Hahah funny. The publis has no cluse. I had a buyer one time say that my boss was great to have bought me my new Infiniti!!! What a joke. My boss doesn't even buy my paper.

Personally, I think 50 is a good number of transactions for one agent and I agree with teams.

In Anne Arundel County, Maryland it's $5M to be part of the distinguished sales association.  I'm also of a thought that if an agent can't sell $3m and they are really working at it, then there is something wrong.  The average home price in Anne Arundel County is about $400,000 so an house a month shouldn't be too much to ask.

That is a very good question.  For me it only takes one really big one!  However, the volume matters to other people.  I am looking forward to the answers you get.

I don't really think matters how many homes you sell or the amount.  I only look at how much money I bring home.  If you do it by yourself or with a Team the bottom line is your bottom line.  So personally I don't think you belong in the elite unless you make max tax bracket kind of money.   That is my opinon.  :-)

That seems to me to be too subjective a question to answer.  What does a child need to score on the SATs to be considered successful?  Or, How many lines in the school play, or how many goals per game?

We don't rate our children that way, and hopefully we don't do that to oureslves either.

Using myself as an example, I am an independant Mortgage Broker in Roseville.  It is has been my vocation for 14 years and I don't do anything else.  Well, except for sit on the City Parks and Rec Commission, the City Cultural Arts Commission, coach 2 soccer teams, on the board of my Rotary Club, feed the homeless at the Salvation Army, sit on 2 school district committees (and running for board)...

These days I am doing 2-3 loans per month?  Am I unsuccessful compared to friends on mine (that I mentor still) that are doing 5+, 10+?  I don't think so.  If you are a professional I believe you can control hom much or how little business you choose to do.  That to me is a successful agent/lender.

I essentially agree with CBVGJ above.  Your success should be determined by whether you set and met your goals.  If an agent wants to earn $50k and does so, then they are successful.  If one expects to make $150k and makes $100k, he / she needs to spend time figuring out why they didn't meet their projections. 

Elizabeth, everyone's goals are different on what success is, and the average sales price of a home varies by region of the country, so no one answer fits everyone. For the Sacramento market area you probably know what "success" is based on full time agent, avg price of home, the market, etc.

Elizabeth:  A good bit depends on the agent's taret market.  I know agents here in Austin that only do 12-15 transactions per year, BUT each one is $1.5MM or more, so they are doing $18-24MM in volume per year.  Personally, I think the limit for one agent without assistance would be from $8-12MM annually.  You are right, above that the paperwork and coordination would become a nightmare for one person while still trying to service client needs!

Great question Elizabeth – and you’ve received some great responses.  We all listen up when this topic comes up to compare ourselves to see how we’re doing …   But I too agree it’s very personal and very regional.  I’d love to be in Steve’s area in Austin doing 12- 15 transactions yearly with the average home sale price around $1.5 mill…  sweet.  But seriously I believe every agent should set their own goals….  And it can be either by number of transactions or volume based.  And when we meet our goals we need to remember to give ourselves a gold medal.

Raleigh Realtor – Pamela St. Peter

I think the public definitely has a skewed perception. Sometimes I go on a listing appointment where the seller has pulled a list of questions off the internet or out of a book and they will ask "how many homes do you sell in a year." I don't mind answering but I always have to preface it by stating what the average was for that year among all Realtors. I don't see how anyone can do much more than 20 on their own (and provide good service and keep the ball rolling) without hiring an assistant and more than 40-50 without hiring a buyer's agent or second assistant to work with clients. Just my two cents. Great questions though.

I was surprised to hear that the goal for the Master's Club is 3 Mil a year!  I would think that any full time person (even part time) could handle this number. Isn't that around 60-75k a year in salary? I think your right ...the point of the club is to show that the members are elite compared to their piers.  I would not say 3 Mil is elite!

Dollar volume is the only amount that counts, but a brokers office has the right to set their own standards as they are paying certain bills and staffing costs.  Lenders have their end of the listing so tight on REOs,  those agents don't even have the time to return your call.  I've had them offer sales calls in exchange for part of my cut and found it pretty dismal.  Lot of turnover in the REO assistant agent department.

BTW, regarding paperwork, my adopted kid (actually he's great!) came with less than 25% of the paperwork as buying or selling a property.  Only way I can figure that one out is litigation.

Now I'm digressing....  giving away my daughter as a future bride... "OK son, here's the disclosure, sign here"

If you sell ONE house for $6 million will give you a commission of $180,000.  Pretty successful !

Elizabeth, this is a wonderful question.

My 2 cents:  Successful for me is what makes me happy and doesn't leave me feeling as if I should have done more, worked harder, etc.  I won't even begin to define successfull for someone else.   Too much of a judgement call to be impersonal about it.

Elizabeth, I'm not certain that there's one definitive number of home sales that makes an agent successful.  Of course it depends upon the price of the homes and how much success an agent wants.  People are in the business for different reasons.  Some will be happy with a sale or two a year to supplement their income or retirement income.  Others are building a powerhouse business.  Most are somewhere in between.  At least a home a month is a good baseline for success, methinks.

Eizabeth,  I guess it really depends on the Realtor.  I know some that have a goal of 5-6 a year.  They believe it is a successful year selling 6 houses.  However,  I think if the sold one $40 million house they might not sell another fo 10 years and be content.

Elizabeth:

I vote to ditto the comments of Kris Wales-Macomb. We should measure our own success by our own goals and ambitions. This is the only standard that matters. If we live for other people's expectations, we'll never experience self-fulfillment in our lives because our focus will be on the standards and dreams of others instead of the standards and dreams that we place on ourselves.

That's my $.02.

Great post and questions.    First off, I think the standards by our state boards should be higher not lower and give the members something to achieve.   What benefit is there if they lower it... so more can be award recipients?    That's crazy, those awards mean nothing to the public only to us as agents.

On how many transactions, well that is definitely a question to be answered based on location and average transactions.

I had a great friend that used to do 15-20 transactions here in NJ and moved to Maine and when she moved there she was lucky to do 4-5 and that was considered successful.

keep the answers coming love reading others opinions on "success"

most agents don't make much, only the top few percent make most of the $$.

I don't think the number or the $$ matters. If you are happy with what you are doing, or you can support your family...you are successful. 

Success is measured by what you have set for yourself.  Many agents close a lot of deals but its your bottom line that determines if it was a success.

I don't go by volume but by how much income I make.  I hate it when people who make less money than I make get great advertisement as top producers because of volume only.  I wish the whole thing was discarded.

I'm shocked that your requirements are so low.  Even here, with an average price of $200k (it's slightly higher, but the number is easy to use) that's only 15 transactions in a year. How is that a "Master"??

As far as the definition of success, that is individual - but, lowering award levels just because fewer people can earn them is just ridiculous.

Good question and some very different answers....but that's what makes the world go round? right?

Personally, I think it's about how much you take home to your family...because, after all that's what most of us are working for :)

Hi Elizabeth,

Our board made it harder this year instead of easier.  No $$$ only awards on number of transactions.

If you're not doing at least one transaction per month I don't know how you can really keep up with what's happenng in the market.  You have to be out there seeing homes and making offers to have a good sense of what's going on.  By myself, I can comfortably handle about 50 transactions/year. 

Elizabeth:

60% of the Houston Association of Realtors sell 4 homes or less a year. Yes, that is right only 4 homes or less a year. I don't know exactly how to interpret that statistic. Does it mean that we have too many Realtors in our local market area or does it mean we have a lot of part time agents that rely upon their partners to bring home the bacon?

Personally, I would want the Realtor that represents me to perform more than 4 transactions a year. Somewhere between 10 and 12 would be sufficient. As a buyer or seller that would provide me with a comfort level that my Realtor is keeping their skills sharp and they are not treating real estate as extra income but instead as a profession.

Lots of great comments!

I agree that the only person you have to set goals for is yourself. If you make your own goals, then you've succeeded, as long as you increase those goals on a regular basis. After all, you can't get somewhere if you don't know where you're going.

In my neck of the woods, the average sale is about $130,000 (I think) right now. I've sold $350,000 all the way down to $22,000. But it takes a lot of transactions at that price to equal anything substantial.

I set my goal this year for a certain amount and I am really close to getting there soon, which means I will most likely exceed it by the end of the year. But my goal is MY goal. And I have a great RMentor group who kicks my butt into gear every two weeks! My RMentor group will make sure my goal is a worthy one ... or they will harrass me into the ground.

Excellent blog Elizabeth!

Hi Elizabeth... I think that success can be defined in many different ways and as independent contractors we should all be permitted to define our success for ourselves... not by standards or criteria determined by others.  Just my 2-cents.

The volume should be based on the local market.  Locally, we have an avg sales price of 257k which would be 12 transactions a year to hit the 3 million mark.  Agents in a market with 700k avg sales prices would only need 4 annually.

This year I have 10 completed transactions, 11 under contract and 16 active listings.

Seasonal and Snowing is not a reason to stop selling Real Estate, some of the best sales and buys happen during winter markets! That's been my experience!

Hi Elizabeth...I does not seem that any Sacramento agents commented on your post, so I will.  I feel I am working pretty close to full capacity with the volume I am doing.  I do not have an assistant.  If I subtracted the short sale negotiation from my workload, I would definitely have more free time, but I do not feel that listing short sales has hindered my ability to serve my clients in any way.  I have closed 17 transactions so far in 2008...I side with you on the whole "team" thing - not really something I want to do for the same reasons.  I think $3M to qualify for our local Sacramento Association of Realtors Master's Club is setting the bar too low.  I will be curious to see the number of Realtors that qualify as compared with the preceeding years.  I know our membership in SAR has decreased, and I think agents who qualify with $3M will be more than the "Top 6.5%." 

Thank you, everybody, for your responses. I see some responded with comments about how they would rate themselves, and everyone has different standards for their own success. It's interesting to see how people rate each other. It appears some support professional standards, and others don't believe in standards. Since I can't possibly -- believe me, I can't; I'm sorry -- respond to each and every person, here are the comments that popped out at me:

To Infinity: The last time I checked, colleges base admission standards on SAT scores. :)

To Erin, Team Newington: Yup, $3 mil would be around $60,000 to $75,000 for an agent on a high commission split, which isn't much in this market, I suppose. Unless you look at the average salary for agents nationwide, which is around $36,000.

To JG: So, what you're saying is adopting a human being involves less paperwork buying than a house? Yowza! Look at what lawsuits have done to us.

To Christina: I agree, I don't think the standards should have been lowered. But SAR charges for processing a Master's Club application, plus agents buy plaques and stuff from SAR. Not to mention, all the major publications in town such as the Sacramento Bee, the Sacramento Business Journal and Sacramento Magazine charge hefty ad rates to publish annual Master Club members -- so if membership dropped, a lot of money would go flying out the window. It's sort of a racket, really.

To David Slavin: A $6 million sale won't really net $180K. For one thing, commissions at that level are often greatly reduced from traditional, and after cutting in the broker, that figure is more likely slashed in half.

To Kevin: Actually, I think the standards should be based on number of transactions and not dollar volume. Each transaction requires about the same amount of work. You could have a really hard-working agent who sells, say, mobile homes for $50K a pop. And if that agent closes 50 of those homes a year, under SAR standards, she won't qualify for membership. That doesn't seem fair.

To Jill: Four transactions a year isn't enough to live on in my book. I don't know how to interpret that, either. I mean, that's one home every three months. For a newer agent, that's not bad, though. Everybody has to start somewhere.

To Erin Attardi: You can bump up that production by hiring another agent to do your short sale negotiation. For example, I turn over buyer offers on my short-sale listings to an agent who graduated from law school. She's very tough and good. She loves to negotiate with banks, and that's the most time consuming part of any short sale transaction. But you are doing very well at 17 deals this year. That's impressive, Erin. Don't listen to those whiners out there who say there is no business. There is tons of business right now. You go get it, girl!!!

Elizabeth:  If I had only ONE listing in a given year, but did all I could for that client,  I would consider it a success.  I'm a retired newspaper pressman, so I have a pension.  I don't consider money as a means to measure success.

Any that are sold with the best interest of their client in mind, the industry elevated, value reinforced, public perception lifted, profit realized for your time and effort and your family taken care of.  Give me that number any day and twice on Sunday.

I think the measure of success depends on what you make it.  Everyone has a different measure.  Just give me 20 houses and I can keep my family happy... (LOL)

I am in New Home Sales selling at least 20 homes is doing O.K, but not the best that is with average sale price of $275k with annual $5.5million. To be the best the more the better so you will need almost 30 or more home sales to be in the top.  

You can just sell so many homes before your service goes down. Agents who give little service to begin with can sell hundreds of homes...they list them, lock box them, put out a sign, and wait for another agent to sell them,

To be successful you need a healthy happy family and enough money to enjoy them!

 In this market...?    I think that our success is measured by the fact that we are able to pay our bills and feed our families!    If all of us are doing that then we are all successful regardless of the number of homes we sell!   

Hi Elizabeth.  Hmm.  Successful?  If I am closing two deals every month, I would feel pretty good.

Not there yet.  Hopefully 2009!

Ken

wow, that sounds like very very very low numbers to be "elite"

It seems like the 3 million requirement for masters was set too low this year (but I'm in the Yolo Association and unless someone also joins SAR we don't count).  It is interesting how things are so different even  between Yolo and Sacramento.  The top agents here do about 30 transactions and average is 10-12. 

Elizabeth,

I am appalled by this..

"Personally, I think if an experienced real estate agent can't sell at least $3 million in Sacramento, that agent should go back to being a hairdresser.

 I respect your opinion and actually have to agree somewhat, but that's a pretty arrogant statement.

Hi Carolyn: So, how does the Yolo Association handle Master's Club requirements?  That's interesting, though. I did not know that Yolo agents do so many more deals than Sacramento agents.

Hi Reno: I'm sorry if you or anyone you know happens to be, has been or ever will be a hairdresser and did not mean to offend.

Great blog, Elizabeth. I think a successful agent is successful if they perceive themselves as such. Everyone has different goals and methods of achieving them...individually or as a team.

Elizabeth, the Yolo Association does not have a masters club.  If someone here wants to be eligible, they have to join SAR in addition or instead of YAR.  I should have also clarified the "average" number of deals is my perception of the people who are at this full time and are working at this.  I am sure when you include all of the agents the numbers are much lower. 

Elizabeth,I don't feel as if I'm competing with anyone but myself. I sold 32 properties my first year in the business by determination and sweat! I now don't sell nearly that many but I have refined my market to meet and exceed my personal goals. I am working less and making more.

I would have made it in your club but I don't think that would have been a driving force for me. Brokers can push and push their "team" but the reality is you can't make a high dollar producer. Only an individual can decide what they will do!

I'm like you in the fact that I don't want a team. That comes from my standards and ego. I don't think anyone could handle it as well as myself! This puts us in the S quadrant of the work force...self employed has its ups and downs.

Great subject! Later in the rain~Deb

Depends on whether they are buyer clients or seller clients.

When I sold full time I handled from 25-40 transactions a year.  That was very full time.

Folks with families at home and little ones may have a hard time with the type of work schedule that I can handle. 

Listings??  How many homes can you list??

Interesting perspectives in this discussion, and they seem to vary by the type of market.  You would have to be in a very consistent area of home prices for the number of homes sold to have much bearing.  One agent in our area has closed 32 sides of homes sale transactions in 2008 - grand total $2 million.  Another agent has sold 57 sides, nearly twice as many homes, for a grand total of $1.8 million.  Who is more successful?  (These are real numbers in our market, by the way)

Success is not about numbers so much as serving your clients well and reaching your personal goals or getting close to them as well. 

I do believe in teams because I am simply not good at all aspects of the transaction and my people who do the parts I am not good at are much better at them than I ever could be.

In some areas selling just 2 homes might mean you were well over 5 mill. and in others you might have to sell 50 to do so.  What is important is you are making a living that works for you and that you have a life and that your clients are well cared for.  If all of that is true, could anyone ever NOT consider you successful, I don't think so. 

This is my first year so I will be happy with whatever number it ends up being. So far my September might turn out good! I feel positive about things.

WOW, good question. 50 is good but selling a few at 1M might be better.

Something to think about.

Rich

Charlotte NC

I'm with Rich -

Quality not quantity.  I'm run ragged and I do 30+ per year(for both sides).  I can't imagine much more without an assistant.

Great post, and great question, but I don't consider my a success or a failure, based on the number of sales, or even dollar volume.

To me, success is all about whether or not I met my client's expectations; if I was able to find what they were looking for, and get them the best possible deal, and whether, in the end, they would refer me to someone else.  That is how I define 'success'.

Also, in my area, you can sell 50 condos and not make as much commission or dollar volume, as someone who sells 3 houses in a different area.  Does that mean one is more successful than the other, even if they end up making the same 'take home' pay?  I don't think so.

I think we should measure our success by whether or not we are meeting our personal goals (be they $50K per year, or $200K per year); and whether or not we are being talked about by our clients, in a positive light, and whether or not they are referring us to others. 

If my clients aren't happy with my services and if they are talking about me, because they are unhappy, then I would consider myself a failure.

As far as working within a team, I'm not sure I trust anyone to live up to my standards.  Not to say someone can't do it, but I would be way too stressed, wondering if that client is getting the very best service, and if that person is looking after them, by going above and beyond, as I would do.  (It's about me, and not about the team, I guess. I'm sure there are great teams out there ... I just don't think I could work as part of one.)

I set my goals for a year and check them quarterly.  Whether I make some "club" or another is irrelevant.  I spent almost 3 hours in a closing today because it was important to make sure that all of the issues with the loan documents were resolved to my clients satisfaction.  That was more important than anything else at that moment.

It is common in our market for an individual agent to sell 40-60 homes with a part time non licensed assistant if they are willing to work. Yet there are some people who think they have to have an assistant and they only sell 20-30 homes a year. Sometimes I think the assistants may be making more than the agent.  :)

Hi Sylvie: I do compare how well I do against my peers. I'm on par, so I'm not complaining. But I also consider other agent's performances, especially if they are representing a buyer on my listings or a seller for my buyers. It lets me know how to negotiate with them. Performance counts.

Hi Sylvie: I do compare how well I do against my peers. I'm on par, so I'm not complaining. But I also consider other agent's performances, especially if they are representing a buyer on my listings or a seller for my buyers. It lets me know how to negotiate with them. Performance counts.

Elizabeth, I never set my goals by transactions, I set them by income.  I don't work well if I even think I won't make my goal. It stressed me out too much to set "X" number of closings each month. Once I set an income goal, that worked like a charm.  It doesn't matter to me how many I close, as long as I do meet my income goal by the end of the year.  Amazingly, I rarely even check to see where I stand. It just doesn't matter to me, now. It certainly did the first few years I was in business.

One more point is, I judge my success on how well I handle my clients and being able to best meet their needs.  Having integrity and knowing I helped guide my clients in the right direction is most important to me, by far.

I recently relocated, so I am flying solo for now. I had a full time assistant at one time in Nashville and also a part time assistant near the end of my career there.  I had a hard time keeping up with more than 2 or 3 closings per month, while doing my farm areas, handwritten notes,  marketing, absorption rates, etc.  (And I was a mom first) :) 

I truly think that MOST clients could care less how many transactions we close a year. They want to know we can be trusted, and that we have their best interest in mind at all times.  (Not all believe this, but a majority, I believe).

Elizabeth, I agree that performance counts, but I guess I was referring more to the question of number of sales, in your initial question. 

Performance counts, but again, I don't think it necessarily has to do with number of sales.  When I look at my performance, or another agent's performance, for example, I'm looking for integrity, among other things ...

I totally agree it is very helpful to 'learn' how to negotiate with other agents (even if the reasons may not be exactly the same ...).

I guess we all have different goals and different ways to measure our success; or how we get to the income we want to earn every year (as a measure of our performance and success).

If you run into Leslie Arnott, can you please tell her I said hi.  It's been almost a dozen years since I saw her last.  she's a pip!

Excellent post packed full of lots of great ideas to help me decide what to shoot for!

I think this depends a lot on how much the individual wants to earn and how hard they want to work.  If I personally close 15 to 20 transactions a year and make a decent income from those sales that is okay with me.  I know I will never be a millionaire agent but that is okay. If I were 25 instead of 55 that might be different.  But frankly at this point in my life I want to make a nice living but I don't want to work 80 hours a week to do it. 

I look at my bottom line each year and try to cut more expenses each year. I was guilty when I started out of trying to spend my way to the top and it can add up quickly. It isn't how much you make it's how much you keep. I personally know brokers making $400,000 to $500,000 a year that can barely hold it together because their monthly out flow is overboard. They are spending a fortune to get a lot of business and keeping very little.

Good question.   I have often wondered that very same question.  Your location, your goals and your needs have a lot to do with that answer.  After all in Mentone we only sold 37 houses in the past 12 months.  Divide that by 11 agents and 8 companies.

Paul Todd

Menotne, Alabama

Elizabeth, well, well, the queen of the gold star, huh? ;-)  I'm with you....I'm a hands on woman....no team for me, and I could never handle more than about 4-5 per month - though that isn't the case these days. Lukcy to have one or two a month average.  40-50 a year, tops.... I am training one of my sisters to become my assistant now though 'cause I'm going to need her to do the "stuff" around the office....;-)