Saturday, February 4, 2023
Chuck Marunde, J.D., Broker/Owner 360-775-5424


iRealty Virtual Brokers


Broker/Consultant

Washington State

SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Search MLS
    • Sequim MLS
    • Sequim MLS Map Search
    • Port Angeles MLS
    • Port Townsend MLS
    • San Juan Islands MLS
    • All Islands MLS
    • How to Search the Sequim MLS
  • Videos
    • Sequim Videos Q&A
    • Buyer Videos Part 1
    • Buyer Videos Part 2
    • Buyer Videos Part 3
    • Buyer Videos Part 4
    • Living in Sequim Video Channel
  • Books
    The Coming Real Estate Crash

    The Coming Real Estate Crash

    The Sequim Real Estate Trilogy

    The Sequim Real Estate Trilogy

    Sequim Real Estate Videos for Buyers: The Ultimate Video Guide for Sequim Washington

    Sequim Real Estate Videos for Buyers: The Ultimate Video Guide for Sequim Washington

    Escaping California to the San Juan Islands

    Escaping California to the San Juan Islands

    Get Healthy

    Get Healthy: Increase Natural Immunities, Cellular Energy, Deep Sleep & Decrease Blood Pressure

    Manage Your Energy

    Manage Your Energy Not Your Time

    Real Estate Brokerage From Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuality

    Real Estate Brokerage From Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuality

    7 Myths of Selling Your Home

    7 Myths of Selling Your Home

    Buying Your Retirement Home

    Buying Your Retirement Home

    The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents

    The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents

    Sequim Real Estate For Buyers: Free eBook Updates Forever

    Sequim Real Estate For Buyers: Free eBook Updates Forever

    24 Secrets of Buying a Country Home

    24 Secrets of Buying a Country Home

    Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide

    Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide

    Living Off The Grid iin Alaska

    Living Off The Grid in Alaska

    Buying and Selling Real Estate

    Buying and Selling Real Estate

    Trending Tags

      • Sequim Real Estate for Buyers (Free eBook Updates Forever)
      • Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide (Paperback)
      • Escaping California to The San Juan Islands
      • Buying & Selling Real Estate in The Rain Shadow
      • Real Estate From Bricks & Mortar to High Tech Virtuality
      • The Seven Myths of Selling Your Home
      • Buying Your Retirement Home
      • The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents
    • Agents
      Marunde Google

      Chuck Marunde on Google

      Flat Fee Listing Broker

      Flat Fee Listing Broker

      Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde

      Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde

      Trending Tags

        • Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde
        • Flat Fee Listing Broker
        • Google Profile & Leave Reviews
      Tetralogy
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Login
      • Register
      • Home
      • Search MLS
        • Sequim MLS
        • Sequim MLS Map Search
        • Port Angeles MLS
        • Port Townsend MLS
        • San Juan Islands MLS
        • All Islands MLS
        • How to Search the Sequim MLS
      • Videos
        • Sequim Videos Q&A
        • Buyer Videos Part 1
        • Buyer Videos Part 2
        • Buyer Videos Part 3
        • Buyer Videos Part 4
        • Living in Sequim Video Channel
      • Books
        The Coming Real Estate Crash

        The Coming Real Estate Crash

        The Sequim Real Estate Trilogy

        The Sequim Real Estate Trilogy

        Sequim Real Estate Videos for Buyers: The Ultimate Video Guide for Sequim Washington

        Sequim Real Estate Videos for Buyers: The Ultimate Video Guide for Sequim Washington

        Escaping California to the San Juan Islands

        Escaping California to the San Juan Islands

        Get Healthy

        Get Healthy: Increase Natural Immunities, Cellular Energy, Deep Sleep & Decrease Blood Pressure

        Manage Your Energy

        Manage Your Energy Not Your Time

        Real Estate Brokerage From Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuality

        Real Estate Brokerage From Bricks and Mortar to High Tech Virtuality

        7 Myths of Selling Your Home

        7 Myths of Selling Your Home

        Buying Your Retirement Home

        Buying Your Retirement Home

        The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents

        The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents

        Sequim Real Estate For Buyers: Free eBook Updates Forever

        Sequim Real Estate For Buyers: Free eBook Updates Forever

        24 Secrets of Buying a Country Home

        24 Secrets of Buying a Country Home

        Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide

        Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide

        Living Off The Grid iin Alaska

        Living Off The Grid in Alaska

        Buying and Selling Real Estate

        Buying and Selling Real Estate

        Trending Tags

          • Sequim Real Estate for Buyers (Free eBook Updates Forever)
          • Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide (Paperback)
          • Escaping California to The San Juan Islands
          • Buying & Selling Real Estate in The Rain Shadow
          • Real Estate From Bricks & Mortar to High Tech Virtuality
          • The Seven Myths of Selling Your Home
          • Buying Your Retirement Home
          • The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents
        • Agents
          Marunde Google

          Chuck Marunde on Google

          Flat Fee Listing Broker

          Flat Fee Listing Broker

          Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde

          Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde

          Trending Tags

            • Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde
            • Flat Fee Listing Broker
            • Google Profile & Leave Reviews
          No Result
          View All Result
          iRealty Virtual Brokers
          No Result
          View All Result
          Home News and Commentary

          Real Estate Brokers and Agents Quitting

          Chuck Marunde by Chuck Marunde
          June 17, 2019
          Reading Time: 4 mins read
          0 0
          4

          Sequim Real Estate BrokerYou can bet Sequim and Port Angeles real estate agents are and will be leaving the business.   The front page news around the country is that real estate brokers and agents are quitting the business in droves.   This is no surprise, of course, but it is unfortunate.

          The writing has been on the wall for a while, but I do think some people are going to be shocked when some local agents and brokers go out of business.   Those of us who are in the business won’t be shocked, because we know, or at least we think we know who will be gone this time next year.

          “Brokers Go Bust.   Changing names, merging, consolidating, filing bankruptcy and closing branches was on the order of the day throughout 2008 as literally thousands of real estate brokerages companies went out of business during 2008. This included many independents as well as franchises from just about every major brand including Century 21, EXIT and RE/MAX. Also filling for bankruptcy is national franchise Help-U-Sell and Web 2.0 newcomers such as Igglo. 2009 may see even more brokers closing up shop than 2008.”   [Inman Real Estate News]

          “Since the end of last year, about 2,800 Washington agents have abandoned the business, a decrease of about 9 percent, and hundreds more have put their licenses on hold, according to the state’s Department of Licensing. . . . Many others are toughing it out by moving from well-known brokerages to smaller firms that allow them to keep 100 percent of their commission. . . . Real estate agent Len Brandt left RE/Max Eastside Brokers and moved to independent company NW Real Estate earlier this year largely because he couldn’t afford the higher fees at the larger firm during the down market.”   [Read the full article in the Seattle Business Journal.]

          “In Cape Coral, Fla., where only 30 percent of agents sold even a single home last year, real estate agents are ‘dropping out’ daily, says local realtor Ginette Young. The Oregon Association of Realtors reports an 11.5 percent decline statewide of licensed agents in the past year.   Many of those who leave quietly shelve their signs. Others go out big: In Gilbert, Ariz., the fastest-growing city in the fastest-growing state, RE/MAX 2000 closed 13 offices throughout the Valley of the Sun, laying off at least 20 employees and scores of contract agents right before Christmas. The company couldn’t meet its expenses.”   [Read full story at Housing Crash – Realtors Quit.]

          A large Portland Broker with 56 agents filed bankruptcy recently.   “The office expansion and billboards? . . . Those expenses turned into the company’s biggest unsecured creditors.   . . . ‘We ran out of money to pay them,’ Haskins said. “The business just wasn’t viable.'”   [Read full story at Real Estate Broker Bankrupt.]

          “Jack Jentzen never saw it coming. Four years ago, as a real estate agent in Elgin, Ill., he was enjoying the rewards of the most frenzied U.S. housing market in decades, and money poured in. Now he’s fighting to keep his home. . . . Tens of thousands of Realtors have been forced to quit the industry in the past couple of years. Some are enduring their own agonizing foreclosures. Agents who had staked their fortunes on galloping home sales now struggle to afford health care, utilities and other basics.”   [Read full story at Realtors Live Close to Edge.]

          What will happen in Sequim and Port Angeles?   Unfortunately, more of the same.   This is a nationwide experience, and real estate brokers in Clallam County are not exempt from the market downturn.   Here are a couple of business 101 principles that will most likely cause one or more brokers to close their doors before next spring in Sequim and/or Port Angeles.

          A business can operate only so long in the red before it is forced to close its doors.   When fixed and variable expenses exceed income for too long, there is trouble looming on the horizon.   A ship can take on some water, and it can take on small amounts of water for longer than most people think, but eventually the ship begins to rest uneasy, and ultimately it tilts slowly and sinks.   For real estate brokers that have taken on massive quantities of debt, and who have huge monthly fixed expenses, these expenses are water filling the ship.

          Let’s face it, real estate commissions are drastically down, and there is no reliable data to indicate that real estate commissions are suddenly going to save these brokers.   It is my opinion, and this is not exactly rocket science, that a couple and maybe a few real estate brokers will close their doors in the next six months in Sequim and/or Port Angeles.   While some agents will leave the business entirely, other agents who can weather the storm will transfer their licenses to brokers who have less overhead and where they can keep more of their real estate commissions.

          I wrote an article months ago about how Traditional Real Estate Brokerage is Dead, and I did get some heat from colleagues about that article, but the devastating real estate market combined with old fashioned business models has created a very caustic environment.   This environment is going to put some of those traditional brokers out of business.   I would be glad to be wrong about this.

          I’m pleased that my own brokerage is probably one of the lowest overhead brokerages in all of Sequim and Port Angeles, and at the same time I believe I have the largest Internet presence of any agent and broker on the entire Northern Olympic Peninsula.   While buyers are not pulling out their checkbooks right now, they are using the Internet.   While my business model has great promise for this market and when the market comes back, I fear for some of my colleagues, because some ships appear to be taking on too much water.

          Chuck Marunde, J.D.
          Broker/Realtor
          SequimRealEstateNews.com

          Last Updated on June 17, 2019 by Chuck Marunde

          Tags: agents quittingbankruptport angeles real estate brokers
          ShareTweet
          Chuck Marunde

          Chuck Marunde

          Chuck grew up in remote Alaska, graduated from the University of Alaska with a degree in Economics and Teacher Certification, and after teaching high school for two years, went to law school at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He served four years as a Captain and JAG in the USAF at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. After practicing real estate law for 20 years in Washington, Chuck founded iRealty Virtual Brokers covering Sequim and the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. He is the author of 2,200 real estate articles and a dozen real estate books, and he produced over 100 real estate videos. Chuck combined his love for real estate and technology to create a massive Internet presence, and his articles and videos and books have been viewed by millions. Chuck is a well recognized real estate expert and his counsel is sought by other brokers and practicing attorneys around the country. Buyers from New York to Hawaii and from Florida to Alaska seek him out to retain him as their buyer's agent, and home owners around the State of Washington seek him out because of his new Flat Fee Listing Service. 

          Related Posts

          Methadone Clinic
          News and Commentary

          Save Our Sequim: Stop The Regional Methadone Addiction Facility

          August 23, 2019
          24
          News and Commentary

          Oil Rig in Port Angeles

          September 7, 2019
          3
          Audubon Center
          News and Commentary

          The Sequim Audubon Center

          September 28, 2019
          1
          Sequim Flood
          News and Commentary

          Sequim Dungeness River Nearly Flooding

          September 28, 2019
          53
          New Year's Resolution
          News and Commentary

          The Sequim New Year’s Resolution: Something Better

          September 27, 2019
          0
          News and Commentary

          The Death of Newspapers: What’s Going On?

          September 21, 2019
          1
          Next Post
          how to research a real estate agent

          How to Research Your Next Real Estate Agent

          Twilight The Movie in Forks Washington

          Comments 4

          1. Unsecured Small Business Loan For Va says:
            14 years ago

            I am with you on the topic of Real Estate Brokers and Agents Quitting. Ironically, I was just putting a lot of thought into this last Tuesday, because I’m seeing a lot of agents leave the business. Of course, that’s true not only for real estate agent, but also for mortgage brokers.

            Reply
          2. Free Foreclosure Listings Portland Or says:
            14 years ago

            Hey Chuck, your articles have more real substance and help for people than anything else I’ve seen, and I sure appreciate it. I’m using your blog a lot for my business and my own clients. Don’t stop writing!

            Reply
          3. Sequim Real Estate says:
            12 years ago

            Excellent article on Sequim real estate issues. Your blog has a lot of great articles for buyers like us. We are so happy to find you.

            Reply
          4. Cynthia D. says:
            11 years ago

            I’ve been watching how the big franchise real estate offices are going out of business everywhere in the country. It’s too bad for a log of those people, but I can tell you that I sure appreciate the Internet resources your brokerage puts online. Very very much appreciated, and the price is right.

            Reply

          Leave a Reply Cancel reply

          Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

          I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

          This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

          "I wish I read this before selling my
          home. I could have saved $50,000." Andy 

          Search 2,200 Articles by Category

          • Trending
          • Comments
          • Latest
          Buyer and Seller

          What if a Buyer and Seller Talk to Each Other?

          August 5, 2022
          Prorate Propane

          How to Prorate Propane at Closing

          August 15, 2015
          Terminate a real estate contract

          How to Terminate a Real Estate Contract

          December 31, 2020

          The Sequim Blue Hole – A Map of Rainfall

          September 1, 2019
          print newspapers

          Print Newspapers Losing Readers to the Internet

          42
          Buyer and Seller

          What if a Buyer and Seller Talk to Each Other?

          32
          FNMA Killing Transactions by Requiring Private Road Maintenance Agreements

          FNMA Killing Transactions by Requiring Private Road Maintenance Agreements

          31

          What Documents Does a Buyer Need to Buy Real Estate?

          24
          Sequim real estate market

          Sequim Real Estate Market: Annual Review for 2022

          February 2, 2023
          Seattle Real Estate Market in Decline

          Seattle Real Estate Market in Dramatic Decline

          December 22, 2022
          Buying a home

          Buyers Must Be More Cautious Than Ever

          December 7, 2022
          Flat Fee Listing Service

          Sellers Chase the Market Down Once Again

          December 10, 2022

          Subscribe to Chuck 
          Marunde's Newsletter

          Popular Stories

          • Buyer and Seller

            What if a Buyer and Seller Talk to Each Other?

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0
          • How to Prorate Propane at Closing

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0
          • How to Terminate a Real Estate Contract

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0
          • The Sequim Blue Hole – A Map of Rainfall

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0
          • Why is Sequim One Of The 10 Best Places To Retire?

            0 shares
            Share 0 Tweet 0

          Leaving Comments   I hope you’ll join our community and leave comments from time to time. Please realize that comments, if approved, will be public, so do not use any personal information you don’t want broadcast to the world, and definitely don’t leave a phone number. Comments are not the place to ask Chuck Marunde for help in finding a home. To do that, call or text Chuck.

          Neither Chuck Marunde nor iRealty Virtual Brokers offers legal advice on this site. Please Read Our Legal Disclaimer

          If you’d like to view how we protect your privacy, see our Privacy Policy.

          iRealty Virtual Brokers

          iRealty Virtual Brokers reaches out to buyers around the United States with thousands of online articles, MLS sites, apps, real estate books, videos, and much more specifically to help buyers find all the answers to their questions. We also now offer a flat fee commission listing service that saves sellers tens of thousands of dollars.

          iRealty Virtual Brokers
          125 Olympic Ranch Ln
          Sequim, Washington 98382
          360-775-5424

          Search the entire NWMLS in Washington State:

          Sequim-Homes.com

          The largest independent real estate blog in the State of Washington with over 2,200 articles totally focused on our client’s best interest, their needs and their curiosity. All free and 100% reliable. I’m here if you need me, 

          © 2006-2022 iRealty Virtual Brokers and Chuck Marunde

          No Result
          View All Result
          • Home
          • Search MLS
            • Sequim MLS
            • Sequim MLS Map Search
            • Port Angeles MLS
            • Port Townsend MLS
            • San Juan Islands MLS
            • All Islands MLS
            • How to Search the Sequim MLS
          • Videos
            • Sequim Videos Q&A
            • Buyer Videos Part 1
            • Buyer Videos Part 2
            • Buyer Videos Part 3
            • Buyer Videos Part 4
            • Living in Sequim Video Channel
          • Books
            • Sequim Real Estate for Buyers (Free eBook Updates Forever)
            • Sequim Real Estate: A Buyer’s Guide (Paperback)
            • Escaping California to The San Juan Islands
            • Buying & Selling Real Estate in The Rain Shadow
            • Real Estate From Bricks & Mortar to High Tech Virtuality
            • The Seven Myths of Selling Your Home
            • Buying Your Retirement Home
            • The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents
          • Agents
            • Buyers Agent Chuck Marunde
            • Flat Fee Listing Broker
            • Google Profile & Leave Reviews
          • Login
          • Sign Up

          © 2006-2022 iRealty Virtual Brokers and Chuck Marunde

          Welcome Back!

          Login to your account below

          Forgotten Password? Sign Up

          Create New Account!

          Fill the forms bellow to register

          *By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
          All fields are required. Log In

          Retrieve your password

          Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

          Log In
          This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.