Good morning Julia,

The market has changed and we as Real Estate Professionals have had to readjust ourselves to these changes. To better serve buyers, sellers and agents in this changing climate, we launched Avenue 3 Real Estate last year. We invite you to visit our website and contact us. We would appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and to share our model with you.

Lois Ardito, principal
Avenue 3 Real Estate

Julia,

The answer is yes...and no. As both Deb and Michael wrote, many variables go into making a Realtor successful - drive, integrity, talent, intelligence, opportunity, training, experience etc. But the short answer to your question is that the Arlington marketplace is a great area to sell real estate and there are a number of very talented people making a great living in real estate sales here. The stats for Arlington? Over the past 3 months, 104 single family homes have sold in MLS and the average list price to sale price ratio is 99%. This is phenomenal. 85 Condos sold in the same period with a 98% ratio of LP/SP. In my opinion, Arlington has retained price and unit numbers better than most markets during the downturn of the past few years. I would be happy to discuss this further if you have more questions.

Steve Savarese
Realtor/Owner
Century 21 Adams (Arlington)
781-648-6900

Hi Julia,

Michael might not work in Arlington and Medford (I do) but his answer is absolutely correct. Many people get into real estate thinking it's an easy way to make a living. What you need to know to get your real estate salesperson's license is not what you need to know to be able to successfully help people make large financial (and emotional) decisions.

I began my career in 1991 when it took 1.5 years to sell a house. What I learned when the market was tough has been invaluable during good markets and bad. So, if you do decide to make your career move now, it's a great time to learn. One of my recommendations is to take the GRI (Graduate of the REALTOR Institute) course. It consists of 6 two day courses that focus on financing, marketing properties, business planning, architecture . . . the things that you really need to run your business successfully.

According to CNN Money, the median income for a real estate agent is $35,715. (Keep in mind that with a median figure, half of the agents in the field make less than that.) You also have to be willing to take a risk because most real estate agents work solely on commission and receive no salary or benefits. So, to answer your question - yes you can make a good living in Arlington and Medford these days if you're willing to spend the time and money to become well educated and work hard.

Just like Michael - feel free to call or email. I'd be happy to chat with you.

Hi Julia,
I'm on the North Shore but I suppose the answer is the same in any market. In sales it really shouldn't matter if it is a buyer's or seller's market. What you should focus on is what percentage of the market are you getting and how are you getting it.

Being a Realtor is running a buisness and you need to wear many hats. The most important to your business will be lead generation and data base management. These are the systems and tools that you put into place in order to drive business to you and then act as a pipeline for future business.

Many agent's come into the business ready to show property and hold open houses. What they are not ready for is putting in the time and resources to find the clients.

Too much to go over in a trulia answer. Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions --Mike