I’ve long advocated for better training in the real estate profession. And I’m not just whistling Dixie.
I felt so strongly about this I developed an online training platform (AgentSkills.com) for agents to improve their ”real world” skills.
My course is for serious, dedicated agents who genuinely want to deliver better results to their clients. Most of my coaching competitors focus on “getting more business,” while my course focuses on “being a better agent.”
I’m just gonna say it. It’s waaaaaaaay too easy to get a real estate license.
When I got my license back in 2004, the licensing course was three weeks long! Nowadays, it’s about 200 total hours of online training. Then you write a painfully simple exam, and they hand you a license to trade in real estate for the rest of your life.
Seriously. After taking a three-week course, I’d have to repeatedly break my fiduciary duties owed to my clients (and be reported for it) or, alternatively, commit a serious criminal offense in order to lose my license to trade in real estate.
Can you think of any career requiring less training? I can’t. And here we are, being entrusted with what is, for most people, their most important and valuable asset. This astounds me.
No wonder most REALTORS® are regarded with the same level of respect as used car salespeople and (spit) politicians. Sadly, whether true or not, most people in these professions are regarded as dishonest and incompetent.
This isn’t to say there aren’t any highly-skilled, high-integrity agents who constantly seek out higher learning opportunities and always try their best to deliver the best possible result for each and every client. There are!
This is one of the cornerstone foundational principles of my course:
If an agent works hard to develop their skills, genuinely cares about delivering the best possible result, and always has the client’s best interests at heart, it’s relatively EASY to create a thriving career in real estate!
As it is, 87% of agents don’t make it to their fifth year in business, primarily due to inadequate training. So, I’m trying to do my small part to change this.
Interesting sub-plot: Have you ever heard the saying, “If you want to learn a topic, teach it”? This has been my experience in developing Agent Skills. As a result of all the time and effort put into the course, I feel like I’m a far better agent than I’ve ever been!
Even though it stalled out my career to some degree, I’m back on track now, doing what I’ve always loved doing, and hopefully better than ever!