Pennsylvania broker Joseph Bograd, team leader of The Bograd Team, argues that current market conditions are removing underqualified agents and producing a more professional, competent agent population. While some in the industry view agent attrition as a crisis, Bograd describes it as a necessary adjustment that benefits clients and the real estate profession as a whole.
“I like this market. I like the fact that a lot of the agents that got into the business for the wrong reasons have all been sifted out,” Bograd says. “And the agents that know what they’re doing, they understand the NAR guidelines, they understand what is entailed by selling and buying and representing a client’s biggest asset, I think they’re the ones that are still in business.”
Bograd, who has worked through multiple real estate cycles over 25 years, compares today’s environment to 2012–2015, when the industry also contracted and separated dedicated professionals from casual entrants.
Bograd points to the pandemic-era housing boom as a period that drew a surge of new agents, many of whom entered the business without proper training or realistic expectations. “It’s very easy to say, I’m a realtor, but being a realtor, there’s a lot of moving parts to it,” he says. “There’s a lot of responsibility, there’s a lot of expectations, and if you’re not ready for those expectations, you can definitely burn out.”
He notes that burnout and turnover have been high. “I know a lot of agents that I started the business with years ago. They’re not in the business anymore, because it’s a very cutthroat industry,” Bograd says. He believes the issue is not just market cycles, but a fundamental disconnect between what the job requires and what many new agents are prepared to deliver.
“If you’re not willing to move with the times and take a step back and regroup for sanity purposes, you can be out of the business before you know it,” he says.
Bograd emphasizes that this reduction in agent ranks is not the result of new regulations or industry crackdowns, but a natural response to market forces. Agents who lack the necessary skills, fail to invest in their own development, or cannot handle the pressures of commission-based work are leaving the industry.
“All the other ones that have slowly trickled out of the business, they weren’t meant for this business,” Bograd says, underscoring his view that the profession is self-correcting.
He describes the current market as a “buyer’s market” similar to 2012–2015, a period when agents needed to demonstrate real expertise to succeed. “The agents that know what they’re doing, they understand the NAR guidelines, they understand what is entailed by selling and buying and representing a client’s biggest asset, I think they’re the ones that are still in business,” he says.
Bograd contends that the result of this contraction is a smaller, more capable group of agents. Those who remain are committed to ongoing learning, maintain high professional standards, and understand that real estate is fundamentally about service.
“This is not for everyone,” Bograd says. “It’s a very tough business.” He argues that for agents with the right skills and resilience, the current market is more favorable than the rapid-fire pace of the pandemic boom. “I think current market conditions are what they were like back in 12, 13, 14, 15,” Bograd says. “Things have adjusted a bit after covid. I think during covid, things were just hot off the presses. Things were jumping off, bidding wars, cash, as-is sales, multiple offer situations, and I think that’s definitely subsided a bit.”
The Bograd Team has responded to these conditions by maintaining high standards and expanding into new markets as others scale back. Bograd states his team is currently the number one team in Pennsylvania and is working to achieve similar success in Florida.
“We don’t get complacent,” Bograd says. “I’m never comfortable, I’m never complacent, I’m never content. I’m always looking for that next opportunity.”
Whether this period leads to lasting improvements in professional standards or whether the next market upswing brings another wave of inexperienced agents depends on how brokerages and industry organizations respond. For now, Bograd believes the market is rewarding agents who are prepared, knowledgeable, and committed to the demands of the profession, signaling a healthier, more sustainable industry.
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