Find Out How Educated Your REALTOR Is

November 18th, 2008 · No Comments · Selecting a Realtor, Videos

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One of the qualifications that many folks look for when selecting a Realtor is experience. That’s pretty important because of the dynamics of real estate transactions. If something comes up you want to know that you’re working with someone who has been around the block a time or two and knows what to expect and how to make things work anyway.

Continuing Education

One thing that people often forget or don’t know to ask about is a Realtor’s education. While all agents must take the same classes to become licensed, they are also required to take ongoing education. In Arizona, an agent must take 24 hours of Continuing Education Credit every 24 months to remain licensed. Some agents take courses on an ongoing basis while others cram it all in at the end right before they renew their licenses. In fact, the local Real Estate Schools sell a package called a Renew-a-Thon with all the classes that must be taken in order to cover the basic requirements to renew a real estate license.

Why is It Important?

Education is important because things do change somewhat quickly in real estate so as new policies or laws affect real estate, agents need to be informed so they can continue to represent their clients effectively. Just like other professionals, real estate agents must continue their education to keep their licenses active.

Public Access to Information

The Arizona Department of Real Estate has recently allowed agents to log their continuing education as they take their classes and is allowing the public to see those courses online. If you are considering using a real estate agent for an upcoming transaction, I encourage you to check out their education to see if they are up to speed and if they have taken courses specific to the type of transaction that you may be involved in with them. The department only shows the last two years of courses so you get a recent snapshot as opposed to a career-long look. Also, if the agent has renewed his or her license within the last two years the department only shows courses since that renewal. For example, my most recent renewal was 5/31/07 so my records show all courses I have taken since that date. I have until 5/31/09 to take 24 hours of classes (each class is 3 hours of credit unless otherwise noted).