You get paid after the sale, you assume civil and criminal risk, you work for free for months and years… and if the client backs out, you lose everything. Does that sound like a profitable business?
It's infuriating to hear that now-common phrase from property owners and developers: "Real estate agents make a quick buck." As if we were just collecting money off the street. As if we sold today and got paid tomorrow. As if there were no risks, responsibilities, or hidden costs in this profession.
Well, it's time to lay our cards on the table.
The big lie: “Easy work, quick money”
When someone says that "we make it easy," I immediately know that they have no idea what it really means to be a professional and formalized real estate agent.
Easy? Let me tell you what really happens behind every "easy commission":
We work with clients for months, even years, with no guarantee that the transaction will go through. We assume civil liability, and in some cases even criminal liability, for the advice we provide. We spend money on fuel driving clients to visit properties without knowing if they will buy. We maintain representation and image expenses because our credibility is our most valuable asset.
And all this before receiving a single penny.
The paradox of formalization: More costs, same uncertainty
As my colleague, lawyer Agri Valverde, aptly points out in her article "Formalize or Survive?": "In the Dominican Republic, the legal framework makes no distinction between a multinational corporation and a neighborhood bakery. SMEs face environmental, tax, and labor regulations without support, without gradual implementation, and without proportional criteria.".
This reality directly impacts licensed real estate agents. We bear the costs of multinational corporations while working with the uncertainty of getting paid "if everything goes well.".
The costs that no one sees
While the developer, the trustee, or the owner says "we got it easy," we pay:
Mandatory business costs:
- Training under Law 155-17 (mandatory annual training for all staff)
- Compliance officer training (minimum 12 hours per year)
- Employee payroll and social security
- INFOTEP monthly and annual income tax
- Mandatory withholdings and professional software
Invisible operating costs:
- Fuel for transporting customers (no sales guarantee)
- Representation and professional image expenses
- Online and offline advertising
- Community managers, filmmakers, and content creators (because if you don't work on your social media, you die as a brand and customers won't find you)
- Specialized applications for social networks
- Software and tools to provide optimal service
- The dreaded "small" expenses of monthly apps
Did I miss any?
All of this comes out of our pockets before we see a single penny of commission.
The broken economic model
Here is the brutal equation that no one wants to acknowledge:
Monthly fixed costs + unpaid work + legal risks = "Easy commission"
We charge what I prefer to call fees (because we provide professional consulting services), but with the difference that other professionals charge upfront, while we charge after the sale. This is after we've done hard work, with commitment, civil responsibility, and in some cases, even criminal liability.
Can you imagine a lawyer working for free until you win the case, and if you don't win, you don't get paid? Or a doctor only getting paid if you get better?
The legal certainty we lack
And here's the big question: Who oversees the developers and the trustees who don't pay?
We must work together, not let them be our executioners. Legal certainty cannot be a luxury reserved only for certain sectors of the real estate ecosystem.
When a construction company or trust takes years to pay after we've completed our work, where is our legal protection? When the client backs out of the business and we lose our entire investment of time and resources, who has our back?
Inflation that devours “easy commissions”
While we wait to collect those "easy" fees, inflation eats them away. What we agreed upon six months ago no longer has the same value when the payment finally arrives. But they don't mention that either when they say "we earned it easily.".
The necessary awakening
It's time for the entire real estate ecosystem to understand one reality: Professional real estate agents are not street vendors. We are formalized business owners with real costs, tangible risks, and legal responsibilities.
When a developer says that "we make it easy," they are actually admitting that they do not understand the value of the professional work we do.
The final reflection
Sometimes I wonder if being a real estate agent is really profitable under the current conditions. Is it time to decommission the profession and start charging fees like the true professionals we are?
Because here's the uncomfortable truth: If it really were as "easy" as they say, everyone would be doing it and everyone would be successful.
The next time you hear someone say that "real estate agents make it easy," invite them to review this list of costs and responsibilities. Then ask them if they still think it's "easy" to work for free for months hoping to get paid... someday.
The question isn't whether we'll earn it easily. The question is whether the ecosystem is willing to recognize and respect the true value of our professional work.
Are you a real estate agent and do you recognize this reality? Are you a developer, trustee, or owner and have never seen these costs before? It's time we had honest conversations about the true value of professional real estate work.
