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By NADINE BROZAN
Published: November 27, 2005
THE name of the game in real estate is amassing listings, because they mean money. But thousands of brokers have no listings at all - not surprising, when there are far more brokers and sales agents than there are properties to be sold.

Phil Mansfield for The New York Times
Jason Gershon, an agent at Dwelling Quest, found it so hard to get listings he has concentrated on buyers and made himself an expert on the Upper East Side.
The New York State Department of State has licensed about 27,500 brokers and agents in Manhattan. (Although most people use the terms interchangeably, brokers have tougher licensing and education requirements.) But there are only 10,000 transactions in any given year, according to Jonathan J. Miller, president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel.

A transaction often involves more than one broker or agent. But even so, Mr. Miller said, "there are a lot of brokers not selling any property, because there are many of them who sell dozens of apartments each year."

Though it is certainly possible to make a living without having listings - people who represent buyers for example, do not always have listings - doing so tends to be much harder and less lucrative.

The listing broker is the gatekeeper for the property, able to control viewings and, more important, get a cut of the commission even if another broker brings in the buyer. A listing has marketing and promotional benefits too. The name of the listing broker goes in the ad or on the Web site with the property, meaning potential buyers will start phoning and clicking, making contact with that broker.

A survey done by The Real Deal, a monthly industry newspaper, showed that as of May, the percentage of agents affiliated with the top 10 firms in the city who had no listings at the time of publication ranged from 30.7 to 63.1 percent.

The figures were gathered through searches of the Web sites of each firm, according to Stuart Elliot, the editor of The Real Deal, and did not separate brokers who work with buyers or renters and therefore would not have any listings. Although the survey was done earlier this year, he said the numbers probably still hold. "If anything, the number of agents with no listings would be higher now because the market is moderating," Mr. Elliot said.

The imbalance between brokers and properties available for sale has been made worse by the influx of aspiring agents and by the fact that top brokers like Dolly Lenz, Michele Kleier and Carrie Chiang tend to have dozens of listings at any given moment.

"There is such a disparity in the brokerage community, especially in Manhattan, between the top tier where the rich get richer and the bottom tier, which is really struggling," said JoAnne Kennedy, chief operating officer at Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy (where 61.6 percent of its agents had no listings in the Real Deal chart).

"The top brokers now are celebrities, making several million dollars a year," Ms. Kennedy said. "Midrange brokers make a satisfactory income, but they don't have as many connections and are trying to figure out how to get to the next level. The bottom range is usually comprised of new people just building their business."

The Internet has made it easier for buyers to connect directly with sellers or their brokers, keeping brokers without listings from potential clients. "The Web has changed our business for people coming in," said Paula Busch, a managing director at the Corcoran Group (where 46.7 percent of agents lacked listings). "Buyers in the below $1 million market go there first and then directly to open houses, and they say they don't need brokers."

So how does someone attract clients? For those without substantial track records, it is very difficult.

"It is frustrating when you see some agents just rolling with listings," said Elizabeth Marks, an agent with Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy who owned a travel agency specializing in safari and scuba diving trips until business was slowed by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Ms. Marks took several real estate courses, including one called Sweat Hogs, which dealt with getting listings. "You must really work for listings," she said. "It is hard because if someone wants to sell an apartment, they are bombarded by brokers. Everyone knows a friend or is loyal to someone they bought their apartment from and don't want to give you a listing because you are new."

She has tried a variety of tactics, even cold calling. "Nine times out of 10, people hang up on you," she said.