Half of All Real Estate Agents Have a Second Job, Says Redfin

According to new national survey of real estate agents by Redfin, half of all real estate professionals have a second job.

Respondents also reported a median of 7 to 9 closed sales in 2018, and a median income between $25,000 and $50,000 after work-related expenses.

The Survey, which was conducted in March, asked 500 agents who sold at least one home in the last year about the state of the real estate agent profession in the United States in terms of career fulfillment and growth, commissions, income, feelings about technology, and the pervasiveness of racial bias and sexism in the industry.

Among the Survey’s Key Findings:

  • Nearly half of respondents have a second job; a third outside of real estate.
  • Millennials were the customers agents were least likely to identify as easy to serve.
  • 41% of agents who advertised on lead-generation sites had a positive return on investment.
  • 33% of agents said the internet had increased the amount of work associated with a sale compared to 32% who claimed a decrease.
  • 21% of agents would recommend their career to others.
  • Of agents with five years of experience or more, 49% said commissions have remained about the same over the past five years, 31% said commissions had declined.
  • 33% of non-white agents believe bias is pervasive, compared to 18% of white agents.
  • 13% of female agents report sexism or harassment from customers, 6% from colleagues.