Real estate agents pulling their hair out

Most people involved with any aspect of mortgage finance are probably pretty stressed out, as the market struggles to get on its feet with the threat of a double-dip recession looming. But according to one job-listing website, real estate agents are feeling the most work-related stress. The profession ranked as the 10th most stressful job of 2011, according to CareerCast, which maintains a database of job postings from across the U.S. and Canada. In general, this discovery is not surprising. Real estate agents are on the front line of the housing crisis, playing witness to neighborhoods of empty houses and meeting with many Americans who may not qualify for a loan. Plus, their commission, and, in turn, salary are heavily dependent on positive prospects in the housing market. And we all know how home sales are faring. As far as I see it, being a real estate agent is like being a hybrid blue collar, white collar worker — you work the regular weekly hours, have to work outside the regular hours to cater to those who work the regular hours and you have to work weekends! Atrocious! Many commenters complained on CareerCast’s website about the lists of most and least stressful jobs, claiming their job was more stressful than the next. But have you really ever been in a real estate agent’s shoes? Have you ever had to put on that smiling face when you know that housing inventory nationwide is skyrocketing to the highest levels ever seen in modern history? How are you ever going to sell a home when it could take Americans up to 14 years to save for a down payment under the qualified residential mortgage exemption to risk retention? What if lenders decide to stop lending?! Yup, real estate agents have the worst of it. They should be ranked above architects and newscasters, at least. Those careers ranked sixth and fifth-most stressful, according to the CareerCast report. Well, agents rank above newscasters who aren’t reporting about the housing industry, no doubt. That’s just double the stress. Write to Christine Ricciardi. Follow her on Twitter @HWnewbieCR.