Real Estate Education-the Bar Is To Low

[tomocox]

I assure you fellow Realtors, if the bar was raised, we would be better appreciated by many of the writers on this blog.

I think a full degree like a CPA, teacher, etc should be in place for newbies by 2015.

[Lonnie West]

Lonnie West, Realtor/Broker North Carolina.

Standards are pretty good here. One pre licensing course I checked out has about 4 or 5 complete and pass the final exam of 20 starting. They are then allowed to take the State Exam with 3 of those eventually passing, some with two or three tries. Of course there is continuning ed and teaming up with a mentor, etc. Most who have the financial resources to stick with it for a year do fine. Those who have to take a second job to support their Real Estate Habbit will falter. In my experience about 80% of Real Estate Transactions are done by 20% of the Realtors. The danger is in the 80% of agents who are "Recreational Real Estate Agents" or who "dabble" or hang around and avoid the hard cases like difficult to sell properties, foreclosures, etc. Some wait and hope for that "Home Run" deal with a nice commission where the other side does all the work.
Incompetence gets found out in the end.

[rcarrillo]

I always joke about the Realtor standards.... but you guys should check out the loan officer ones.

To work at a bank, no license, education or other items required. ZIP! They have NO licensing requirements here in NC or in many other states, they are exempt and are employed based on the banks whims and needs.

To be a mortgage broker.... its an 8 hour class here in NC. Then a test, with 1 CE course per year that can be done online. A few states ask for 12-20 hours, some have no course at all. NC checks out credit and criminal history... some states do not even do that.


No wonder we are in the mess we are in and we have such a bad rep! Many loan officers do not know basic math, mortgage terms, finances or anything else. They take an 8 hour course, pay a few hundred dollars and get put on the phones to call clients as "professional loan officers".

[DavePautsch]

As an aside on this thread...
Many of us seek self-improvement on our own...But when looking for materials to do so, I noticed that something like 99% of all the BOOKS that are designed to teach Real Estate Agents how to be successful in business only focusing on how to GET more business and NOT how to be GOOD at doing business.

Where is the How To manual that teaches how to effectively manage a transaction? Where is "Property Disclosure for Dummies"?

Ok, I'm a little tongue in cheek here, but seriously it seems as though no one is willing to share THOSE secrets because it is truly what gives us a competitive edge...BECAUSE the licensing standards are so basic and in some cases inapplicable.

We want to call real estate a PROFESSION. We THINK of ourselves as professionals...maybe we need to look at the models of other successful (respected) professions and their paths of professional development. Graduation from Medical School is only the start of the process, with internship and residency to develop and mentor, build skills and competency.

I look at Naval aviation...you get your "wings" at the end of the first phases of aviation training...but you have to go on to FURTHER qualify in your specific airframe, and for increased levels of authority (like Mission Commander).

Licensing in real estate should be the basic entry level...with follow on training, mentoring and quantifiable measurement of competency to progress to the next level. I wonder if NAR would ever consider making the standards to be a Realtor the higher bar? That could go a long way in differentiating Realtor from real estate licensee...

Hmmmm....ponderous.