When I earned my real estate license way back in 1988, I was bursting with excitement. After all, I had prepared myself by completing 8 college level real estate courses with high marks, culminating in 2 Associate degrees: one in real estate and another in small business management. A real estate career sounded simple. Next, I studied for the California real estate licensing exam and passed it with ease… so of course my new career would be a breeze, right?
WOW, was I ever wrong about that. I found out that the real world of real estate sales is an utterly unique experience, and most of my on-the-job learning was not covered by book knowledge. Although it was a basic cornerstone of my career, the college education did not prepare me for the real field work required in real estate.
In practice, we must know about building construction, contracts, inspections, disclosures, appraisals, decorating and design, architecture, contracts, negotiating, building codes, title vesting, property valuation, probates, county building permits, zoning, contracts, escrows, mortgage loan requirements, insurance, a myriad of new laws… and did I mention contracts?
Then with the downward market cycles, we are obligated to learn about short sales, REOs, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and BPOs. On top of that, we have to spend an enormous effort marketing listings (and ourselves) to continually obtain new clients, while simultaneously staying ahead of technology and keeping up with training… and we must do all of this with a smile and a great attitude (and of course high ethics)!
Not only was there a LOT to learn, but I found that my job was challenging because it had a lot of variety: every house was different, every buyer and seller were different, and every transaction had different challenges. I immersed myself in the real estate world and absorbed as much as I could. While (thankfully) I had mentors to guide me along, much of my accumulated knowledge was acquired by observing, researching, and participating. Even today, I am continually learning new things within the real estate industry.
It’s taken me 25 years to learn and compile this resourceful “crash course” of real estate terms. I wrote this resource to help you gain the knowledge and expertise much faster than I did. Enjoy our guide book and have fun learning the lingo of houses!
Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQDM034
When I began teaching real estate courses to agents, I set out with a goal to "raise the bar" for our industry. Now my mission has developed into "revolutionizing our industry". This guide book is one small step in that direction.
With gratitude,
Regina P. Brown
Broker / Instructor / Author
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