Real estate brought in more workers during pandemic

DENVER — While other industries have struggled to hire during the pandemic, Colorado’s real estate business brought in more workers than it has in a decade.

In a hot housing market, one real estate agency in Denver said it has doubled its roster since the start of the pandemic. 

“Over the pandemic and for the last few years we have really needed those hands on deck,” said Jenny Usaj, owner of Usaj Realty.

According to the National Association of Realtors, tens of thousands more people joined the profession in 2020 and 2021 than in previous years. Colorado got an additional 2,469 real estate agents last year. It was the biggest jump in a decade.

“We did need to hire more people and I am so grateful the real estate industry has continued to do so well and to be one of the industries that has truly grown during the pandemic,” Usaj said. 

Her agency also hired staff who only write offers, because there’s no time to wait when homes stay on the market for one weekend.

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“During the pandemic we had agents that needed assistance right away on the weekends because they were showing houses and not able to write offers on them because they couldn’t get to a computer in time,” she said. 

Inventory is really, really low, yet Usaj said she needed to hire more agents just so someone was available to show a buyer a house at any time.

“When that right house comes on the market we need someone to be able to show the client right away,” she said. 

She said she’s been hiring a few people from the healthcare industry and education — not a surprise given how challenging it was to work in those fields during the pandemic.

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