[neuen]

As a quick note, I don't know much about the industry or claim to do so but I do feel I have a better grasp on it that how you've broken it down.

You've taken a job that you know very little about, that thousands of people try every year and fail and broken it down to simple 6 hours to rent an apartment and make a cool 1k an hour - seems like you've been watching alot of HGTV.

Thousands and I mean thousands of people try to make it in the NYC Real Estate world every year and come out broke and jobless. Most of these people probably came in thinking along the same lines you are.

Is the fee unfortunate? Yes, do people understand exactly how much their paying - maybe not. Does it take someone six hours all by themselves to rent an apartment? Nope.

I'm not sure if you're a programer or not but what you've done here is basically the equivalent of me saying "Eh, that's one page of code? And he types at 60wpm? That only took him 4 minutes. Why am I paying him more than $2.44".

[rabbimarshak]

Very valid points here Neuen. But most programmers are paid by the hour - not by lines of code. My argument is that agents should be compensated hourly as well.

Programming is something that is taught at the highest level of academia, and requires a tremendous amount of skill, brainpower and discipline to deliver a quality product. I don't think you can compare it to to showing apartments. There is not much skill required or education to be a rental agent (a few weeks of school and written exam, like a driving test). If you can operate the camera on a mobile device, post an ad on craigslist, and open a door lock - you are in business.

My argument is that renting out an apartment in Manhattan is similar to selling the latest iPhones as soon as they hit store shelves. The product sells itself because of the high demand and limited supply. The skill of the salesperson at the Apple store is not very relevant, which is why they are compensated hourly and not on commission.