Big-Picture Sites Most Helpful for Online Browsing

Now if we're selling several homes every month, then we would be making an average living -- and I stress average -- but right now, even some of our top agents have a month where the sales are falling apart.

Short sales take months to close, the buyer's financing falls through and such. So selling one house a month would earn me a little over $13,000 per year? Boy, I guess I'm greedy. And what about agents who list at 4 percent, or those whose office fees or splits are greater?

I bet it would be difficult to find someone willing to be on call seven days a week, who actually works a good eight-hour day for at least five of those days, and who only makes that much per year. Fortunately, many people recognize the amount of work we do for them. Unfortunately, the ones who don't see it this way are always the ones who make it to print.

And for those who think we are useless, well, just look at what the housing crisis is proving. Without us selling homes, many other trades and businesses are collapsing. Without a real estate transaction, there are no closings for title agents, no new mortgages, no home inspections, no septic inspections . . . well, you get the idea.

A: Your letter provides an interesting look inside the real estate profession, and I can tell you're frustrated. I appreciate your comments about the length of listing agreements and think that it's wise of you to work with your clients to accommodate the length of time that they want for a listing.

Many agents worry that if they don't sign up their clients for the long haul, they won't renew their listing agreements. So, they push for a long listing agreement that just pens everyone in.

Thanks for also providing an inside look at how the finances of being a real estate agent often differ from what many home buyers and sellers would have expected -- especially in a slow market.

It's true that very few agents are paid on an hourly basis for their work. Most, like you, rely on flat-rate commissions for their income. Your letter provides a glimpse at some of the out-of-pocket expenses agents bear, such as advertising, the entertaining of clients, gas, car maintenance, technology expenses (computers, cellphone and BlackBerry services) and other expenses.

If you lived in a high-cost area such as New York City, where the average home sells for nearly $1 million instead of $150,000, the economics would work better, even if you just sold one house per month.

But in areas where the average sale is $150,000 or less, it's tough to make ends meet when your fixed costs don't fall but your commissions do.

Q: My mother, several years back, began quitclaiming her house to her four children. She did this in several chunks, to avoid any gift-tax problems, I imagine. She didn't tell any of us that she did this until much later.

She retained lifetime residency rights, but circumstances have forced her into assisted living. It's not a nursing home, so the Medicaid look-back period is not a consideration yet.