Four score and seven years ago in a galaxy far, far away I
worked as an architect in San Francisco. At a cocktail party,
everyone wants to talk to the architect. In fact, many people
confess they always wanted to be an architect, or they want to
build their own home someday.
Four score and seven years ago in a galaxy far, far away I worked as an architect in San Francisco. At a cocktail party, everyone wants to talk to the architect. In fact, many people confess they always wanted to be an architect, or they want to build their own home someday.
Now I’m a Realtor, and no one wants to talk to me! However, it appears many people now want to be a Realtor. Since the dot bomb of the dot com economy, many people formerly employed in the tech industry have decided to give real estate a try. In fact, the membership of the various county associations of Realtors has swelled, in some cases, 25 percent. Whoa, doggies, that’s a lot of new lockbox keys!
The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) purposely keeps the bar to entry into the profession quite low. Almost anyone can get a license. All you need is a felony-free past, a high school diploma and the completion of one course, Real Estate Principles, and you’re ready to take the exam. Once you pass, you’re a Realtor! You help people buy and sell the biggest financial investment of their lives. (Do you see something wrong with this picture?) The DRE has a vested interest in having more and more people take the exam and get a license. These people all pay fees and dues, which fund the coffers of the DRE.
The new agent will hang his or her license with a real estate broker of record, who theoretically takes on the responsibility for additional training, especially during the first few transactions. Because of this hands-on management, most new Realtors get a smaller share of the commission. Some brokerages split 50-50 with new agents, others are more generous.
After additional training (eight college-level courses) and another more comprehensive exam, one can get a broker’s license. At that point the Realtor has the choice to go out on his or her own, thereby avoiding a commission split. Or the Realtor may choose, as I do, to work for a brokerage as a Broker Associate. I personally like the camaraderie and intellectual stimulation from a large group of hard-working, dedicated professionals.
WAIT! How did we get from “almost anyone can get a license” to “a large group of hard-working, dedicated professionals” in only three paragraphs? I said it was easy to GET a license, not to become a successful Realtor. In fact, that could be a topic for another week’s column!
This week the market in San Benito County has been a continuation of the past few months. Inventory hovering at 200, lower end market moving, upper end relatively stagnant.
Two final thoughts: 1) The father in “The Brady Bunch” was an architect. The mother in “American Beauty” was a Realtor. 2) Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead would be a very different tale if Howard Rourke had been a Realtor.
Be kind to your Realtor!
Nants Foley is a Broker Associate at Coldwell Banker in Hollister. She welcomes your suggestions for future columns. Contact her at na********@mi********.com or call 831.630.1300.
