The Future of Real Estate..Why a Real Estate Degree may be a Part of Your Future!

I'm all for raising the bar as a way of raising the public perception of the mortgage and real estate industries. 

As the Midwest's most Certified Mortgage Expert, I've been wishing for years there was a way to keep the part-timers and the causal practitioners out of my profession.  All they've done is convince the public that the process of getting a mortgage is a commodity and only price matters - not knowledge, expertise or ethics.  Every week I lose a deal where the borrower is going to get bait & switched but doesn't know it.  And you know what being right in these situations pays?  Absolutely nothing:(  The shady operator still gets paid, stays in business and laughs all the way to the bank.

Most everyone knows about the new state and national requirements for Loan Originators that it took a Housing Crisis to get put in place.  In Michigan, over half the LO's who took the original state test last year failed it!  I've heard failure figures of 30% and up for the new national test this year.

For the mortgage industry, all that was grandfathered in was whether or not one had to take the 24 hour class - EVERYONE but federal bank employees has to pass the test.

I'm sure many agents would be glad to raise the requirements for their profession as too often the public looks at agents as nothing more than overpaid chauffers and paper pushers.

I'll be stopping back to follow up on the additinal comments.

While I. like everyone else in the industry, was happy to take advantage of the ease of entrance to the business of real estate, I fully support anything that upgrades the profession. If want to be treated on the same level as other professionals out there then it should be expected that we are to be as knowledgeable and obviously the current system turns out some very hit and miss results.

I'm all for it Lola. Think of the possibility for courses...statistics, finance, accounting, economics, business planning etc... all of which play an important role in the real estate business.

Lola, the official reason bank employees were exempted is that supposedly, banks do a better job of screening their LO's and getting rid of the bad apples (like that worked at WAMU!).  The real reason is that the bank lobbyists had more money to bribe contribute to Congress to get the exemption.

BTW - I must disclose that I now work at a bank and don't have to take the test.  I was among the first to pass the state test last year though, but will be exempt this year.  I am teaching the class as I'm on the Board of the Michigan Mortgage Brokers Association (now called the Michigan Mortgage Professionals Association).

Lola, I like the idea of raisong the bar. It is too easy to get a license but in order to be good we should get designations and education.

Lola:  I think it's a good idea and will give credibility to our industry.  This is why I became a Broker and I plan to take more classes and raise my own bar for myself!

I am planning on getting started on my brokerage license shortly.  My Dad's final illness forced me to set that aside for  a while.  But the training of agents in general is pretty poor.  I'm glad to be seeing this because it will help make this a viable profession. I hope this trend spreads...

Lola - Long overdue.  In fact, I'd go one step further and they should start implementing some sort of rudimentary education about buying and selling a home in the scholastic curriculum, both in High School & College.