Big Boom In Ottawa Real Estate Agents

There wasn't just a boom in Ottawa Real Estate over the past decade - there was also a big boom in real estate agents.

Floods of people across the Canada applied for real estate licenses, attracted by record sales volumes and seemingly non-stop price gains.

But the exuberance couldn't last forever. Agents, who work on commission, are already beginning to feel the bite.

Some realtors are beginning to look to other professions for an income to sustain them during the tightening. Many agents in Ottawa are really crying the blues. They're very pessimistic, and they're even talking about finding other employment or leaving the business altogether.

In the frenzied market we just came out of, where everything sells so quickly, there were plenty of brokers that were just acting as order takers. Now they really need to work hard to sell these properties, and only the people with pricing and negotiating skills are succeeding.

You can't just expect to stick a sign in someone's front yard and have the house sell. You need to have a really thorough understanding of your customers and your market.