Struggling Real Estate Agents Turn to Rentals for Work

Unemployed and underemployed real estate brokers and agents are finding steady work in rentals.

The market has migrated from buying to renting. So far, this year, reports Shareen Pathak in Sales-Jobs.Fin.com, 158,000 apartments have been rented, compared to 21,000 units in 2009. In Florida, for example, Real Estate Sales Force hired 39 sales agents this year and plans to hire 25 more before the year's end. Its revenue during the past six months had been $85,000.

More good news. The logistics of the rental market have become a lot easier. Technology such as Rentjuice.com tracks ads for rentals as well as listings for properties. Also, some who have switched over from selling to rentals might enjoy the more regular though smaller income. The sale of a house yields a one time commission, usually larger than the fee from rentals. However, the time between sales can seem forever.

For this reason, they might decide to continue in rentals and then add selling back as a mixed bag when the housing market recovers. This mixture of rentals and sales could become standard as America seems to have changed its mindset from owning as the American Dream to leasing and turning the maintenance over to the landlord.


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