Only 15% of the Real Estate Agents in Sacramento Sell 1 or More Homes a Month

People find it difficult to believe that when I started in this business in the 1970s, I sold homes without inspecting them. Never saw them. I owned a small real estate company and was responsible for counseling buyers, writing and negotiating the transactions. My agents tracked down the deals. Almost every transaction involved owner financing. To work like that today would be unthinkable and ripe with liability.

I had previously been an escrow officer and before that a title searcher at a title company. I thought I knew everything about real estate. I was young and cocky. That's why I took the California real estate broker's exam 5 times. I didn't realize back then that I needed to learn how to pass the exam. Passing the exam and selling real estate are two different things.

When readers from my About.com home buying site write to ask how they should get started in real estate, I tell them that starting out at a large brokerage is invaluable. Newly licensed real estate agents need to learn the basics from the ground up and align themselves with a mentor. Laws change constantly. The business is complex.

But there is also no substitute for experience. I learn something new every day, even after 30-some years in the business. Because when a person stops learning, it's time to change careers. I will never know it all in this business.

When I moved to Sacramento, I interviewed the major real estate brokers in town. I wanted to affiliate myself with the best. With the company that offered the best support, and provided superior technology and ongoing education and, as a result, I chose Lyon Real Estate -- a leader in the community since 1946.

Because I am a real estate broker and not just a real estate agent, I could work entirely by myself in California. I don't need to affiliate with a Sacramento real estate brokerage. But I choose to work at Lyon Real Estate because it supports me fully by offering the tools I need to do the best job possible for my clients. As an added bonus, I have the opportunity to work with some of the brightest and most experienced agents in town.

Experience means an agent can predict future problems and head them off at the pass before they can explode and blow up a transaction. It means contracts are written correctly, and one can pretty much figure out which direction negotiations will move and prepare.

Often, when I am about to go into contract with another Sacramento real estate agent, I may look up that agent's production in MLS. I want to know who I am working with. For example, August stats from Trendgraphix show we have 6,267 agents in Sacramento. Of those, 73% have sold 4 or fewer homes this year. 85% have sold 7 or fewer homes in 2009. This means, if I've done the math correctly, that only 15% of the agents in Sacramento have sold 1 or more homes a month this year.

The fact is the more transactions an agent completes, the more knowledge an agent accumulates, or you would hope. And some Sacramento home buyers know this. A first-time home buyer emailed me out of the blue yesterday. She said she wanted to be upfront by disclosing that she's interviewing several agents to help her buy a home. She asked me to send her my last 12 months of production and present inventory. I'd say that is a pretty smart buyer.

Some agents may feel uncomfortable disclosing what they may feel is personal information or be offended, but I didn't have any qualms letting her know that I have closed 33 transactions over the past 12 months -- about a 50/50 split between sellers and buyers -- and I presently have 31 listings, of which 5 are unsold or in negotiations. I don't close $40 million a year like a few agents in town, but I do all right. If you dig for it, all that information is available on my web site; it's not like it's private data.

When I look back over the years, my worst nightmare transactions involved unsupervised agents or agents without much experience. Experience teaches one how to manage client expectations while keeping a finger on the pulse of the real estate market, how to protect a client's interest and comply with the law, but most of all it prepares an agent for the unexpected. Because sure as the sun will come up tomorrow, I know that I'm likely to receive an offer from an agent who thinks she understands the business but has no real practical experience. And I will try to have compassion for that agent because I once stood in her shoes.