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If I Were the Commissioner

By
Real Estate Agent with Realty Executives - Phoenix AZ

If I were to awaken tomorrow as the commissioner of real estate - all of it - what would I change? Lots of things... For starters, I want a new set of rules.

  1. Raise the entry gate. No, I'm not engaging in the "pull up the ladder now that I'm on board" tactic. I've been licensed 22 years. But I DO see way too many agents who are under-educated about what is required to actually be a GOOD agent. Quantity is too high, and education too low, so I'll require licensees to have at least a 2 year degree in a business discipline, PLUS attend specific classes related to the actual operation of a real estate business. Enough of the "how many acres in a quarter section?" questions. The effect of this new rule will be fewer agents, and much better prepared & educated agents. The consumers will benefit, our profession will benefit, and the world will still turn.
  2. Raise the renewal requirements. This follows on Rule #1 in that agents will now have to continue to stay on top of the changes sweeping over the industry. Many do this now, but many more do just the minimum hours per year to stay fresh. Please do not tell me that 1 hour per month of continuing education is sufficient! New Rule #2 - Back To School for at least 3 hours per month. 36 hours per year is not going to wear anyone out.
  3. Do some business, or get out! We have agents who do 1 or 2 sales per year. Throw in 1 or 2 listings per year, and these folks are barely getting by. Like a triage unit, the New Rule #3 will mandate a minimum level of closed sales. This can be measured both in quantity or dollar volume. For those that fail to make the cut, or for those who primarily are self-dealers, there will be a safety net. Just as we now have Brokers Licenses & Agents Licenses, new rule #3 creates a Temporary License. It can be renewed, but would serve to alert the public that the agent they are dealing with is either a self-dealer or a part-timer. The public needs to know these things!
  4. Mandatory apprenticeship. Not for years, but for at least 6 months. All new agents must spend some time learning along side the veterans. This is not a new concept, as almost every other true profession utilizes the apprentice program. Let's also require any document prepared by these new agents to be reviewed and initialed by the veteran agent and/or the managing broker. So many simple mistakes are made that are clearly avoidable by simple review. Again, the consumers benefit.

These are rules that a commissioner has control over, and while changes often require legislative action, these would be on my Action List as commissioner. The future of the industry is in the balance these days, and these new rules are long over due.

Tomorrow I'll tackle the archaic Multiple Listing Systems we are stuck with.

Time to go play golf.

 

 

Comments (20)

Miriam Bernstei
Rochester, NY
Mandatory apprenticeship?  Ok what would the seasoned agent get for trianing a newbie in your world as Commissioner.
Aug 26, 2007 05:36 AM
Fran Gaspari
Patriot Land Transfer, Inc. - Limerick, PA
"The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ

Patrick,

You've got my vote. Great post. Thanks,   Fran

Aug 26, 2007 05:38 AM
Patrick Harfst
Realty Executives - Phoenix AZ - Gilbert, AZ
Miriam - The seasoned agent gets some of his or her low-pay work done for free. Internships are not highly paid in DOLLARS, but rather in EXPERIENCE. No rule that every veteran agent must take on an apprentice. Many won't. Some firms will continue to be "training" type firms, others will be filled with heavy hitters who do not need apprentices.
Aug 26, 2007 05:46 AM
Ginger Wilcox
Sindeo - San Francisco, CA

I completely agree that the level of entry to the business is far too low, and continuing education should be meaningful!  These get all your hours while on the wine train are ridiculous. 

I don't agree wtih #3- there are reasons why people may only do a few transactions during a year- new baby, sick relative, personal illness, the list could go on and on.  Just because someone takes time off doesn't make them a bad agent.

A mandatory apprenticeship is another great idea, the best way to learn is to follow someone more seasoned.

 

Aug 26, 2007 05:46 AM
Fran Gaspari
Patriot Land Transfer, Inc. - Limerick, PA
"The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ

Miriam,

I wouldn't want to speak for Patrick, nor hijack his post, but the seasoned agent is getting the SATISFACTION of giving back a little to the industry which has afforded him the opportunity for prosperity. Thanks,   Fran

Aug 26, 2007 05:48 AM
Patrick Harfst
Realty Executives - Phoenix AZ - Gilbert, AZ
Ginger - Rule #3 was hard for me. I looked to the concept adopted by many states with regard to driver licenses... Transitional licenses for 16-18 year olds, no more than one other occupant, never after 10, etc. The idea is not new on these two-tier licenses. So, yes, that rule might need work. My intent was that the status of the license be maintained at the state level, a website few consumers ever visit...
Aug 26, 2007 05:51 AM
Patrick Harfst
Realty Executives - Phoenix AZ - Gilbert, AZ

Fran - thanks for the support. You are correct that many agents find that their own business improves when they spend a bit of time giving to others. Why? I do not know for sure, but have found this to be the case in my own career. The more I give, the more I get back. I have not seen that popular movie The Secret, but perhaps this is part of what is going on there...

I'm a regular blood donor too. The ultimate in anonymous "giving". When I need a cosmic favor, I go donate blood. I can't exactly explain that, either. It just is.

Aug 26, 2007 05:56 AM
Julie Chapman
Julie Chapman Broker - Ormond Beach, FL
Daytona Beach Shores, Florida

I agree with so many of your comments - all of my college hours in real estate took so many more hours than a GRI, ABR, etc. - such as Real Estate I, Real Estate II, Real Estate Finance I, Real Estate Finance II, Real Estate Law, Real Estate Appraisal, Business Communication, Business Management, etc. as part of my undergraduate, was raised by a land developer, have been licensed since 1979 - active full time since finishing college in 1982, have real estate development experience and mortgage lending experience - both done while working full time in real estate. 

My level of expectation is so high that is extremely hard for me to hire or retain agents (most of my staff are brokers or will be soon - even one of my personal assistants is a licensed broker) as I expect them to work within the letter of the law and I am willing to train to the same level in which I expect them to work.  Yet I continue to educate myself by courses (above and beyond my mandatory continuing education) as well as purchasing and exposing myself to anything I can get my hands on related to my business that I deem worthy of learning.  I spend time talking with mortgage lenders, attorneys, anyone who can add to my knowledge - it was my reason for joining Active Rain. 

I would like to add that I personally hold 17.6% of all pending sales in my target market per what I can ascertain from our MLS.  Demanding the best pays well.......

Brokers and managers are the only one who can raise the bar.  We lead by example and must accept responsibility. 

Aug 26, 2007 06:34 AM
Patrick Harfst
Realty Executives - Phoenix AZ - Gilbert, AZ
Julie - You nailed it! YOU are who new agents should model themselves after... Education, coupled with common sense, equals more income. Easy formula, but so many look for a shortcut.
Aug 26, 2007 06:46 AM
Mike Jones
SUNSTREET MORTGAGE, LLC (BK-0907366, NMLS 145171) - Tucson, AZ
Mike Jones NMLS 223495

Pat, let's get some rules in place for lenders before tweaking the Real Estate Commissioner's beak!

Mike the lender

Aug 26, 2007 09:26 AM
Kaye Thomas
Real Estate West - Manhattan Beach, CA
e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
Sure would like to see some of these go into effect nationwide.  We absolutely must wake up to the fact that working in real estate is a business for professionals and to reach that level agents must acquire education and skills relevant to the job consumers hire them to do. it's a disgrace that you can start selling property because you passed a multiple choice test without any further training. 
Aug 26, 2007 12:40 PM
Patrick Harfst
Realty Executives - Phoenix AZ - Gilbert, AZ

Mike - Howzabout I'll work on the real estate side of things, and you work on the lending side? Kind of like building the chunnel - we'll meet in the middle, and toast our combined success.

Kaye - Glad to hear from another Realtor who understands how low the bar is for entry to this once-fine profession. There is much work to do!

Aug 26, 2007 03:43 PM
Patsy Ittner, Your Premier Broker Selling St. Augustine Real Estate
Little Fox Realty - Saint Augustine, FL
I agree with you on every issue except the first one.  I have a four-year college nursing degree.  I practiced for decades, and feel very strongly that my people skills, my attention to detail, and my never-say-die attitude has and will serve me, and my customers, well in this business.
Aug 26, 2007 04:03 PM
Patrick Harfst
Realty Executives - Phoenix AZ - Gilbert, AZ

Patsy - You get a pass. Current agents in good standing are grand-fathered in. Heck, I need that pass too - my college degree is Microbiology...

I like you comment on "never-say-die"... Wiser people have counseled me to that same point - always send the ball back across the net, never be the side that says NO... Or as REO Speedwagon sang - Keep Pushin!

Aug 26, 2007 04:19 PM
Margaret Woda
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. - Crofton, MD
Maryland Real Estate & Military Relocation
Excellent, Patrick - This might help mprove the public perception of agents' VALUE, which is one of my pet peeves.  There's a category for plumber apprentices and electrician apprentices, why not real estate apprentices?  I also love the idea of having to actually DO it to maintain a license.  How about at least 12 transactions per year.  Wow, that would narrow down the numbers in our business.  NAR would never support it, of course, because it would reduce their paying membership. 
Aug 26, 2007 09:27 PM
Karen Radzinski
Keller Williams - Carlsbad, CA

Hi,

I love the education requirements and the apprenticeship idea!!  A couple of months ago, I spent 1 day with a 'top producer' and learned an immense amount!  Thanks to you, I think I will go and ask her if I could shadow her a couple of more days.  Great idea!!

Aug 27, 2007 12:14 AM
Patrick Harfst
Realty Executives - Phoenix AZ - Gilbert, AZ

Margaret - NAR is just a union, with the union bosses doing what other union bosses do - collect dues, spend money on lavish surroundings, and tell the "troops" when & how to march in unison. Several years ago, when membership crossed 1 million, they took out ads in national media bragging that the NAR was a "million strong"... Please, someone, enyone, explain to me how an individual consumer is going to benefit by there being 1.4 million Realtors? They have hired 1 Realtor, who might have 1 or 2 assistants. We clearly do not need 1.4 million Realtors! To spend our ad revenue in this fashion baffled many of us, and the actions of NAR on many fronts still do baffle us. Topic for another post...

Karen - That time spent with a pro really helped, didn't it? THAT is one of the ways this industry can clean itself from within. There are plenty of market choices out there that would love to "clean us" from without...

Aug 27, 2007 02:07 AM
Doreen McPherson
Homesmart ~ Scottsdale ~ Tempe - Tempe, AZ
Phoenix Arizona Real Estate ~

Where exactly can one find the apprenticeship experience now?  I don't know if anyone does anything like that.  That is what I have been looking for.  I would love to spend that kind of time with a Top Producer. 

 

Aug 27, 2007 09:29 PM
Leslie Prest
Leslie Prest, Prest Realty, Sales and Rentals in Payson, AZ - Payson, AZ
Owner, Assoc. Broker, Prest Realty, Payson,
I agree that we don't need the "how many acres in a quarter section" education. The education to get a license should be practical. So should the licensing test. So should the renewal hours. Personally, I would like to see some sort of competency test to renew- I know too many "old-timer" agents who go to classes, come back, and do exactly what they have always done (which is wrong).
Aug 28, 2007 05:31 AM