CLEVELAND — Odds are, you probably know someone who said, "Guess what, I’m quitting my job and becoming a realtor," right?
Omega Jackson is one of those people. In his early 40s, he had spent a lifetime in the service industry.
Right before COVID hit, he thought it was time for a career change, so he went from making 20% of what people ate to a percent of where they live.
“Being in the real estate industry, you’re roughly making 3 to 4% of somebody’s house, and that’s the biggest transaction they’re ever gonna make,” Omega said.
In the last year and a half, he’s sold about six houses. The industry, he said, isn’t for the faint of heart, and it isn’t as fabulous or as glamorous as those TV shows like “Selling Sunset,” “Million Dollar Listing,” or “House Hunters” make it seem.
When most realtors start off, they average about three transactions a year, which typically isn’t enough to live on as a sole income. The hours aren't typically that flexible either, with realtors working weekends and nights if they want to make money.
“You have to be willing to call people and get hung up on and told no and use it as fuel to keep going, and if you can do that, I think you can make it,” Omega said.
Seth Task is the immediate past president of the Ohio Realtors Association and runs the Task Team with Berkshire Hathaway. He said tries to emphasize how much hard work, thick skin, and caring about clients matter.
“I try to teach my agents to think that way because there’s no paycheck at the end of the week,” Task said.
Task has been in the business for 17 years — has seen the ebbs and flows in the market — and in the career field.
For the last several years, Task said the number of people getting their real estate license in Ohio and around the country has steadily increased.
“We’ve even seen at the National Association of Realtors, there’s almost 1.6 million realtors today,” Task said. “At the bottom of the market, mortgage meltdown, we were at about 900,000, so that’s obviously a big increase.”
Ohio is home to roughly 36,000 realtors. Right now in Cuyahoga County, there are only about 1,400 active listings.
Data from the Ohio Realtors Association shows more than 3,000 people have become real estate agents since the pandemic.
One reason might be because Ohio allows you to take your real estate classes entirely online, so a lot of people turned toward the industry during the pandemic.
But with a lack of inventory, buyers forgoing inspections, and record sales, Task says it’s never been about just showing houses — especially right now, when often there aren’t even multiple homes to show.
It’s about understanding the entire process from start to finish — title, insurance, taxes, contracts.
And most of all, the emotions that come with buying and selling a home.
“It might look glamorous, but we’re dealing with people when they’re at their most vulnerable, and it’s our job to keep them sane,” Task said. “Every transaction you do is often the largest asset that person will ever own.”
