Qualifying Courses
One question my staff hears regularly concerns qualifying for a broker’s license. An applicant must complete 8 college courses and have 2 years of full-time experience in the last 5 years. There are nuances and if you have any queries, call my office at 800-439-4909, we can help.
Yes, for example, an Econ class taken at a Junior College years ago would qualify for one course. Check your old college transcripts to see if anything stays when they are thrown against the proverbial wall.
The question: Can the experience be waived if I have a college degree? They have all heard of somebody subbing a degree for the 2 years. At one time that was possible; even a degree in Russian Literature would let you apply for the exam.
Now the rule is that only a college degree with a major or minor in Real Estate qualifies for the waiver. This is not a proper rule in my opinion. I believe that exclusion should be wider and allow someone who majored in Economics, Accounting, Management, Marketing, and others to qualify. This rule has drastically lowered the number of brokers in the field and will continue to do so. Also, the percentage of college graduates in the field has dropped.
CAR and others thought that brokers should be experienced in the field. Of course, I have an iron in the fire here. The new rule has lowered the income of all education companies.
There is one other path: Equivalent activities in lieu of experience. For example, work as an escrow officer, financing loan officer, subdivider, contractor or speculative building, and real property appraising. As I said before, any questions call us. So many people go the lone wolf route and sign up online and they miss important information. Many even take the wrong courses. I got my license in 1961 and there are many items that I still must check with the powers in Sacramento.
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