T. Kenneth Lewis wrote:
>
> P.S. While all REALTORs® are real estate agents, all real estate agents are
> not REALTORs®. It is a professional designation conferred after training and
> passing a test, somewhat like a doctor or a nurse or a lawyer, but not on as
> grand a scale.
>
>
I don't know that "realtor(R)" is a "professional" designation, in the
same sense as MD, PE, CPA, or RN. Those would be restricted to those
professions where the state requires licensure to practice the trade
(doctors, lawyers, engineers). Indeed, in California, one must have a
license to do real estate work (brokers, and their agents/salespersons),
but the training/testing/background is substantially less than for more
traditional licensed professions. It's more like contractors licenses,
with an emphasis on the legalities and establishing financial
responsibility (e.g. posting a bond). Unlike for engineering (where you
have to show that you know how to engineer) or doctors (where you have
to demonstrate that you have medical knowledge), the knowledge needed to
get a real estate license doesn't require demonstration of your ability
to sell or buy property. It's more like the license required to be a car
dealer or any other moderately specialized business license.
The certification for "REALTOR(R)" is more comparable to being a Novell
Certified Network Engineer, Certified Auto Service Consultant from ASE,
or a Project Manager Professional from PMI, all of which are also
issued by a private company, as opposed to a governmental agency. In
fact, any real estate professional who's a member of the National
Association of REALTORS(R) can call themselves a REALTOR(R). The
testing requirement (if any) apparently comes from the requirement that
you might be required to be licensed in your state to be in the real
estate business. (California requires some testing, I don't know about
other states). I'd say REALTOR(R) is more of a "industry trade
organization" than a professional certification. The only training
required by NAR is a class every 4 years on their code of ethics. That's
somewhat different than, say, the college degree and 6 years of
engineering experience required before you can take the P.E. exam.
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