Your license is not valid unless you are hired by a broker.
The term Realtor is a registered trademark, you have to be a member of NAR to join. You will need to join CAR and any local association as well.
I Want To Get My Real Estate License, But Where Do I Go After That?
I am looking to get my real estate salesperson license in Southern California this summer and just want to know what to do immediately after I pass the test. I was wondering what I must do to call myself a Realtor. Do I need to register with NAR? And how do I get a sponsor such as Remax or Tarbell? Many companies ask for Real Estate experience but as an entry level real estate agent how might I get some experience other than assistant jobs?
I am really looking into a good steady start to a great career and am weighing all the factors before hand. Is there any more licenses I can get after my real estate salesperson license? How about if I want to sell commercial real estate or condos? Somebody Please Help! If you prefer to email me and help me out I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
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2 comments - add yours
Landlord
July 3, 2009
rich8259
July 3, 2009
First of all, go on the California DRE (Department of Real Estate) website and make sure you have the proper credentials to begin getting your license. There have been a number of new laws that have been put into effect including a requirement to have a college degree (not sure if its 2 years or 4). Assuming you meet the requirements, take the necessary courses and pass the state exam you will then be licensed.
Once you receive your agents license you must search for and interview with a broker. You are not allowed to sell real estate unless you are affiliated with a broker. As you are already aware, there are thousands of residential real estate firms that you can pick from if you want to sell houses and condo’s (be advised condo’s are considered residential and not commercial).
Commercial Real Estate is a whole other ball of wax. The largest firm by sales is CBRE (Coldwell Banker – Richard Ellis followed by Marcus & Millichap both of which have offices nationwide. Both have multiple office locations in Southern California and you would need to send your resume and license to the office manager requesting an interview just like you would any other job. However, unlike most 9-5 jobs, you don’t get a paycheck until you close a deal which used to take about a year back in the day. With this tough economy and far fewer deals getting done, the learning curve is much longer.
Assuming you are hired by a commercial broker (CB and Marcus are only two of dozens in Southern California) I would reccomend you align yourself with a Senior broker who is willing to take you on as his Junior Broker. It used to be that the Senior broker would take you under his wing and then you would repay him by splitting your first three deals with him. Nowadays its usually a predefined dollar amount.
You can always bypass that route and just learn on your own but you best be able to support yourself for more than a year becuase it is a very tough business. I don’t want to discourage you but the number of people that enter real estate sales and drop out after less than a year is extremely high.
as for NAR and all the other associations, you just need to join your local MLS and pay the NAR dues (they may have also added some requirements from when I first joined many years ago). Remember, you are an independent contract so you will have to pay for all of these affiliations out of your pocket.
I am a commercial broker/partner here in Southern California. If you would like to explore this in more detail, feel free to e-mail me with your contact information and I will be more than happy to discuss this further.
Whatever you decide to do, I wish you all the luck in the world and don’t get discouraged as it can be an extremely rewarding business!!
Good Luck!!
