One of the recurring criticisms of the real estate industry is the fairly minimal standards required to obtain a real estate license. In Arizona, a prospective agent need only complete 90 hours of classroom instruction, select a broker, pay the licensing fee and they’re off and running.
Not that they likely will know much about real estate sales, mind you. The Arizona Real Estate exam is filled with a variety of virtually valueless information. I suppose there may be a need someday for me to remember where the property line ends on a non-navigable waterway versus a navigable waterway, but that scenario probably won’t arise nearly as often as trying to convince a buyers’ agent why the sales price on the LSR matters.
Outside of five digits - 43,560 - the number of square feet in an acre, the vast majority of information contained within the licensing exam likely will never be used.
So why does the licensing process even exist? Greg Swann of the Bloodhound Blog raised this question in last week’s Arizona Republic.
“The licensing requirement for real estate agents is a bad joke. Would-be licensees are required to take 90 hours of classroom instruction. There are real estate schools that will permit you to fulfill this obligation in ten consecutive days. The course material consists of tips and tricks for taking the state test, and the state test has almost nothing to do with succeeding — or even surviving — as a real estate agent.
How do we know this? Because more than 90% of new licensees do not renew their licenses. They fail within the first two years in business. Successful navigation of the licensing process is useless as an indicator of success as a real estate agent.
The state’s licensing procedure actually serves to deceive consumers. The implication is that a licensed practitioner is competent. Far too often, this is untrue.”
To some degree, Greg is correct. Having once upon a time obtained a Series 7 license to sell securities, the real estate exam is laughable in comparison. It’s less a test of knowledge than an IQ test consisting of oddly worded, convoluted, tricked-up questions. Passing the test does not indicate someone is qualified to handle a real estate transaction; it means only that they weren’t sufficiently befuddled by the exam.
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, PLEASE VISIT DALTON'S ARIZONA HOMES BLOG
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