10 Ways to Ensure Your Agents are Succeeding in Today's Unsteady Real Estate Market

By Michael Staver, Real Estate Business Magazine, December 2006/January 2007

It's tough to be a real estate agent in today's economy. Sales commissions are stagnating. Thanks to the Internet and the rise of alternate business models, consumers now control transactions. Meanwhile, the previously superheated market has cooled — some might even say "sunk like a stone" — and homes that would once have sold in a matter of weeks now sit empty for months.

Real estate professionals today find themselves on a whole new playing field. The 2006 industry bears little resemblance to say, its 1996 incarnation. Yet, despite everything that has changed, people still move, marry, have babies and outgrow their living quarters. They still have to sell — and buy — homes.