new homes sales associates

[rach]

anyone want to share (if they know) how much are the show homes sales people are making? i know its commission based, some i know clamied they make 65k+ a yr just on commission.

[brandon]

They are making sweet f*ck all right now, lol. But when times are good and you can actually sell.. 100k and over isn't to far fetched if you're with a bigger builder.

[kobe tai]

I've been doing it for almost 10 years now. It is varied greatly depending on builder/area etc. My work is 100% commission so if I don't sell something in a months I don't get any income but in some months a few sales can make up for slow times. I know sales people making 40k/year and some making 500k/year. All varies on where you are, who you work for, how well you do and how many connections you make. Same as a realtor/mortgage broker etc. All in how much you put in.

[rach]

so you dont need any licenses ?
i would think the commission is less than what a realtor would make right?

[gwill]

No licenses needed and commissions can vary wildly. I know some builders will pay a flat fee while others pay a percentage. On a $400k house i know some builders only pay $5k per home. I've even seen commissions on 700-800k houses only pay the sales person $7500. These would be on the lower side.

If a builder pays a percentage it usually range from 1.75% - 2.5% but can be up to as high as 3%(for smaller builders). Others may try and go as low as 1.5% as well.

Its good to note as well that the Area Managers are commission only while the sales associates are usually assistants(every builder calls em something different). Sometimes they have to pay all their assistants wages or other cases they only pay them bonuses when they are involved in a sale. Using a realtor can greatly effect your new home sales persons commissions.. some builders do that to discourage the use of a realtor or to recoop costs. Depends on how you look at it.

The trick to getting into new home sales is getting started. No one wants to start as an assistant making $15 an hour and getting $500 bonuses but those that can put in their time can have a rewarding career down the road. There are lots of ups and downs in new home sales though... as Kobe mentioned not selling means no money... every builder always has different types of drama or issues to the point that some have very notorious reputations in the industry.

$65k a year for new home sales means the sales person is in a really bad area or working for a builder with a really crappy commission plan. There is no reason for new home sales not to be pushing $100k+ a year if they are hitting the targets their companies set for them.

[rach]

i didnt expect they would make that much.
the only downside is no sales means no money.

[corsvette]

They don't pay a base wage at all? I know in the 100% commission sales I've been in the past had to change their program in the last few years, they must pay a base (usually min wage) for the hours worked (full time=40h/week) You sell nothing you get your base, if you exceed the base in commissions you get that amount and the base then disappears.

[gwill]

Its a draw on future commissions. So yes there is "technically" a base for Area Managers but you fall into debt to the company in the event your not selling.

Companies also pay out 75% when conditions are removed and 25% when they take possession. So if you get fired or quit before hand you forfeit the back end. Also for condo projects where possessions are years away it can take a long time to collect that back end of the money. Some companies even try to set a split closer to 50/50 knowing that they have high turn over and they pay less money on commissions.

One thing i didn't note was that if your selling houses a lot of builders only pay on the house and upgrades not the house and land. If its a condo town style town home that its off the total purchase price. Overall $65k for new home sales should be easy to hit. Even if you take the smallest commission of $5k per house thats only 13 houses to get to $65k.

But if you only sell 1 house a month at $5k commission and you have to wait 3-6 months for 25% of that then your not doing very well..... There are lots of great things about the job but an equally number of crappy things as well.

[rach]

Let say if this job is for custom homes, where they sells homes between 2m-3m, is it more risky than bigger builders where they have mass productions?

[gwill]

Personally i would want to be where all the buyers are as certain product lines are more popular then others while certain areas are also busier. There is a lot that will change how much you can make. So yes the higher end homes would have more risk.

The builders will also only hire specific sales people due to that risk

[rach]

what does it mean specific sales people? more expereiences?

[gwill]

Experience in custom homes is a big one for sure... but someone can have a great track record and sell more then most other new home sales people but they may still not be a good fit for a custom builder. There more to it then just selling.

For those with no new home sales experience I'd recommend taking some courses to get an edge over all other applicants for the same job.

https://www.phbi.ca/article/new-home-sales-professional-137.asp

[kobe tai]

Personally I don't recommend custom homes as your entry into this industry. There is a lot of knowledge required and custom builders tend to be smaller companies with less than stellar systems/support in place (from my experience).

[yellowGTS]

Originally posted by gwill
No licenses needed and commissions can vary wildly. I know some builders will pay a flat fee while others pay a percentage. On a $400k house i know some builders only pay $5k per home. I've even seen commissions on 700-800k houses only pay the sales person $7500. These would be on the lower side.

If a builder pays a percentage it usually range from 1.75% - 2.5% but can be up to as high as 3%(for smaller builders). Others may try and go as low as 1.5% as well.

Its good to note as well that the Area Managers are commission only while the sales associates are usually assistants(every builder calls em something different). Sometimes they have to pay all their assistants wages or other cases they only pay them bonuses when they are involved in a sale. Using a realtor can greatly effect your new home sales persons commissions.. some builders do that to discourage the use of a realtor or to recoop costs. Depends on how you look at it.

The trick to getting into new home sales is getting started. No one wants to start as an assistant making $15 an hour and getting $500 bonuses but those that can put in their time can have a rewarding career down the road. There are lots of ups and downs in new home sales though... as Kobe mentioned not selling means no money... every builder always has different types of drama or issues to the point that some have very notorious reputations in the industry.

$65k a year for new home sales means the sales person is in a really bad area or working for a builder with a really crappy commission plan. There is no reason for new home sales not to be pushing $100k+ a year if they are hitting the targets their companies set for them.

Great info....however, the opportunity to learn as an associate (assistant) is a great place to start and grow your knowledge and skills. If you are not really sure this is the right career for you, then you can live on the fact you have a monthly guarantee. The drawback is that you do not make as much in commission as an area manager.