As sales drop, so do agents

Sunday, Oct. 29, 2006 | 7:53 a.m.

So much for Easy Street.

During the real estate boom, the ranks of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors more than doubled to nearly 15,000 members - including teachers, food servers and blackjack dealers who were taking real estate classes, getting their licenses and printing up business cards.

The housing market was hot and new real estate agents were wide-eyed with the prospect of cashing in on Las Vegas' growth.

But since July, nearly 20 percent of the valley's real estate agents have given up, not bothering to spend $300 to renew their licenses, according to figures released this week by the Nevada Real Estate Division.

Of 17,700 real estate agents working the valley during the peak of the market - from 2003 through early 2005 - 26 percent are no longer licensed to handle real estate transactions, according to the state.

Among the reasons some have returned to their old jobs: They've gone months without a sale and still face monthly expenses of about $1,000 for a cell phone, office space, insurance, gasoline and other costs of doing business.

"So many agents got into the business when it was crazy, and they thought there was money for the taking," real estate agent Karen Pincock said. "But it is not that way. When we get up every morning, we are unemployed. You have to make things happen."

Pincock's daughter, Stephanie Lucas - who became a full-time agent in August 2005 after working in the mortgage industry - said the real estate business has more demands than people realize.

Lucas, 28 and the mother of a 3-year-old, said she handled a dozen transactions in 14 months and will continue working part time on referrals. But she's attending school to obtain a degree in fashion design.

Real estate sales "seemed like a good opportunity to be your own boss and set your own schedule, but with the market slowing down, you are a slave to the job," she said.

Agents who launched their careers when the housing market took off made $100,000 to $125,000 a year based on splitting 6 percent commissions. The market was so hot, many new agents didn't need to promote themselves or build a referral base beyond their families, said Vic Ruybalid, a broker at Liberty Realty.

Today, he said, some of those same people are struggling to make $1,000 a month.

"A lot of people think the real estate profession is an easy job, but it's one of the hardest they've ever had. It is literally a 14 to 16 hours, seven-day-a-week job. We had a lot of people working in casinos and wanted to do real estate as a part-time business. If you are going to do it part time, you are not going to be successful."

Despite the slowdown, experienced agents are making $500,000 to $750,000 a year, Ruybalid said.

Tom Brewer is a newcomer to real estate sales - and said he has had enough success to stick with it. Previously he was a property manager.

The secret, he said, is to work hard.

"Most agents don't prospect (for clients) correctly and don't know how to treat clients and how to ask for referrals," he said.

"The biggest thing is that they think in terms of their own pocketbook instead of the client."

Linda Rheinberger, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, said: "Some people say they are just sitting back and aggressively waiting for business to fall in their laps. You could have gotten away with that the last two years, but today you have to go out and work."

A version of this story appears in the current issue of In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication.