National slump drives agents to seek new careers

DALLAS — Charlene Zeman spent more than a decade in the housing business, including the past three years selling homes.

But the housing slowdown — the worst nationally in a generation — sent her, like thousands of other agents, looking for a new career.

"I had to have a more steady income," Zeman said. "I had to know when the next paycheck was coming. And they were getting fewer and farther between."

With home sales down throughout most of the nation, real-estate agents are feeling the pinch of smaller commission checks and less business.

No wonder many agents are switching to a new line of work.

The National Association of Realtors, the Washington, D.C.-based trade association, dropped by more than 100,000 members from the end of 2006 to this March.

Even in places like Texas, which has escaped the worst of the housing depression, the number of licensed sales agents and brokers is down about 3,000 from last summer.

And the number of new sales agent applications is off about 30 percent from a year ago.

"The falloff would be expected as the market slows down," said James Gaines, an economist with Texas A&M University's Real Estate Center.

But he said it's impossible to draw a direct correlation between the slowdown in home sales and the decline in agents.

"And since they often pay a two-year fee, the license numbers don't vary as quickly from year to year," Gaines said.

Zeman didn't need a university study to tell her it was time to get out of the home sales business.

"I was in it when it was great, in it when it was good and in it when it wasn't so good," said Zeman, who is now working in sales for telecommunications giant AT&T.

"I love it," she said. "It's been very successful. I've been in the top 10 since I got here in February."

Christian Walker spent almost two years in Dallas residential sales before deciding to change direction.

"At the time, I sensed that the Dallas market was going to contract some and that this, combined with the saturation of agents, made it a good time to consider other options," said Walker, who has gone back to school while working at a Fort Worth, Texas, architectural firm.

He's just started working full time on a master's degree in architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Walker said he "saw an opportunity to put the experience and awareness of customer needs that I had acquired to move into a related field, architecture."

"Endless showings and open houses also gave me a perspective about customer needs and expectations that I feel will be invaluable for an architect."