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How to Get Your Realtor License
To get a license which grants you the permission to sell real estate requires approximately seventy hours of course work and a minimum grade of 75% or higher on your State’s Board Exam. It is important to understand that passing this exam in one state does not give you permission or the legal right to sell real estate in any other state in the country. Though some courses are offered touting a national license, the reality is that there are no national real estate licenses available.
It is also important to know that a real estate license is not only for selling residential properties and homes, such as single family dwellings, building lots or condominiums. A real estate license will also allow an individual to sell commercial properties, building complexes such as strip malls and office buildings or even work in a combination of areas.
There are real estate professionals and then there are Realtors. The difference is simply that the Realtors, after getting their state license, join the National Association of Realtors and participate in a formal recognition or swearing-in.
Both groups would have to participate in formal training through an accredited real estate school or course in their area. There are also many online schools that allow an individual to perform their training at their own pace, and this is very beneficial for those hoping to transition into real estate work without giving up their “day job” first.
The real estate Board Exams are administrated either by the school or another recognized entity and can take upwards of four hours to complete. This is the reason for the formal training and many students find it remarkably beneficial to purchase special Board Exam study guides for their particular state as a way of “practicing” for the exam.
As stated earlier, a 75% or higher indicates a passing grade. At this point the student can find work with a real estate agency, or they may want to join the NAR and mentor with another realtor for a while. Either way the real estate industry, though experiencing ups and downs according to the current financial climate, has continued to be a reliable career. According to the Department of Labor, real estate professionals averaged between thirty-one thousand and over fifty thousand per year in 2002 alone. Interestingly in that same time span, those who became Realtors with the NAR earned roughly eight thousand more per year.