What are the pros and cons of the profession of real estate agent?
Posted on April 9th, 2010 in Renting & Real Estate | 5 Comments »
Claudio F asked:
There is almost no need for education to be a real estate agent. For how long can this job survive before becoming obsolete?
Sacramento Ca Real Estate
There is almost no need for education to be a real estate agent. For how long can this job survive before becoming obsolete?
Sacramento Ca Real Estate
5 Responses
Laser Hair Removal New York
Who told you there is almost no need for education to be a real estate agent? Here in California, licensed real estate agents must provide every four years that they took continuing education in pricipals, practice and law in order to re-new their license. They also must prove education in these areas to become initially licensed as well. So where do you get your information in regards to this?
Playa Del Rey Real Estate
most states require a license, the course is tough, and the exam for the license is tougher. that’s just to start and then you have to recert every so many yrs. which means continuing education. i have been in the field since 1997 and its a tough industry. turnover amongest new agents is probably 85-90% the first year. lots of folks do it part time as it takes a special person to be able to make a living at it. no education lol, you need to be an accountant, a psycologist, a marriage counselor, an attorney, a mortgage broker, a chauffer, a decorator, and most of all great with people. Most agents make less than 15,000 their first year and thats why they don’t survive. check it out and maybe you will have a change of attitude the first time you read a sales contract, seller’s disclosure, listing agreement, etc. this is a tough profession.
Keyless Remotes
Yes, the training required to get a real estate license is ridiculously low in most (all?) states. This may (in part) explain the outrageous turnover in this business, where more than half of all newly licensed agents do not survive long enough to renew their licenses (two years max).
(The real estate salesperson exam is a joke, and the courses needed to take it are simple to the point of being insulting, even though Washington has a reputation of being one of the tougher states.)
Most successful agents either voluntarily complete additional training, work with a mentor in an “apprenticeship” situation, or both.
The large, chain brokerages tend to operate on a volume basis, where they have lots of agents, most of whom are just doing very little, if anything other than paying brokerage fees. They’ll have five agents doing well, maybe ten that are making a living, and a hundred that are only doing one or two transactions in the entire time with the agency.
The agents in that last group come in for a year or so, and then get discouraged and leave, but since it’s so easy to get a licence, and since so many folks are convinced that it’s easy money, there are always more people ready to take their places.
This works well for the big agencies, not so well for the average agent, as the client base is diluted, and all those newbies give all of us a reputation for not knowing our business.
Eventually there will be some series of scandals, caused by the lack of training of the vast majority of new agents, and the states will finally start requiring at least as much training to advise people on what is often their largest single asset as they require in order to cut hair.
Hours of training required – Washington
Real estate salesperson – 60 hours
Barber – 1,000 hours (no, I’m not exaggerating)
In the mean time, many of us will continue to voluntarily get additional training in order to do a better job for our clients. A lot of that “alphabet soup” after the word “Realtor” indicates extra training and qualifications.
Gps Systems
How long will they survive – for as long as there are car salesmen. Its not like we don’t know how to buy cars (or houses), its just that the average American doesn’t do it more than a couple times in there life – and like having someone to walk them through the process.
Tempe Arizona Homes
Not sure who told you that you don’t need an education to be in real estate. However, in order to be successful, I have found that you need an understanding of:
sales management
marketing
accounting
finance
construction
land development
law
government regulations
I have a BS in Marketing and an MBA. I use these skills everyday. In addition, to keep my license in 3 states, I have to take over 60 hours of education a year. Plus I need to continually keep up to date with the trends and new laws.
I’m proud of my profession and make a very good living.