Thanks for the comment, Ken. As it happens, looking at broker profitability is a deep interest of mine.

Once we start talking about licensing, however, I feel like we inevitably get into the area of politicking since licensing is a government thing. Not sure if there’s an easy solution there.

Perhaps requiring more continuing ed to keep the license might help….

@Jimkimmons -

Thanks for your kind words — and please, rant away! If we can’t voice issues on a frikkin’ blog, where can we voice them? Heh.

@Jim Duncan -

Now… that there is a question that can’t possibly be answered in a comment. (And I know we’ve spoken, but for everyone else….)

Let’s just say that I would look at the REALTOR designation from the point of view of those who currently hold it. If they see no value in the designation, then the bar needs to raised until they do.

Right now, as a marketer, I don’t believe that the REALTOR brand means anything at all. Other brands, such as “CPA” or “CCIM” or “CFA” have more meaning, and all of those have higher barriers to entry.

Where would I set it? This is deserving of a whole series of posts, but as a rule of thumb, I believe that if more than 10% (maybe 20%) of the practitioners can claim the designation, it starts to lose value.

That means, in today’s environment, with some 2+ million licensed real estate agents in the country, no more than 200K people should be able to hold the REALTOR designation.

Question is… does NAR really want to go from a 1.2m member political powerhouse to a 200K political lightweight?

-rsh

Maybe a third is NAR training to get the REALTOR designation. I haven’t heard anyone talk about how hard the REALTOR designation is to get, so I’m classifying this one as “too easy, too many” type of a deal.

Where would you set the bar for the REALTOR designation?

I deal with it in my Taos, NM local market on a daily basis, with gross errors (including selling the wrong parcel of land to their client) and holding multiple jobs, all taking priority over their real estate “career.” I knew it was a characteristic of this laid-back resort market, as when I moved here, the first ad I saw was for a massage therapist and realtor (sic) (in that order).

I jumped at the chance to write for About.com, and try, with more subdued articles than this comment, to effect what change I can. However, when an associate broker at a major franchise office says “This **** paperwork gets in the way of selling houses,” I just cringe and get out of earshot.

Though I don’t agree with huge fees to stay in the business, I wish they would test more often or something to see if we actually know what we’re doing. I recently answered a question on LinkedIn about choosing a real estate agent. There were dozens of responses about getting a friend’s recommendation. I said, go read their blogs to see who consistently posts statistics, data, and meaningful market commentary. Since most of us can’t afford a ghost writer, they might just find someone who knows what they’re doing. Ask them an email question, and if they get back to you with a knowledgeable answer quickly, that ain’t ghost writing.

OK, I’m done. And I feel better. Thanks!

Jim

If it’s a 100% shop, no way the broker/owner makes enough from rent, copies, admin fees etc., to fund a training program and buy groceries too. Besides, what’s the incentive to increase the agents skills, it doesn’t matter if the agent sells one property or a hundred, the broker doesn’t make more, the rent, copies, etc. is fixed.

I wonder how much the average agent spends on their own education…seminars, books, conferences, hours spent figuring out how to deploy Facebook, create a blog, read blogs, understand twitter, set up profiles on Trulia and Zillow, manage a web site, understand internet broadcasting and all those soft skills like communication, presentation, negotiating, problem solving, etc.

Seems the real challenge is that anyone with a speck of moxie can get a license….then stop growing. Real money makers, as independent contractors don’t rely on their broker/owners, they rely on themselves. The seek out opportunities and venues to learn, grow and prosper.

I’m hopeful this current crush will wash out a legion of posers and pretenders.

We’ll see.

Another solution, raise the license fee or board dues to a serious level…say $15,000 a year. Then only the service minded and career oriented players would step up.

I guess I’m less trained than the rest of you folks!

Becoming a REALTOR entails sitting in a 3 hour Code of Ethics class (no test. Heck, the guy next to me slept for 2 of the 3 hours), raising your right hand and swearing to obey the CoE and writing three checks – one each to the local, state and national Realtor Associations.

Writing the checks is the painful part, and of course is a yearly event.

And if I remember right, I had 90 days to squeeze in the 3 hour course. Maybe it was 30. And probably a fourth check.