after you’ve done that and you’ve had 20, 3050, transactions for three years in a row, you should be outgrowing those online leads, because your repeat referral business is going to take off, yes, from the sheer volume of people you’ve already worked with, correct?
Alissa 43:11
Okay, the snowball effect. I mean, it’s getting bigger. Yes, yeah, I know. I just love that. Like it went from 8% to 42% Yeah, that’s amazing. It’s not like it went from eight to 15, right? Like that would be not as worth it. No, 42 42%
Katy 43:33
that’s worth it. First of all, that is cheaper business because you’re not having to do a bunch of different random marketing. It is more safe because you already know these people, it is more consistent,
Alissa 43:44
like there’s all the so many, much positive. Okay, carry on. Let’s get on to some of the agent demographics. Oh, okay, um, how old are we these days? So I thought this was interesting. They started at 39 or younger. That’s a big, big that’s a big group. Yeah, you’re like, they should you’re like, the 21 year olds. I know why? Why am I in there? Because it was one how, what’s the percentage? 43% have been okay? I know. I’m trying to if agents who have been in the business two years or less, 43% of them are 39 or younger, okay? Versus 1% 16 years or more. Are that age right? Because they haven’t reached that age yet, like me, yes, me, for example, I fall into the 17% so six, if you’ve been in the business six to 15 years, which is where I’m at, approaching 15, 17% of those people are 39 or younger, makes sense. I’m 36 at the time when you were very young, when you started. I was so okay. The majority from. What we see, okay, that we’re gonna look at ages 40 to 59 Okay, that’s me, 40 to 59 50% of agents who have been in the business, okay, two years or less. 50% of those people are between the ages of 40 and 39 Oh, that’s interesting. Yes, let me say that again. I feel like these numbers are getting jumbled in new agents. If you are new agents two years or less, 50% of the new agents are between the ages of 40 to 59 years old. Yeah, it’s second career, and that is the biggest group of group of them of the new ages.
Katy 45:38
So yeah. So the new agents are necessarily young or just new. I
Alissa 45:42
know it’s like when I’m mentoring in the office, I’m mentoring people who are significantly older than me, yeah, because they’re not older than me in the business, no, they’re just older than me, but they’re brand new. Yeah, in the business, makes sense?
Katy 45:55
Um,
Alissa 45:58
yeah. I thought that was interesting, very that’s also the largest age group of all realtors. So, I
Katy 46:06
mean, it’s a pretty big that’s 20 year span, 40 to 59 You’re right. That’s a lot of people. That’s
Alissa 46:11
the majority of the ages. That makes sense. Now, the other highest percentage is that when you get to if you agents who have been in the business 16 years or more, 61% of them are over 60 years old. I’m in the minority. Yeah, you’re in the minority. Yeah. One
Katy 46:29
because, because, because I started real estate, although not nearly as young as you. I was like 26 which, at the time, young in 2005 that was like there were very few agents in my age bracket, and that just wasn’t that normal. No,
Alissa 46:46
even, even when I got licensed in 2011 that wasn’t normal. It’s
Katy 46:51
not even normal. Now, no, it’s not but if you look at the numbers, yeah,
Alissa 46:55
the median age of new agents is 42 Mm, hmm, the median age of age agent agents who have been in the business over 16 years is 62 Yeah, as a whole, it’s a career that starts later in life. It is. As a whole, the median age of all agents, no matter how long they’ve been in the business, is 55 years old. That’s pretty old yeah for Yeah, a career, a whole field when you’re I thought it, I think we are seeing it come down, but not as quickly as I thought. No. Um,
Katy 47:32
so the median of all the agents is 55 okay.
Alissa 47:37
Um, one more set. Okay. They asked, Is Real Estate your only occupation? Oh, okay, let’s look at these stats. If you’ve been in the business two years or less, 55% said yes, real estate is my only occupation. 55% okay, next category is three to five. It gets a little better. 65% say yes, real estate is my only occupation. So as their business grows, they’re able to let go, yeah. When you get to the next level, six to 15 years, 79% say yes, is my only job. And by the time you get to 16 years or more, 86% say yes, real estate is my only occupation. Yeah. So you can see it goes from 55% to 86% Yeah. Like you become full time, right? If you stick with but as
Katy 48:23
a practicing agent, you realize that means 45% of the new agents you come in contact with are not only new, they are also working another job. That’s a lot. It’s a lot. It’s a lot. Yeah,
Alissa 48:39
also these stats I liked. They looked at the home ownership rate, okay? So they asked the age of the agent, do you Yes, do you own a home? Do you own a home? Right? Are you practicing what you preach? Now the agents who have been in the business two years or less, 68% owned a home. Okay? That goes up to 79% once they get to three to five years in the business, okay, goes up to 87% when they get to six to 15 years, up to 93% 16 years or more. Hopefully, if you’ve been selling real estate for 16 years, you have owned a home, right, right, right, right. Just fascinating numbers, really. I mean, I might go back to my I love that chart, so let me see if I can get back to my other stats here. Make sure I didn’t miss it. Did we
Katy 49:28
get a median income number of all the agents I know, we broke it down by years in the business here now, okay,
Alissa 49:37
the median year of experience in real estate decreased slightly to 10 years. Okay, so the majority of agents who are licensed have been in the business, and
Katy 49:46
that was a decrease, interesting. Some of the longer term people might have started leaving, yeah, okay. They’re like, this
Alissa 49:53
is too much. Got this would be a good time. So I guess that works
Katy 49:57
with it the either end leaves the business, though. Yeah. Yeah, right. Okay,
Alissa 50:03
those with two years of experience increase from 17 to 18% and those with 16 years of experience or more stayed flat. So the market conditions did not affect those agents. Okay, having their license. They just were like, we’ll stick this out. We’ve seen worse. And honestly, no, and I was gonna say when I talked to the agents in my office who have been doing this since, like, the 70s, we have seen worse. Yeah, they are cool as a cucumber always, right? I’m like, How do you do this? They’re like, I’ve been doing this because,
Katy 50:35
right? They’re like, because you think it’s real estate is up and down, and those are tiny little yearly cycles, yeah. What, what some of us have seen is the actual implosion of the whole market. Yeah.
Alissa 50:48
Can you imagine having that kind of perspective on real estate having been in the market, like, 30 years? Oh,
Katy 50:53
like, they’ve seen it all, all, all of it. They saw a, you know, 18% interest rate. There’s, like, whatever, seven they are cool as a cucumber. And I’m like, Look at you. You’re just, yeah, so cool, interesting. I want to be that cool.
Alissa 51:08
Um, 73% of agents are certain they will remain in the market. Okay, we’ve talked about that. Ready for income.
Katy 51:17
Tell us the numbers. The
Alissa 51:18
median gross income of a realtor is $55,800
Katy 51:26
gross means pre tax,
Alissa 51:27
yeah,
Katy 51:29
yeah. So let’s just off the top. Take at least 20% off of that, I mean.
Alissa 51:37
And this number is down from 2022,
Katy 51:39
that’s 44,000 and then you had a median expenses,
Alissa 51:44
right? Yeah. So according to this report, the median expenses were $8,450
Katy 51:53
okay, so I took off 20% for taxes, and I took off the expenses. And so your realtor, your median realtor, is walking away with $35,550 yeah, 35,000 I mean, about what you’re making. So if we divide that by 12 months, so just under $3,000 $3,000
Alissa 52:12
a month is the amount of income for the median. For the median, that means the majority of ages, no matter how long you’ve been in the business, none of the other things, not your age, not your years, they’re making, if you’re gross netting more than netting at least 30, you’re you’re in the in the median, you’re in the majority. These
Katy 52:36
are the numbers that I want to hold on a big, giant sign in front of the DOJ, yes. Who do you think we are right? We’re like, yes, there are the outliers that are making big numbers, but the literal majority of us are barely making enough to survive. Yeah.
Alissa 52:54
Okay, keep going. It’s just getting more into the reminder that 62% of new members made less than $10,000 less than $10,000 gross? Yeah, gross. It’s just insane. In the last year, increase expenses increased to 8450 we were trying to figure out what we thought that might be.
Katy 53:19
But yeah, in the I don’t, yeah, I think that it’s just, it’s because it’s everyone. So it’s got to be your dues, your, you know, car expense, your marketing, anything. Oh,
Alissa 53:31
I thought this was interesting. So Realtors frequently have had careers in other fields prior to that day. Yes, tell us what they are. The most common being in sales and retail. That’s you, Jay, it was in retail, followed by management, business and financial professions. Only 6% indicated that real estate is their first career. That’s you. That’s me. Such a small percentage. Yeah, such a small percentage. It was me. But it also makes sense, because the ages are not super low. So, yeah, even when we look back at this chart of agents who have been in the business two years or less, their median age is 42 years old, right? You’ve worked before you’re 42 years old, likely, yes, like, unless you are actually graduating high school or college and jumping straight into real estate, right? You’re gonna have another job here. Agree? Hmm, do you want to take a break and go to sellers a little bit? Are
Katy 54:27
you? Yeah, I have, are you about to be done? I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I’ll do sellers for a bit. Okay, hang on. Hang on to where you are, and you can see if there’s any hot items you need to share. Okay, so here’s your profile of home sellers and their experience. The typical age of home sellers was 63 the highest ever recorded. Now I would like to say people also live longer. So of course, these numbers should. Would skew up like people are probably staying in their homes a little longer. They’re living a little longer. But even still, your average home seller was 63 okay, okay. Of all the homes sold on the market, 77% did not have children under the age of 18 residing in the home. That’s just crazy. So crazy. So like again, who are you talking to? Who is your niche? If you’re talking to people who have children as your main source of listing business, that doesn’t jive with the numbers, right? You should maybe be also adding in some downsizers, or people who are retiring, or maybe they’re moving to another state as they age, or whatever like that’s who’s actually selling their homes. Yeah, 18% of home sellers purchased a home in another region. Okay, okay. Moved away. Moving away, 32% traded down and purchased a home that was smaller in size. Only 32% got a smaller house, okay?
Alissa 56:02
Percent downsize sellers. 36%
Katy 56:06
traded up, okay, to a larger home. 30% bought similar size, okay, okay, and 32 went down some size
Alissa 56:14
and a location thing. Yeah, they bought right there.
Katy 56:18
Okay, so 52% of all sellers purchased a home newer than their previous home. I can understand that half of them are like, we don’t want the maintenance they’re not necessarily looking for down downsize. Just like, Can I get something newer, easier to deal with? I just helped
Alissa 56:35
a family downsize and their home was huge and gorgeous and a lot of maintenance. They bought a smaller home that was more expensive than the so they did not downsize on a price point. Yeah, we their new home cost significantly more than the home they left, but it was much smaller. But, man, it was pretty Yeah, everything
Katy 56:57
was new all the time. That’s right. Desire to move closer to friends and family at 23% is this most, most common reason to sell, okay, okay, but 23% is still not a big percentage followed by their home was too small. 12% home was too large, 11% Oh, and the neighborhood was becoming less desirable. 10% okay, tenure in the home. Are you ready? How long do you think sellers this year were in the median. They were in their home. 910, okay, 10 years, they were same as last year. So people are staying in their home for 10 years. It was higher than reported from 2000 to 2008 so that eight year span when tenure in a home was only y’all six years, that was the bubble years. You see, it was easy to get a mortgage. It was rates were pretty decent. There were a lot of houses to choose from, like, from 2000 to 2008 people are like, every six years. Let’s just move. Yeah, now they’re change of scenery. Now they’re like, new. We’ll stay put a little bit longer, 10 years. 10 years. Okay, so the final sales price, y’all this is time on the market and incentives to buyers or on and sales price. The final sales price was a median of 100% of the final listing price. What a hunt the medians. The majority of homes sold for list price. Wow. The final list price, it says so, I guess if you had a price reduction, that would still count as selling for
Alissa 58:38
100% and it also like, you know what I’m seeing a lot of in this last year, during the time of the survey, as rates are high, buyers are paying list price, but asking for a lot of closing costs, because they’re buying down their rate, they’re focusing on cash needed. So they’re like, I’ll just pay list price if I can get some help with the cash to get the rate down. Yeah, and 100%
Katy 59:01
is the highest recorded median since 2002 so it obviously, it’s like record setting high for all sellers time on the market this year was a median of, do you want to guess how long their house was on the market? Four weeks, three weeks. Okay, one week longer than last year, an entire week. So it is taking a median of three weeks to sell a home now, a week longer than it did the previous year. Remember,
Alissa 59:31
during COVID, we had to discuss this in hours. Just kidding, how many hours was your home? I mean,
Katy 59:37
it could have been, it could have been okay. 90% of sellers sold with the assistant of a real estate agent. Hear it again, y’all nine zero, 90% of sellers used an agent, up from 89% last year, only 6% were for sale by owner, which is an all time low, okay, 66% of recent sellers used an agent that. Was referred to them or used an agent they worked with in the past. 81% of recent sellers contacted only one agent. So all that fear out there about being interviewed, I’m going to be interviewed. I’m so worried. No, no. 81% of sellers are only talking to one person. So just be advised before finding the right agent, they worked with to sell their home. 50% of home sellers used the same agent to represent them when purchasing or selling their homes. So both sides of the deal they’re buying something else. That number jumps to 71% of sellers within 10 miles of their home. Okay, I still think that’s funny. 29% of sellers within 10 miles are like, No thanks, yeah, I’ll just get another agent or not use one, or buy from a builder. Maybe, I don’t know. Yeah. Weird, weird, weird, okay, sellers placed a high priority on the following three tasks. Are you ready help market the home to potential buyers? 22% said that was their highest priority. Price The Home competitively. 20% okay, and sell the home within a specific time frame. 18% okay, so they want to you to market the home, to price it competitively, and sell within a certain time frame. And I would argue all those things are really right. Work together, right? Yeah, but it’s like, what is their priority? Or what do they think they need? You for the most, the real estate agent’s reputation remains the most important factor. When sellers select an agent to sell their home at 35% the agent’s trustworthiness and honesty is at 21% of the most important factor when they select their agent they
Alissa 1:01:47
want them to be so what was the most important thing? Reputation? Oh, wow. And then trustworthiness and honesty. Okay? Reputation, trustworthy and honesty.
Katy 1:01:56
Okay, methods used to market the home. I thought this was really fascinating. Agents reported 58% open hosted an open house. Wow, 58%
Alissa 1:02:09
what part surprises you? I
Katy 1:02:10
just thought that was a lot, that 58% of listings were actually holding an open house.
Alissa 1:02:14
Yeah, I think it’s like we’re seeing it more because it’s taking longer. Well, it’s taking
Katy 1:02:18
longer, yeah. And I think now we’ll see it more, because buyers, maybe it’s going to be houses unrepresented even higher. Yeah, I wish we should do better at taking notes of what we predict.
Alissa 1:02:30
Well, maybe chat, G, P, T, can do it for us. Maybe so.
Katy 1:02:33
Nearly two thirds of sellers have recommended their agent at least once since selling their home this year. So All right, thanks, yeah. And again, most sellers, 87% said they would definitely or probably use their agent again. Okay, great, but remember, let’s keep in touch with them. So they do, because they don’t know, because they can’t find Jay, they will, because 10 years later, if they can’t find you, they can’t remember.
Alissa 1:02:58
But she was so nice. I loved
Katy 1:03:02
her. She did a great job. I don’t know. All right, we’re on to for sale by owners. Okay? These are the stats that are so great for you to be able to share with your sellers. Who are on the fence, who are like, I don’t know, they share it for sale by owners was at a historical low. People are not doing this themselves anymore. They typically sell for less than the selling price of other homes. For Sale By Owner. Homes sold for a median of $380,000 in 2023 up from 310 and 2022 so yeah, market goes up, yeah, still far lower than the median sale price for all homes, which was 435,000 Wow. Agent assisted homes sold for a median of $435,000 for sale by owners at 380 I did the math for y’all, that’s 13% lower. And I don’t know about you, but the last I heard, I didn’t know anyone charging 13% in commissions. No. So you know, you, y’all do the math. The most common way for for sale by owners to price their home to you. I thought this was interesting. 40% used an appraisal. Oh, okay, okay, so they had to spend some money, but they got a pretty accurate number right, and now we’ll know why they sell for so much lower in some cases, 36% use a recent home sold. So they kind of knew what sold, and they use that 16% of for sale by owners used an online home evaluation
Alissa 1:04:37
tool. Oh, well, this is what my Zestimate said. Zestimate said, and
Katy 1:04:41
the profit they needed, they used that 15% of the time. Well, I need to make 50 grand. Yeah, that’s how I’ll price my house,
Alissa 1:04:49
right? Whatever the lady who was like, because we were like, Why is that number so specific? It was like, 211,600 $195 she was like, what was my mom’s birthday? Really? Wow, you don’t say And
Katy 1:05:06
while we’re on for sale by owners, I’ll tell you a great little story. A relative of Jay was selling a house in a rural area not close to here, and his mom called me and she’s like, I don’t understand what’s happening. They posted the house on Facebook, and it’s for $12,345 and I’m like, what? And she’s like, so I called them. I’m like, what? You must have a mistake. They’re like, Oh, no, we just put in 12345, because we didn’t want to tell them the price. We just wanted them to contact us if they
Alissa 1:05:38
were serious. Well, you’re not going to get serious inquiries at $12,000 No,
Katy 1:05:42
no. Oh, man. Oh man, that’s what happens in the world of the for sale by owner. Y’all Okay? Reasons for for sale by owner, marketing and sellers experience. So 38% of for sale by owner. Sellers said the main reason to sell via FSBO was because they sold to a relative, friend or neighbor. So like, we found this person already. Yeah, 36% of all FSBO sellers did not want to pay the commission. So it’s like the majority of them. 38% just knew the person. Right, right? They’re like, we already got it done. And then 30% were like, We’re gonna save money. I wanna save money. But recall, they’re making 13% less. They don’t realize that. They don’t know. Okay, 63% of all FSBO sellers did not actively market their home. 63%
Alissa 1:06:31
they’re like, Well, I put a sign in the I put a sign in the yard. It’s on a website. Doesn’t that. I don’t even know if they’re doing that. Oh, that’s true. It could just be. It’s just that’s it, getting the
Katy 1:06:41
price right at 17% selling within the length of time, plan 13% and understanding and performing the paperwork. 10% were the most difficult steps for the for sale by owner. You don’t say, yeah, don’t say, can’t get the price right. I don’t know how to sell it as quickly as I want, and I can’t understand how to do this paperwork. Where do I get these forms?
Alissa 1:07:02
Where do I get all this stuff? Bro, oh, fascinating. Fascinating is that all your Fizbo stuff? That’s all my FSBO stuff, that’s all my seller stuff. Oh, great. Well, let’s get back to some of our peer stats here. Let’s hear it. Okay, so out of all the licensees, okay, 65% of licensed Realtors were sales agents, okay, people out there working with buyers and sellers, not a great thing. Yeah, 22% held a broker’s license, okay, 17% held a broker associate license, okay, I don’t know either, yeah, the typical realtor had 10 years of experience. I think we did that. That was down from 11 years, Okay, last year. And then I like this set too, because we get a lot of questions about assistance, yeah, and I think we’re actually doing an episode next week on assistance. Oh, yes, next week. Next week is airing. So if you have questions about assistance, be sure to tune in next week, like a real estate assistant, a real estate assistant, yes. So according to this survey, like down payment assistance, no, no assistance, and it Yes, not C in T assistant, I got it now. Okay, I was just lost. 15% of members had at least one personal assistant, 15% of agents, okay, which I think makes sense, because the majority don’t sell a lot, yeah, so they don’t need an assistant. So I almost think 15% that have an assistant are probably the 15% that are selling so much that they need help. Yeah, right, that makes sense. The median sales volume for brokers went from 3.4 million average volume to 2.5 million average volume. They call it a broker specialist. So I don’t know if that just means the brokers, like individuals, um, for our property managers out there, they had a stat that the typical property manager managed 31 properties. Oh, in 2023, which was down from 40 properties per property. Big jump. I thought it was a big jump too. It’s like almost 25% okay, less properties being managed. Interesting. Do you think they’re selling them? I can say, I know, I guess, oh, I know. You like to look at how many hours a week a realtor works. I love this, because it’s such a lie. Yeah, it says the the average realtor works 35 hours a week, and
Katy 1:09:47
that’s how I answer the survey too. Do I think I actually work that? No, I
Alissa 1:09:51
know they said that’s up slightly. So we’re working a little bit harder, being slightly more honest, which I’m like, I don’t know about this. I feel like the COVID years were not. Madness like you couldn’t stop, yeah, the phone just kept reading, um, the typical realtor earned 20% of their business from repeat clients, okay, and 21% from referrals. So let’s add that 41% of of a realtors business is repeat and referral. Yeah, I would like to see that number higher, but it’s a good number. Yeah, um, I’m gonna read this. You know, I get cross eyed with numbers sometimes. Do you need me to read it? I’m gonna read it and you tell me what you think. Okay, 35% of Realtors were compensated under a fixed commission split, okay, under 100% so I guess that would mean like it didn’t
Katy 1:10:47
cap. It was always 7030, always, always whatever.
Alissa 1:10:49
Okay, okay, so 35% of realtors have a, it is what it is. That way, yeah, 20% of agents have a graduated commission split like this. One is this? This one is this? Yes, it increases with productivity. Like yours. Yes, that’s where I fall. Yeah. What is your my fix? Yours is fixed. Okay, 20% have a capped commission split that rises to 100% after a predetermined so it’s basically two. It’s this tier, and then it’s the post cap, yes, so I thought that was interesting. Yeah. In case you’re wondering how other brokerages do it, that’s interesting. See. What I love about my office is where we start in January is up to you. It depends on how you did last year, yeah. So if your year was down last year, it may have kicked you to another category. My only complaint with that is, if it is a market related down, it kind of sucks for you to have to like and I would think that too, except for the fact that we’re not seeing the ones who perform be affected by the market, right? You know what I mean, like, right? The ones who are selling consistently year after year after year, are not affected by the market, yeah? Enough to impact our split? Okay, I feel like we just talked about that sort of, oh, how they’re so cool. Like, they’re just like, Yeah, it’s fine. Everything’s fine, whatever, because they’ve been in it so long, like it’s not going to affect my split. Um, the largest Okay, remember expenses this year were 8400 Yeah, the largest expense in that category was vehicle, which was 1650 Okay, so and realtors typically spend about $90 $90 to maintain a website. Oh, the website only 90 bucks. Yeah, I thought it was gonna say, like, a month or something. But no, just a year. Okay, um, so those are, those are just some breakdowns of expenses. We already talked about. Income there. Okay, office and firm affiliations. Okay, the median tenure for Realtors at their current firm. So how long have you been at your office? Right? Personally, that’s what that’s what they’re telling that’s what we’re going to talk about now is how long agents stay at their brokerage? Yeah, the median stay was five years, okay, which is slightly down, okay? People are moving around a bit. Yeah, it doesn’t say what it was before. It just says that it’s slightly down, okay, 53% of brokers, if you’re a broker and curious about this, 53% of brokers have some ownership interest in their firm. Okay, yeah, yeah. 37 I’m not doing all that work for, yeah, a salary, maybe a good salary, I hope 37% reporting having sole ownership. Okay, so broker 37% just run earners, okay, own their firm. Broker owner got it, um, which is actually an increase from 31% Okay, so we’re seeing more broker owners got it, and 8% of Realtors worked for a firm that was bought or merged in the last two years. Oh, you don’t say that’s me, that’s you, yeah, and I think that that number will be higher too next year, because the lawsuit, lots of firms sold and merged and shut down and all of that, yeah? Um, I was wanting to see, like, how many people have never switched but they don’t have that stat. Oh, they don’t tell that’d be in that too.
Katy 1:14:29
You’re right. That would be a very low number, yeah, very low. Never switchers.
Alissa 1:14:35
Yeah, 96% of agents use a smartphone, duh, right? Wanna tell me something I don’t know doing, right? They don’t have a phone. Okay? This, we’re gonna move on though to communication. Okay? Realtors most often communicate with current clients, the most via text messaging. So it came out to 94% okay? Calls on the phone, 91% an email at 89% I guess they didn’t include, well, this is under technology, yeah. So that’s how they’re I was like, Do they ever meet in person? Oh, right, right, right. But that was like, what tech are you using to talk to your clients?
Unknown Speaker 1:15:19
Okay, okay,
Alissa 1:15:21
we’re going to move on to some of our realtor demographics. 65% of all realtors are female college graduates. 65% female college graduates, okay, up from 62% interesting, 59% of Realtors said that real estate was their only occupation now and pre
Katy 1:15:47
COVID, like before COVID And after COVID, 16%
Alissa 1:15:53
had other income pre COVID, but then pivoted to only work in real estate. Okay,
Katy 1:16:01
I still can’t believe that 41% of agents have another source of income. I know that’s a lot. Yeah, interesting. So
Alissa 1:16:10
85% of agents own their primary residence, and 39% own a secondary property.
Katy 1:16:17
Oh, that’s good. 39% of agents have a, have an investment. Yeah,
Alissa 1:16:21
I love that. I do too Good job guys. Yeah, way
Katy 1:16:24
to go. Proud of y’all,
Alissa 1:16:26
yeah, um, I feel like this was a little bit redundant. Okay, I think that we’ve hit, we’ve hit the highlights. Okay, great. I think the rest is just charts, sort of recapping, and I can’t show you all that, no. And again, the
Katy 1:16:43
summaries of these are very good. They’re worth we’re sharing with you the summary of the summary, right? Yes, but you know, they’re worth reading. I read every word of the summary and found it to be riveting. Again, I enjoy data, but I also think you’re running a business, so data is sort of important. Great. You need to know. You’ve got to know who you’re talking to, what’s going on. When people ask you how the market is. You could say interesting stats, like, did you know that agent listed homes are at an all time high of 90% only 6% of houses sell for sale by owner. Yeah. Can you imagine saying that to someone helpful,
Alissa 1:17:21
stat, they would be like, Wow, yeah. It’s also just like a Hey,
Katy 1:17:28
real facts here. Can you believe the market may be down, but for
Alissa 1:17:32
sale by owners are also down? Yeah, even more. So I just think
Katy 1:17:36
it’s good to have some sort of knowledge of what’s going on. Yeah, it’s going to be helpful to your clients. It’s obviously helpful to you. Of course, we shared the membership stats just so you don’t feel alone. Yeah,
Alissa 1:17:47
the comparison game is hard. Like, look hard. Look at these numbers, right? What are you comparing yourself to? Right, right, right, right. There’s a lot of people in the same boat as you. I’m just so glad that y’all like this episode, which forces me to read the report. Yeah, no, because I wasn’t reading it every year. No, but now you’ll make us and I like it for that. Now I would think I would
Katy 1:18:07
continue to read it. It’s very interesting. It is okay. Anything else? Think that’s it? Wow. It’s a lot. Okay, let’s hear a toast. Okay,
Speaker 2 1:18:17
hi. My name is Monica Reyna from Fort Worth Texas, and I would like to toast Naomi to dark. We do not work for the same brokerage, but she introduced me to hustle humbly a couple of years ago, and I listen faithfully every Monday. I love listening to Katie and Alyssa because they make Mondays fun. And thank you, Naomi for being a great friend and fellow real estate agent.
Alissa 1:18:43
Thank you so much for tuning in to the hustle humbly podcast. If you enjoyed
Katy 1:18:47
this episode, please go to rate this podcast.com/hustle, humbly, and leave us a review or drop a comment if you’re listening on Spotify.
Alissa 1:18:54
If you have an episode topic or someone you’d like to toast on the show, please email us at team at hustle humbly. Podcast.com, find
Katy 1:19:01
us on social media at hustle humbly. Podcast, don’t forget to find all of the free resources at hustle humbly podcast.com/resources,
Alissa 1:19:10
see you next week. You.
