Lawrence Yun
speaker
33 appearances
2 recordings
2 series
first heard Jan 2025
last heard 11 Nov
Lawrence Yun’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Nov 2025 with 1.
Appearances
So somehow NAR said this is the average rate, and everybody focused on that figure and leads to some tacit collusion. We don't want that. We want the market to be competitive. We don't study the commission. But anecdotally, some people are saying, well, now they are able to submit an offer with a little higher commission than what they had done before. Others are saying a little lower.
Only concerning factor that I have is the first-time buyers, especially minority first-time home buyers, because we look at the wealth distribution in America. We understand the American history about generational wealth transfer.
And if somehow it becomes the norm that the buyer have to pay out of their pocket to their agent, essentially you are denying the people in more moderate wealth circumstances, which in the U.S. is essentially minority income.
I am aware of what outsiders are studying. And Again, as long as you have competition, let the market settle what it would be. I don't know the particulars of selling a home in New York City. Maybe doing a co-op sale, it gets a little more extra complication compared to home selling out in, say, middle America, in Kansas.
And maybe part of this settlement, maybe there's broader knowledge that people can negotiate. As we know, there are many consumer habits. It is based out of inertia. But with more publicity, maybe people will ask more questions. And those are all good. More competition, more consumer awareness, all positive.
When people look at the realtor profession, sometimes people think, well, maybe it's like teachers, you know, all the realtors get similar pay. But it's not. It's an entrepreneurial business. It's like a restaurant business. Some restaurants are thriving year after year. Some realtors are thriving year after year. And then other restaurants are fairly new.
Maybe they will eventually thrive or maybe they will struggle. The median income is around $45,000, but there's a huge distribution. About one-third make less than $20,000, and then you have about 20% make six figures. The entrepreneurs who are coming into the industry say, well, I believe that I have this entrepreneurial skill set, and they give it a try. I mean, one has to admire that.
Of course, not everyone will succeed because of the competitive nature of the marketplace. Tell me a bit about the demographic makeup of your membership. About two-thirds women, one-third men, and the median age is around 55. Their income level is not comparable to what other profession would possibly offer and stability.
Yet, I think the joy of seeing that first-time buyer get that home, and then for most homeowners, they become friends. Being part of the community, I think there's some certain intangible satisfaction that comes from working in real estate.
This is a voluntary choice as people are trying it out. Sometimes it could be for supplemental income for the household. We don't know.
One interesting part is that we have seen two years of very difficult business opportunity, yet the membership number has barely budged, which is implying that even with the income level being what it is, some people may be saying, look, I saw another realtor get that six-figure income. Maybe I can be that.
It's very welcoming that many other countries, especially developing country, they come to NAR to say, how do you work? We want to have more orderly system. We don't want the total chaos in the marketplace. We don't want people getting ripped off. How does the multiple listing service work? What is your ethics rules?
So we are happy to share all this with other countries who wants to know how the United States system works.
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