This evidently is the point in the housing meltdown when realtors turn to cannibalism...

With waaaaaaaaaaaayyy to many realtors out there now, and home sales down in areas 30%, 40%, 50%+, it's time the "old school" realtors turn on the newcomers, and tell them to get out of dodge.

The desperate grab for crumbs is likely going to lead to some realtor on realtor violence, a lot of backstabbing, and also deal sabotage. Even though the NAR "forbids this". But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Here's a hilarious article by a realtor urging other realtors to get out. Thanks Marinite for the link

Is It Time for a Career Adjustment? By Christopher Galler, Senior Vice President, Minnesota Realtors Association

Some of you will wonder if we have lost our minds writing this article and asking members if it is time for a career adjustment. Others will think it is time for us to think about a career adjustment, while another group will thank us for saying what they know is a significant industry problem.

Why is my trade association asking me to consider another career? As an "Association of People" we have committed ourselves to helping you grow your business. Through advertising, education, forms, industry research, professional standards, risk reduction, and lobbying we have provided members with ideas, trends and publicity to help grow your personal business.

As a "Trade Association" we must defend and look out for the general welfare of the industry. This means helping members understand that it may be time for them to make a career adjustment so as not to harm the structure of the industry for those pursuing it as a career.

We're not talking about different service structures; they are part of what consumer's desire. Our concern is that the value of utilizing the services of a real estate broker/agent will erode because of agent over saturation.

At the same time sales are falling, agent numbers are increasing. We have more brokers and agents than at any point in the state's history.

There are too many agents in the business chasing a declining number of deals which has two implications (a) compensation dilution for many real estate professionals (b) the public face of real estate professionals is not near the best it could be if brokers terminated non-productive agents now -- keeping them will have a negative impact on the dollar value the public will put on our services as homes sit on the market longer