WOW! I am fascinated with what I am reading. I am in the process of starting real estate classes for licensing in the state of Florida. Based on what I have read the issue seems to be the same no matter what profession we are talking about. I have been an educator for the last 20 years and the same discussions come up in that field as well. Continued education is a must no matter what our profession is. Times are always changing and we must be open minded and willing to go along. Is there any literature one of you could recommend for me to read in order to better prepare myself for the world of real estate? I would appreciate any constructive feedback.

thank you for bringing this too much needful time in to everyone's attention. we deem always brain wave that the mountain leisure activity the tested estate drill bent emblematic immoderately low. wisdom is key. the educational requirements because both receiving a license and maintaining lone should imitate raised.
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I am not a Realtor, Broker or an RE agent, but I have worked with approx. eight Realtors/RE agents as a buyer/seller. My experience has been that one, and only one, of the eight was a true professional.

Reading through some of these comments alone was frustrating. Several of the responses, written by those who feel only University grads should be licensed, had multiple spelling and/or grammatical errors. Being a college grad today does not mean what it once did.

The concept of restricting people from working at a particular vocation, by way of licensing, etc., is a European socialist concept that I completely disagree with. The marketplace itself will ultimately decide who can make a living selling homes and who is forced to do something else.

That being said, my main point is this: You folks are optional -- you can never forget that. I've paid-out good money to contracted agents even though I had to do at least half the work myself in order to complete a sell/purchase. I resent that more than I can express. I've also purchased property w/o the use of an agent.

The MLS is no longer the protective barrier it used to be. You folks cannot hide behind it like you used to.

The only thing which will make you successful is hard, hard work along with the good reputation and customer loyalty which comes from a job well done.

Don't waste time complaining about how easy it is to become an agent. Rather, focus on being the best RE agent/Realtor/Broker you can become.

I have a house to sell in a down market here in California. I'm considering whether or not to enlist an agent. My experience says the probability of finding a true, honest professional, worthy of the commission fee, is slim. Nevertheless, I'll interview several of your colleagues and ultimately make a decision.

I'm a very busy guy, but I refuse to pay a large sum of money to someone who will not truly earn it. The commission on my current property will be approx. $30,000

Before I agree to pay out that much money, I will need to be convinced I'm receiving comparable value. That is your challenge, not sweet old Mrs. Smith who plays at selling real estate in the afternoons.

I just thought you all might benefit from the viewpoint of one of the clients you make your living from.

Just because someone has a license doesn't mean they are actually working in the real estate industry. How many of those licensees are actively working under brokers and are actually selling real estate as their primary occupation?

The problem as I see it stems from the top. The commissioner of Real Estate in California runs a business based on numbers and fees, his budget is based on applicant fees and renewal fees. Staffing ratios, percs, status all comes from the number of brokers and agents in the system. This week at the annual meeting meeting of our local board of Realtors, Assembyman Tim Lesley said their is a bill that will be voted on next week that makes it mandatory that Agents work in the industry a minimun of 2 years (attorney excluded) prior to recieving their brokers license. The comissioner is recommending that the governor opose this bill because it may cut down on the amont of people seeking a real estate lisense. I remain convinced that requiring additional education is necessary, but I don't believe that goes far enough. I would like to see a Jouneyman/Apprentice system, where you can't get a license until a broker or seasoned agent agrees to a one on one mentoring program, with limits on the amount of agents a journeyman could handle. The appraisers recently started a system like this and it seems to be working. The slowing market will take care of things for now but they will all jump back in when the market picks up again.

I really appreciate this Blog! As a Broker of about 50 agents in Houston with 20+ years of "Realtorship", I see myself with global perspective of this industry & it's direction. Being that we are members of NAR, I believe it is incumbent on NAR to PRESERVE our value as a profession. The reason why (We'll sell your home for $1.00 Realty or come work for us for a $1.00 Realty) is growing, is because the number of UNPROFESSIONAL, UNEDUCATED, UNETHICAL & INEXPERIENCED people who are in this business is growing more rapidly than the very market it serves. Hence we end up proportionately with an ever-growing number of "professionals" who present little or no value to the consumer. This brings to the forefront of this discussion an age-old adage... With lack of value, money ALWAYS becomes the substitute.

The only way our industry gets political changes accomplished in this Nation, (because the plague being discussed here is Nationwide & not just isolated to California) is to fall back on our collective organization (NAR). NAR and its fellow state chapters have the organization & recourses to lobby for this correction in their respective states. Which, btw, is in the best interest of the consumer as well as the industry. Those who profit off the exploitation of the UNPROFESSIONAL, UNEDUCATED, UNETHICAL & INEXPERIENCED are not serving the public or the industry. The bottom line here is establishments like that SERVE THEMSELVES! That in and of itself is against the very ethics "we as Realtors" ascribe to! Theyâ

The number of licenses increased dramtically as home prices sharply appreciated. there is an attitude that buying & flipping properties create instant millionaires. Many new licensees are only interested part time or are other professions such as school teachers and firefighters who seek additional income but not a full career. Now that inventory has exploded, immediate seller expectations have created an upside market.

I concur with much of the sentiment regarding increased requirements to be a real estate agent - BS or BA degree in real estate required (with increased educational requirements for the existing horde while phasing in the degree requirement). Any minimum limit of transactions should have some flexibility such as minimum number or minimum sales dollars. PS - before critiquing the english other agents use one should assure their own blog is grammatically correct.

I understand that the number of California licensees is astounding but like any other statistic it is, in and of itself, pretty meaningless. The market and economic necessity will trim the number. What strikes me is the number of California licensees who are citing the lack of ethics training in that state. I must assume that a large number of those licensees are not REALTORS (who are required to attend Code of Ethics training at least once each four years). Ethics training has proven to be a very effective way to modify licensee behavior in other states. There is no way to require a licensee to actually become ethical - this is a moral issue and is either taught in the home or not at all -but ethics training can teach licensees to act in an ethical manner. This is a behavior modification and almost anyone can change his/her behavior. I suspect that the lack of ethical behavior in the state may be due to the failure of supervising brokers to adequately train and oversee the licensees under their supervision (who could with such a large number of licensees?). Salespersons who attend ethics training must return to their offices to put the training into effect on the job. If brokers do not support the training through example or if they order the salespersons to forget about what they learned in training, the effect of the training is lost. If experienced salespersons ridicule ethics training, the effect of the training is lost. I sympathize with California licensees who deplore working in unethical situations, and challenge them to file ethics charges against violators. That might be the wake up call some of the unethical licensees need.

I completely agree that a college degree should be required to practice real estate. It is too easy to get your license and this creates a "earn as you learn" reality. This reality means that only a minority of real estate agents and loan officers are truly capable of doing their jobs. It is commonplace for lawsuits to be filed against real estate agents and their brokerage houses. I believe that more and more loan officers and brokers will face lawsuits for "errors and omissions" with respect to the financial products that they place clients in. So much advice regarding a client's financial life is bandied about with very little research and disclosure regarding the details of loan products and their suitability for the clients long term needs.
We have a responsibility to know what we are selling out there. More stringent education requirements would make for better loan and real estate agents. This would result in a public that has more respect for the jobs that we do and what we charge our clients for those services.

Dear Gail in CA - Your loyalty to the Republic of Texas is admirable. I'm a Texas with fierce state pride as well...from Austin actually where the number of agents in the board has reached 9800! Everyone wants in our business because of the tremendous potential it offers. Few however are willing to pay the price, evidenced by the super high turn over rate. After spending over a decade selling in Austin, I now travel the country speaking to and training agents with Floyd Wickman. Here's one thing I know for sure...as the market continues to change, we're getting closer to the day when Realtors in mass go back to their "real jobs". And if they don't...boy do I have a lot of work ahead of me!

PS. Who are "those" people on the border you were referring to?!

Dear Gail in CA - Your loyalty to the Republic of Texas is admirable. I'm a Texas with fierce state pride as well...from Austin actually where the number of agents in the board has reached 9800! Everyone wants in our business because of the tremendous potential it offers. Few however are willing to pay the price, evidenced by the super high turn over rate. After spending over a decade selling in Austin, I now travel the country speaking to and training agents with Floyd Wickman. Here's one thing I know for sure...as the market continues to change, we're getting closer to the day when Realtors in mass go back to their "real jobs". And if they don't...boy do I have a lot of work ahead of me!

PS. Who are "those" people on the border you were referring to?!

stefan,

thank you for bringing this very important issue to everyones attention. we have always thought that the barrier into the real estate industry might be too low. education is key. the educational requirements for both obtaining a license and maintaining one should be raised.

even if more stringent requirements are not implemented by each state, agents should still take the time to continually educate themselves by reading books, attending continuing education classes, seminars, etc...

never stop learning.

-rdb.sellsius

I am in SC. I know that in our state, we have seen a large increase in agents. I am not sure if it is as high as CA. I know that in our state, a significant number of the new agents are really only getting their license because they are investors and they want to be able to discount deals, access to MLS, etc. They really are not "in the business". Could this be true in CA also? If you think it is too easy to get a real estate license, try getting a mortgage broker license. In most states, as long as you have $700 to $1000 and no criminal record, your in. I wish they would put the same standards on mortgage brokers that they put on real estate agents. We deal with so many numbers and so many complicated financial models and concepts, I think that a 4-year degree is a minimum, but, alas, no such thing.

Not only is it to easy to get a sales license, so is it to easy to get a broker license. I have had brokers work for me, that had low ethics and but very skill to boot. The bar needs to be raised about 3 times higher. This would both protect the industry and the consumer.