I have started a new chapter in my real estate life – that of being the Broker/Manager of the Weidel West Windsor office. I will attempt to bring some of the web expertise I have developed along to help our associates cope with the new market.
Along that vein, I have started a new blog about beginning and maintaining a career in real estate in Central New Jersey. Come along for the journey….
I spent some time yesterday as Santa’s helper by taking pictures at the West Windsor Weidel office as we offered complimentary pictures with Santa in the Weidel sleigh in front of the office.
Okay, so let’s figure this out together. There were 212 average sales per month in Mercer County real estate over the past year. They sold for an average of $338,901 and spent an average of 89 days on the market. A quick check of the membership roster in our local Multiple Listing Service reveals 1664 members in offices with zipcodes in Mercer County. The average total commission rate for a sale probably comes in around 5.5%.
That is a total of 2544 sales (1.52 per member) or a total sales amount of $862,164,144. This should result in total commissions of about $47,419,027.92.
With there being two members working on each transaction, each member would receive an average $14,248.50 in commissions for the year, which is generally split between the member and the company they have their license with. Assuming 52 weeks per year — 5 days per week — 8 hours per day, for a total of 2080 hours per year, that works out to $3.43 per hour. And then you have to take out the 15% for social security taxes, your multiple listing, membership and license fees, your Errors and Omissions insurance, car expenses, etc.
Even if you assume the agent is only working while the listing(s) are on the market (89 days x 1.52 listings), that is still 1082 hours or $6.58 per hour, before expenses.
The federal minimum wage is set to rise to $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.
It would appear that we need either higher commissions, more sold houses, or fewer agents in order to meet the requirement of the Federal Minimum Wage.
Statistics kept at DeltaNet, our Weidel website provider, show that over the past number of weeks our West Windsor NJ Homes for Sale website has provided the most traffic to our Weidel webpage.
Websites ranked in order of performance
This trend has proven resilient over time. Google and Yahoo know that the Weidel page exists but it does not rank very high in their rank of importance.
Checking on statistics to see where visitors are clicking through from to get to our Weidel site, still shows a close race between East Windsor and West Windsor NJ Homes for Sale sites. More people from Google than I would have thought. And the traffic has picked up this year.
Yesterday, we put together a contract, this morning we are putting together another contract, should have another one for tomorrow. Not complaining at all. Another client says they are ready to buy, and we are looking at houses Monday evening. The mortgage representatives are saying they are extremely busy, and with rates approaching 4.5%, why shouldn’t they be? Also met with someone yesterday from the old neighborhood that was referred by an attorney. Red Hot Sale tomorrow. And the beat goes on…..
Snow on our patio on March 20, 2009
We awoke to this snowy scene after having put up the umbrella, put out the chairs, and generally prepared ourselves for spring.
!@#$%^& groundhog!!
This was posted to try to explain the gobble-dee-gook that we found on the web yesterday…..
Conference Agreement
The conference agreement extends the existing homebuyer credit for qualifying home purchases before December I, 2009. In addition, it increases the maximum credit amount to $8,000 ($4,000 for a married individual filing separately) and waives the recapture of the credit for qualifying home purchases after December 31, 2008 and before December I, 2009. This waiver of recapture applies without regard to whether the taxpayer elects to treat the purchase in 2009 as occurring on December 31, 2008. If the taxpayer disposes of the home or the home otherwise ceases to be the principal residence of the taxpayer within 36 months from the date of purchase, the present law rules for recapture of the credit will apply.
The conference agreement modifies the coordination with the first-time homebuyer credit for residents of the District of Columbia under section 1400C. No credit under section 1400C shall be allowed to any taxpayer with respect to the purchase of a residence during 2009 if a credit under section 36 is allowable to such taxpayer (or the taxpayer’s spouse) with respect to such purchase. Taxpayers thus qualify for the more generous national first-time homebuyer credit rather than the D.C. homebuyer credit for qualifying purchases in 2009. No credit under section 36 is allowed for a taxpayer who claimed the D.C. homebuyer credit in any prior taxable year.
The conference agreement removes the prohibition on claiming the credit if the residence is financed by the proceeds of a mortgage revenue bond, a qualified mortgage issue the interest on which is exempt from tax under section 103.
Effective date.-The provision applies to residences purchased after December 31, 2008.
Snow on the Home Front
We are holding steady with the increase in visitors....
Checking in on the statistics at our portion of the Weidel.com website reveals that we are maintaining the increase in people looking for homes, at least through the second week. With the mortgage rates down so dramatically, we have every hope of the real estate market becoming more active.