Where Did All the Really Big Agents Go?

"When the going gets tough... the tough get going!"  I was at a company mixer the other evening in Atlanta, and was talking to some very successful agents that were in the Atlanta real estate market much longer than I have been!  It was interesting to talk with locals that have seen good and bad times and reflect on the industry and the changes we all saw!  It was more than reminisicng, we were taking stock of the current market and where it was going!  Recently we had a whole bunch of real estate offices close!  In the past it was entire companies that dissapeared! Nothing stays the same forever.  Companies like Merrill Lynch, Buckhead Brokers, Northside Realty to name just a few were a major part of the Atlanta real estate landscape and have disappeared into obscurity!  So too have many of the really big real estate agents, and their teams!  These were real estate names that were almost household words!  Through billboards, mailings, newspapers, and cold calling and classifieds everyone knew their names!  You know the ones that dominated everything!  At awards ceremonies they picked up every possible award, and left no trophy left to claim for the "Johnny come lately!"  The question is now, where are they and what happened to them?  Where are those superstars now?

High overhead, and top heavy marketing has claimed a lot of unsuspecting victims with big egos that did not see this downturn coming.  They kept spending like a sailor on a spree at shoreleave!  Some of the big names no one knows what happened to them, a few are no longer living, a few... have died of suicide!  The scary thing is that some of these were indeed very successful looking at least on the outside!   Now I think differently about them!  Oh and the one that everyone forgot about was the one big agent we all competed with - who is in jail for 10 years for fraud!  It is interesting to sometimes sit back and reflect and see that sometimes success is elusive, while for others that have a small operation, and watch their expenses are still doing OK.  They are making good money, and paying the bills.  The difference is that they left their egos at the door!  Longevity, and success are planned destinations in the life of a successful real estate agent!