Key Highlights:
- Compass.Redfin and National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) arguing that coronavirus aid should not be limited to W-2 workers
- The some 2M real estate agents in America represent 20% of American’s economy
Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass wrote an open letter to Congressional leaders asking for aid to be extended to the some 2M real estate professionals who are independent contractors, not W-2 workers, who are unlikely covered by Congressional financial aid measures just passed.
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Reffkin submitted, “As independent contractors who are not compensated until after a home sale closes, agents will not start earning back their lost revenue due to the coronavirus until many months after both the financial and housing markets stabilize.” Additionally, Reffkin noted that an average gross pre-tax income of $41,800 will not last real estate professionals long as they are likely to be prevented from showing homes due to shelter in place mandates currently in place.
Redfin chief economist Taylor Marr agreed. Marr told Inman that small businesses “are facing a tidal wave of bankruptcy…homebuyers might postpone their purchases and that we (real estate professionals) need a very comprehensive phase 3 of the economic stimulus to come very soon.”
Shannon McGahn, NAR’s senior vice president of government affairs, also weighed in with Congressional leaders. She emphasized that Congressional leaders “…include robust protections for small business owners and the self-employed…”
In summarizing Reffkin’s letter to Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy, Reffkin wrote, “…real estate agents are entrepreneurs and small business owners who personify the American dream and represent the backbone of the US economy.”
You may want to add your voice to Congressional leaders by expressing your concerns and proactive solutions you may have to contribute.
Thanks to Inman’s Jim Dalrymple II.
Also read: Best Practices for Agents in Coronavirus Epicenters, Can AI Make Your Business More Efficient?, Thinking About Forming or Joining a Team in 2020?
