Starting a career in any field is difficult with a lot of setbacks and investment (in time, energy, and money) along the way. There is also a bias against training older people in a totally new line of work for a lot of reasons (valid or not). I would say that the deck was pretty well stacked against someone choosing to be a real estate *agent* as a career with existing experienced agents filling any niche or new position that they can trying not to be squeezed out (it would be kind of like trying to find a new job at a GM plant). If someone was thinking about going into the real estate industry in IT and had the ejoyment and aptitude for it (a fairly unusual techie type person, sorry but its true) I would say that would be an excellent choice. The real estate industry is changing very rapidly whether it wants to or not and real estate agents dont have as much control over it as they would like. The main reason that I see for this is the ability to control and distribute information on the net. The downturn (the bubble that everyone saw but didnÂt believe) may accelerate the process but it was coming anyway - the money has to come from somewhere and it is not going to come from the people that manage the system and control the information - they will look to streamline the process cutting out middlemen (remember door to door salesmen or Âma and pa stores?) lowering costs to consumers *while* making larger profits for themselves. This is a process that they could not stop even if they wanted to because someone else would come in and "eat their lunch" if they did not (kind of like what WalMart or Amazon did). Not very long ago there was no practical way (imo) to find a house to buy without a real estate agent (other than happening to drive by a sign or seeing an ad in a local paper). It wasnÂt until 5 years ago that you could even have mls data online - let alone find it or have it in a useful format. Just a few years back there werenÂt even serious debates over the value or need for an agent to sell your house - which is generally still considered to be a good idea- but in the near future conventional wisdom could change. There is always a place for those who can adapt to change and are willing to make sacrifices to do what they need to succeed at or enjoy doing. Going into any field just because it is seen as an easy or quick way to make money is a mistake when choosing a career (which by definition is not temporary). I know that this is not why all people who have became realtors in the recent past have done so but in my limited exposure I would say that it is fairly obvious that its a rather large percentage.

Thanks all - we are excited! We are buying a DW in a 55+ park just 4 miles from here and close to all shopping :-) It has a sunny eat-in kitchen, large living room, dining room, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths - one is a reasonable size and the master bath is huge. Master bedroom is roomy and the second bedroom is so large we will probably divide it so we can each have our own space - he dabbles in painting and I have an obscene amount of yarn (I packed a lot of it yesterday) for crochet, laundry room and a shed with electricity. The kitchen has black appliances w/a bottom freezer refrigerator. I have almond appliances now and will be glad to have black again, and an installed dishwasher after 7 years using a portable. We have the name of a MH inspector and someone who does MH repairs, not that that is anticipated right away, but you never know. Just a comfort to have that info at hand from the getgo. I'm so relieved to not have to do the routine to show, never knowing when, what, etc. Huge relief. (I'm using "huge" a lot here LOL) A fantasy I have had for many, many years is to have a bathroom large enough that I can keep the scale in it! Sure doesn't take much to make me happy...... Guess I'll have to open a photo hosting account so I can post some pics. TTYL, everyone - time for coffee.

thanks dee, yes pretty bad up this way but by what i read on that BLOG site it's getting that way with vic realty as well.......... reckon the sooner homeowners get together and take back their rite to sell their properties in a fair market place the better things will be for all concerned............ how many businesses do you know that can lobby the gov' to have laws that allow them to have immoral & apparently dishonest clauses hidden in documents that you need to sign to sell or finalise the sale of your property........... all i can add is for those laid back homeowners who say this can't happen to me, i got news for you and when it does look out, you got nowhere to go to get a fair hearing because you unknowingly signed that right way.............. len

Lukki, I surely understand what you are saying - and I don't get any of this either. What I have to do right now is believe my son. I am thinking he may be misinformed, but I don't believe he is lying to us. I am still thinking that when I sign the title over, it will have both of their names on it. I do not know what I will do then. My sister is also on the title; I cannot even imagine her reaction. She does not know what has transpired over the last two weeks. I do not know what her parents are thinking either. They are on the other side of the country and I have met them twice. Our offer of money was way before theirs, so it would seem to me that they might have contacted us?? They know at the moment this is my house. If I were them, I wouldn't be putting a penny in. Kswl, this is not a new situation. When he first offered to buy the house, my sister and I sat down with both of them and explained the terms of the sale, which were basically the price and title. No other strings were attached. So she knew the terms from day 1. But you are right, no outcome will satisfy all parties. The whole situation is horrible. I have tried and tried - we all have, and when any one of us wants to give up on her, I say try harder. We have all bit our tongues and tried to keep the peace. My son defends her every move - and can explain away any of her antics, FB postings, etc. She is both the antagonizer and the victim. I think he feels the need to take care of her. But at this point, at least we see our son, not as much as we would like, but we do. He is the youngest and we always seemed to have the closest relationship with him. Unfortunately, not anymore and there is nothing we can do about it. I don't know what I will do if both names are on the title when I have to sign. I just don't know, but I do know that whatever happens, this nightmare will be over by June 1st. Thanks to all of you for your support! Great day to all!!