Continuing Education

Real estate agents are required to renew their license every four years.  In order to do this, each agent must complete forty-five hours of continuing education prior to renewing the license.  Given the changes that occur in the real estate business through either legislative or legal means, forty-five hours seems like a reasonable amount of continuing education to require.  Unfortunately, most of the courses do not look at the changes that have occurred in the industry in the last several years.

You can complete your forty-five units in one of several ways.  You can take one or more of the courses on-line, you can go to a class and take one or all of the courses in class, or you can take seminars and classes throughout the four years in preparation for your license renewal.

Like most people, real estate agents are inclined to put things off.  The good news is that you can take all forty-five units in only five days over the internet.  And frankly, they aren’t that expensive.  If you’re in a hurry they are there.  I still don’t know how you can get forty-five hours of class work done in a week, but the DRE has approved this for continuing education units.  Maybe they think you’ll stop doing your day job while you’re trying to renew your license.

The problem that I have with continuing education is that it is typically a joke.  If the courses are done in the classroom, the instructor is required to provide a certain number of classroom hours.  Generally, every instructor I have ever had, has cut the class time down as much as they could.  Usually, if this means it’s an 8 to 4 class, you’re out by 3.  The instructor will usually propose to shorten lunch slightly and cut down on break time so that we do get the complete number of hours required.  In reality, the break time usually gets extended by those who feel the need to ask questions of the instructor during the break, and the same thing occurs at lunch.

These classes are also required to give you a test at the end of the class time.  These tests are typically reviewed, almost question-by- question, by the instructor, prior to the taking of the test.  Unless your short-term memory is shot, you can certainly pass the tests.  They are short, not particularly difficult and you’ve just been given all the answers.

Certainly, if you take the courses over the internet, the tests are going to be open book.  With the internet, you get the convenience, but you loose control over who is taking the test.  There is no proctor.  Wait, let’s get what’s-her-name do it.  She just took hers yesterday, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind taking mine today.

The National Association of Realtors and other affiliated groups are also trying to get their share of the continuing education revenue.  NAR is now offering designations and certifications that require only class time and money.  Some are even completed on the internet, so class time is at your convenience.  These guys are smart, they add that you have to remain a member of the affiliated association in order to use the designations.  So now the agent is paying for the classes and having to pay each year to keep the use of the designation.

Unfortunately, these designations and certifications are being sold to the agent as a way to improve their expertise.  Although the agent may know more than an agent who has never completed the class, an agent who has completed transactions using this knowledge is more of an expert even if the agent has not taken the class.

These designations and certifications are sold to the public as though they make an agent an expert in the area studied.  This is another way that real estate agents and the Realtors® Association confuse the public.

Some of the designations and credentials require a great deal of study and a certain number of transactions.  Others are simply on-line classes that can be completed in a week or so.  The public needs to be honestly educated about what each designation means.   Is it knowledge gained or experience with the transactions?  These are different.

Until the public is educated, you can have a ton of initials after your name and it really doesn’t mean anything.

©2007 by Judy Kane