Comments on: New Real Estate Licensees: When is it Going to STOP?

By: smartvestr

smartvestr — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:31:05 +0000

Real Estate License ! Thank you for sharing this topic. This is really a fact that Real Estate Licensing is becoming a need of the hour for the people who are in this industry but there are many who don't even have a license and running Real Estate business.

By: JAB

JAB — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:34:17 +0000

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.

By: 350-030

350-030 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:59:22 +0000

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. 350-030

By: DJ

DJ — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:50:13 +0000

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.

By: Mary Supinger

Mary Supinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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.

By: Carmel Streater

Carmel Streater — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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.

By: Bob Staples

Bob Staples — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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.

By: Julie Anderson

Julie Anderson — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree,it has become a real JOKE. Every soccer mom in my community has their license. I remember years ago when they were thinking of making it "harder" to obtain your RE license.What happened? The general public will continue to look at us like used car salesmen if the standards arent raised. And, YES,YES, YES…if you are going to practice RE in the USA, please learn OUR language.I really don’t think they’ll ever raise the bar, so to speak….we as experts have to stand out among these part timers who think they know RE!!

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

At the pace this market is headed, I doubt that many agents will last in the industry for too long anyways. It’s very competative out there. I believe if you’re going to be in this business then it better show. Having a system in place that tracks minimum sales or buyer transactions would be great. Education is a plus offering the most benefits but it wouldn’t get ride of the current licensed agents that don’t practice. I have friends that have their license hung in some major company and don’t do a single transaction ever. Broker’s should also be hit with some kind of regulation regarding this issue. Out of 6 homes sold this year, the seller was a licensed real estate agent! Eventually something needs to be done somewhere. I’ve been a licenced Realtor

By: Comments on Comments

Comments on Comments — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Before going to far I want to comment on Gail’s comment about Texas. Spot on. As an industry if we want to be taken seriously we need to be viewed as professionals. There should be no reason not to have a minimum standard for practicing agents i.e. number of sides per year. We also could have levels of licenses just like the medical industry RN-Licensed Assistant MD-Agent. We have the technology to administer this. But let’s face it, so many companies make money from pre-licensing and membership regardless of the individuals aptitude to succeed in the industry that it will be a political nightmare to get resolved.