The Economics of Being a Real Estate Agent [Infographic]

Real estate agents have played an important role in home buying, which is one of the most important purchases people will make in their entire lives, for the past century. The field has grown and matured through the ages, surviving everything from the Industrial Age and the Great Depression to the Dotcom Bust and the modern web.

So what does a modern real estate agent need in the form of technology to get ahead? Can a real estate agent work the conventional 40-hour workweek and hope to earn a livable wage?

Some of the answers to those question depend on whether the agent is an independent broker (a true solopreneur) or affiliated with a larger firm like Long & Foster and RE/MAX. Nonethless, ActiveRain, a social network and marketing platform for the real estate industry, surveyed agents and got answers, which the company has now compiled into an infographic.

Here are a few highlights from the infographic:

• $1,770 is the average amount that real estate agents spend on car expenses per year.
• 47 percent of agents spend of $53 on e-mail and print marketing software per month.
• Agents who make more than $100,000 per year spend 5-10 times more on marketing.

Check out the full infographic from ActiveRain, below.