Education: Always “Continuing”

Roger Higle <rhigle@gmail.com>	11:08 AM (0 minutes ago)
to me

Continuing my theme “what we Realtors do, and how little consumers know about it” the fact is that learning, both formal and on the job, never ends!

Our industry is regulated mainly by the state we’re practicing in. The state licenses us and requires, among other things, that we take a certain number of hours of continuing education classes every year.

In North Carolina, getting licensed is step one. Your status then is “provisional Broker”. To become a fully practicing Broker requires taking 90 hours of post-licensing education within your first 18 months after licensing.

Why? Real estate laws and best practices proficiency, and consumer protection are the “why”! Our industry has come a long way in improving its reputation with the public This is a very competitive business – example, there are more than 45,000 licensed agents just in our state! While statistics show that only a small percentage are truly active full-time (less than 20% nationally), those hard-working types are pretty easy for a consumer to find.

“Which one shall I work with?”, is the question. For many, the answer is “the smartest one I can find – one who will give me their full attention and handle all the details over many weeks, from first meeting to closing the sale or purchase. Some of the best agents (called Brokers here in N.C.) work alone, but many have a partner or teammates.

Why am I sharing all this? Right now, I’m just wrapping up my 90 hours of post-licensing education, including final exams in each subject area. The exams take 90 minutes or more, and are observed either in person or “live online”. I was licensed for years in Arizona, and let it lapse when I moved to Austin, Texas to develop training for Keller Williams agents and franchise owners. Then, after another licensing back in AZ, my wife and I decided to come here. Thus a new licensing process began for me.

Once exams are done, this state will still require another 8 hours of education annually to keep my license active!

This is just another peek behind the scenes at what it takes to be set up for success in our business. Did you know? Probably not. That’s OK, few people do.