Real Estate License - Where to hang the license? (Scottsdale: flat fee, sales)

[azviewer]

I am interested in obtaining my real estate salesperson license in Arizona. The primary purpose is so that I can transact my own personal affairs while retaining the commission. I have heard (albeit in another state) that there are some real estate broker firms that will hang a passive real estate salesperson license and only charge a flat fee when a transaction is conducted.

For example, let's say I go to buy a $100,000 house. The buyer's commission would be $3,000. I believe most brokers in Arizona take 50% (give or take 20%) which would result in me receiving a commission of $1500.

However, I have heard of some brokers that charge a flat yearly fee that is nominal (say $500) and then a flat fee per transaction, say $1000.

So in the same situation as above as representing myself as a buyer buying a $100,000 house the brokerage that year would still have made $1500 off of me ($500 for the yearly fee and $1000 to facilitate the trnsaction). However, if it was a $500,000 house then in a normal sense the broker would take $7500 (50% of the $15,000 commission) whereas in the passive/inactive type broker hanging that year the broker would only receive $1500 for a savings of $6000 in that single year.

Anyone aware? They are usually very small brokers which is why I figured that this may be the best place to ask since it may not be super common.

THANK YOU ALL,

[SMG]

I am in the business and would be happy to discuss this off line. I have not heard of any broker taking 50%.

[Zippyman]

Lots of firms like that in my area, the AZ School of RE & Business in Scottsdale has a bulletin board for local brokers to post their offers. They also offer the classes at several locations in the area - I did a two-week "crash" program that got all the state-required classroom hours in just a couple weeks..

Generally, you'll pay a monthly fee of $25-50 to the broker & some sort of fee for every completed deal - the last place I was at charged about $300 for a sales transaction - the remainder of the commission goes to you.

Keep in mind, you'll need to pay MLS dues, e-key fees, & join the local & national RE boards to get fully hooked-in to all the listings & be able to actually start writing deals. It's most of $2k to get started with paying for your school & state test + all the fees your first year, and prolly a grand a year to keep the license active & preserve MLS & e-key access.

If you're not planning on buying or selling for a year or two, you can "sever" your relationship with the broker & your salespersons license will be "inactive" - you still need to do the 24 hrs of "continuing Ed" every two years (can be done online) & pay the state licensing fees to keep your license activate-able.. If you ever skip the continuing-Ed or skip paying the state license fee (even if inactive), you'll have to sit through 80 hours of class, plus the contract class, plus take the state test, again.. So, to keep the license handy on the cheap, you want to go "inactive" but never let the license lapse.

Re-activating a license is as simple as finding a broker & submitting a form online though..