Three (3) Reasons Why Real Estate Brokerage Is A MESS!

1.  REAL ESTATE IS TOO EASY TO GET INTO!  In most states, the educational entry-requirements to secure a Real Estate License are less than 100 hours of instruction… much of which is ‘useless’, state-mandated legalize about various aspects of Real Estate Laws while all the while reminding license-candidates NOT to ‘practice law’ or they’ll incur the ire of the Licensing Authority and  lose their licenses! The majority of the course is typically about all the things you ‘CAN’T’ DO or you'll lose your license, get sued and forfeit your ‘first born’! No wonder so many New Agents are ‘reactive’…they’re paralyzed with ‘fear’…they’re scared-to-death! Do you think training these agents will help? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! Most of them need a ‘SHRINK’ after completing the course!

100 hours of Real Estate Licensing Instruction & Education may seem rather severe to many ‘want-to-be’ agents but, in reality, it’s a 'cake-walk'! Certainly a 'cake-walk' in comparison with securing a Cosmetology License in most states where licensing requirements can exceed 1000 hours of instruction, months of 'internship' and lots of $$$!  Yes, 1000+ hours to give someone a hair-wash, hair-cut and a permanent! What’s the worst that can happen? You burn the customer’s hair! Yes, it may hurt and not look so good, but, in most cases, their hair will 'grow back'! And YES…you’ll probably get sued! 

Compare that to Real Estate! After only 100 hours (or less) of legalize, the agent screws-up while representing the buyer who is encouraged by the agent to ‘close’ on a home with faulty-title and is NOT advised to secure Title Insurance!  The consequence: the buyer loses the single-largest investment they have…their down-payment... their closing costs and ultimately their dream home worth hundreds-of-thousands of dollars! And NO, their money WON'T ‘grow back’! And YES... you’ll probably get sued!  Something is out of whack! 100 hours vs. 1000 hours? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

2.  THERE ARE TOO MANY CHOICES TO FAIL ONCE YOU'RE IN IT! Without ‘close supervision’, business-development training (like i-FAStTRAC) and without commitment & personal-accountability, most real estate agents are destined to ‘fail’! If any one of the above are missing, ‘consistent’ productivity and long-term success become a 'moving-target'! When brokers either allow agents ‘to decide’ if they want to participate in the company’s training program or not; or, when the company doesn’t track the agent’s participation & completion of the training program… bad things are going to happen!  Brokers have got to 'take the choice/option out of training'… especially when it comes to ‘New’, ‘Under-Producing’ and ‘Struggling' agents! Similarly, brokers have got to remove ‘the choice/option’ when it comes to Real Estate Business-Development Training, ‘time management’ and 'proactive' prospecting & lead generation! 

3.  TOO EASY TO GET OUT OF! Because real estate is Too Easy To ‘Get Into’ and because there are ‘Too Many ‘Choices’ To Fail, ‘Getting Out Of’ Real Estate is ‘Too Easy’ as well! Typically, the agent doesn't have a lot invested: 100 ‘licensing’-hours, $500 course-fee, $1000 NAR & MLS membership expenses and $500+ miscellaneous expenses! The ‘AGENT-TAKE’ after 6-12 months: ’Oh well, I TRIED’! I think I'll TRY something else! Do other PROFESSIONALS like doctors, dentists, lawyers, surgeons and other PROFESSIONALS rationalize the same way? NO! Why? Because they have a lot more INVESTED (especially EDCATIONALLY AND INTERSHIP-WISE) from the very beginning!

To clean-up 'THE REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE MESS': start with dramatically increasing the educational entry-requirements in all states to at least 500 hours, requiring 2-3 years of internship and make Real Estate Business-Development Training mandatory!

Recommended Reading: The E Myth Real Estate Agent… Michael Gerber and Brad Korn