The rise and fall of real estate brokers and agents

I agree with Joseph Sarria – instead of the DRE making it close to impossible to figure out what a broker has to do to get a NMLS endorsement on her license in order to do loans. The DRE could start by making it more difficult to obtain a salesman’s license…Now for the NMLS endorsement one must have a background check, pre-licensing education, SAFE act, 20 hours of education, take their test, have a credit check and fingerprints, not to mention NUMEROUS fees and charges…The NMLS website has to be the most confusing I have been in contact with so far, and I’ve been licensed as a broker since 1984 and licensed since 1976. Make it more difficult for the “newbies” – make THEM have a sponsor, and fulfill all the other requirements that the government keeps throwing up in front of us. I was an appraiser for several years until they required licensing. Could not find a sponsor. Got a trainees license, but could go no farther. End of story. Everything is becoming more and more difficult – EXCEPT the ability to obtain a salesman’s license. They are still cranking them out to flippers, etc.

I have read many different posts and this is the most interesting article I have seen all week. Thank you for this!

If we want to improve the industry we need to raise the bar for who gets or renews a license. If we raise the standards we can professionalize our industry more and get the “speculators” out.

But think about it? Who makes more money when we have more licensees? The real estate schools and the Department of Real Estate. They really don’t want to raise the standards. Then they would sell less courses and collect less fees.

Doctors and nurses and other professions regulate the number of new workers by their standards. Raise the standards…lower the numbers.

I would love to see the numbers pertaining to the “New” agents that have come out of the mortgage meltdown as compared to the true Professional Real Estate Agents that make a living in Real Estate. We have had an influx of new agents coming from the Mortgage Industry taking advantage of the contacts they had in mortgages to deal with REO’s and Short Sales. I’m guessing, but I believe that the number of agents who have left the business is even greater than this shows. Those opportunistic agents will only be here as long as their contacts provide them with business and then they will go to where the next quick buck is.

The DRE is becoming the Gestapo— Hell the whole country is becoming the Gestapo

I obtained my license in 2004 and my broker at the time handed me off to one of his other salespersons to train under. The broker and everyone else was too busy to train anyone, so needless to say, I became discouraged by the lack of professionalism. “Every man (woman)for himself,” so to speak, was the attitude I left with. I have kept up with my continuing education and my licensing, so I am looking into a establishing myself with a broker who is willing to invest his experitise and time into his employees.
So, not all salespersons are greedy and just in it for the quick money. Often, what I’ve been told by other realtors, training and commitment should be mandatory, not something left to chance. There is great opportunity in real estate, but also, great responsibility. I hope I am more fortunate this time around.

Real Estate cost money and the MLS is too much for the newbies like me and you do need good training and a mentor. Mentoring is hard to find.

If the sense is we need more licensees, I disagree. What we need are more educated and professional licensees. Its the Quality versus Quantity argument. On the other hand the Realtor Associations just want more… more members means more dues which means more money for staff salaries and benefits because I haven’t seen Realtor dues going down at any time during this downfall. Did anyone see the Brokers Insider article showing NAR’s Executive Officer Dale Stinton making $1,938,726 in 2010, that was after receiving a $500,000 raise over his 2009 salary! So while the housing crash decimated income for agents and brokers, the heads of Realtor Associations saw their paychecks keep rising through the downturn according to tax returns filed by the very same associations. We should be asking ourselves if the Realtor Association ideology is helpful or harmful to the working Realtor?

Sorry to read the complaints about training and the number of agents, etc. Freedom is a bitch. You are free to market yourself in the best possible manner, and to flourish or fail accordingly. It is the exact opposite of the govt. No one owes you any assistance at all, unless you are somehow in tune with them, and no one should be envious of your success. We have all seen newcomers enter the field and waltz right past our success, based upon their zeal and community reputation.

Regarding the overly optimistic projections of various Real Estate groups: they would not be so harmful if only the overpaid, highly touted Teachers, dared educate the population about financial matters. Who the hell cares what John Quincy Adams had for lunch, if you can attend school for 12 years and barely know the how debt and interest rates work. ?

The main thing to “improve” the quality of this “profession” is to eliminate the 0 day sale. It being allowed is one of the most hard to justify things in the business. Dual agency can be somewhat defended because of the agency disclosure forms, but 0 day is impossible to justify.