What it takes to become a Real Estate Agent in Colorado

Getting a Real Estate License can be a pretty easy decision for those who are just looking to use it to supplement their investment career.  For those who are interested in making it a career there are more considerations to make causing the process to take a little more thought.  

Let's start from the beginning.

MAKING THE DECISION:

Making the decision to change careers is never an easy one, especially when it involves going from a 9-5 job with consistent hours to one where everything depends on you. Some questions you should ask yourself:

- Do you plan to go full time immediately or slowly work you way into it? 

If you plan to go full time immediately do you have plenty of funds saved up to support you for at least a year.  This included marketing funds on top of your living expenses.  Most brokerages don't advertise for you and those that do usually have a hefty fee to offset their costs.

- Do you have enough time to commit to it part time outside of your current job? 

If your current job has consistent hours that you can count on then it may work. Clients can be worked with to set up specific times that you are available which can work beneficially with your other commitments.  If your job has long hours and lots of overtime you may want to rethink becoming an agent on the side.

- What level of income does it need to produce for you?

Lots of Real Estate Agents don't make as much as it seems.  There are good, mediocre and bad agents.  The good ones make a killing on commissions, but they have done their work and know how to get it.  A large number of agents just sell a few houses a year and make a mediocre living off of it.  If that's fine with you then power to you, but just be aware that being great isn't simple. If you want to know averages then do a search on Google.  There are lots of numbers and I don't need to quote them here.

Determine the three things above before taking the next step.

CHOOSING A SCHOOL:

I'll start of by saying there are a lot of options. If you go here (Click Me) and scroll down to "REA" you will see just what I mean. The link is not spam, just routing you to DORA's list of schools. These are all schools you can take classes with. Also (Here) is a list of passing rates for each school for the first quarter of 2015. As you can see there are a lot of people getting there license so you better be ready to commit. Each school will offer different options of class types and review options for exam prep. I won't go into details on each. Everyone has a different learning style so do your research into each school and see which one(s) would fit you the best.  Cheapest isn't always best, but may be enough for some. I personally chose Colorado Real Estate School and their basic program was sufficient, but for those who are newer to real estate it may be beneficial to take something in person.

TAKING CLASSES:

Get ready for a lot of information that you will have to remember only to use for an exam then forget about most of it quite soon after. The classes prepare you to take an exam that covers some wide topics. Most of them are important, but will be used so rarely in real life that they will hide themselves in the back of your brain.

The classes can be quite boring at some times, but some really cover a lot of important information so it is recommended to pay attention to the best of your ability. Remember you only have to do them once (as long as you don't do something stupid down the road). The most relative classes exist at the end when you get into the contracts and current laws.  

The time it will take to finish them will also vary. Some claim 2 weeks of hellish reading and others will take over a year. The length will be completely dependent on what type of class you decided to take and how much time you can commit.

Final note about classes. Do your fingerprints as early as possible. You don't have to be done with classes before you send them in. No point in having your application process held up because of them.

DONE WITH CLASSES!

At this point you have survived the 168 hours of blah. Now you are that much closer to actually doing something interesting! But there are still major steps to take before you can get some clients. 

TAKING THE EXAM:

This is where you will find out how well you studied and how well the classes prepared you. First a few things should be noted.

- Take the exam very soon after finishing classes. You don't want to forget any of those super interesting things you learned

- Sign up for the exam weeks before you are done with classes. This will guarantee that you are able to take it soon after your classes are done. When I signed up the nearest date was 2.5 weeks away.

The class as of the day I'm writing this in 2015 is proctored by a place called PSI. Just drab test centers usually in an office building. They aren't meant to inspire, but why should they. You should be excited when you leave since you won't need to come back any time soon (unless you fail... STUDY!). The center I went to was a small waiting room with the proctor at her computer checking people in slowly one at a time. Her responses were short and non-descriptive obviously showing she is used to getting the same questions over and over again. They want you to show up 30 minutes early which I would recommend as well. There will likely be other people scheduled at the same time so expect a little wait. The PSI emails I got for the test did not include the full instructions of what to bring so here are the 3 things you need (This may change so be sure to check before you go).

- 2 forms of ID. At least 1 needs to be government issued with a picture.  I brought my license and passport just to be safe.

- Your REC 33. This is the document your school gives you proving that you completed class. It shows your completed credit hours.

Once you have checked in they will seat you in a cubicle with your own computer. Ear plugs are available and I would highly recommend them. There is nothing worse than trying to focus while hearing constant shuffling, clicking and tapping in a very quite room. The testing system is very simple, but very wordy on the tutorial. There are 2 tips I have for taking the exam.

- The system lets you mark questions and will bring you back to them at the end. If you are unsure of an answer then mark the question and come back to it later. Sometimes a question later in the exam will spark your memory.

- The beginning of the exam has "Situation" questions where you read a long scenario and then answer multiple questions on it. Mark these and come back to them at the end. This way you will know that most of the exam is done and can spend some time reading carefully.

When you finish the exams you go back out and check out with the same proctor who checked you in. At this point my proctor was surprisingly peppy when she learned I passed both in my first try. Apparently at least according to her that is not super common. The proctor will give you paperwork verifying your completion and will hand you back your identification.

DONE WITH EXAMS!

Now the real work begins. The two following steps can be done in any order. It depends on your path.

FINDING A BROKER:

In Colorado any new Real Estate Licensee needs to work under an Employing Broker for 2 years. The goal of the system is so that newbies aren't running amuck causing all types of problems. This Employing Broker will be in charge of you as long as your license is with them.

Choosing the Broker can be a big deal. This person could make or break your first years as an agent. There is a wide scope of offerings from each place/person. Some offer training and others expect you to fly free. Some charge you a monthly "desk fee", but will give you the opportunity to take calls that come in while others expect you to acquire your own clients. Then there is commission splits on top of that. Those as well have major variety and should be accounted for accordingly. Consider the type of person that you are and what situation would fit you best. I have listed the far extremes, but there are plenty of those in between.

Another thing to consider is what type of broker do you want to be. Since you are reading this on BP I will assume that you want to work with investors to some extent. Be aware that these brokerages are not nearly as common, but do exist. Going to an exclusively residential brokerage may not be the best choice for someone who wants to specialize with investors.

Interview your ass off. This is one of the few times where you get to interview your own potential boss so take advantage of it. Practically everyone has had personality conflicts with someone in their past so this is a great time to avoid the issue early.

Once you have found your boss for the next 2 years they will hopefully help you walk through the steps of signing on. As a side note, please read the contracts you sign with them. Not doing so doesn't reflect well on the sort of agent you will become. It's always great to buy a client a washing machine because you were too lazy to actually read.

APPLYING FOR YOUR LICENSE:

(Click Here) for a checklist from DORA of what you need for your application.

The application process is pretty straight forward. Hopefully by this point your fingerprints have been mailed (hopefully weeks ago). Filling out the application is simple. It is similar to applying for a credit card. There is a small portion where your employing broker fills out their info verifying that they are taking you on. Once it is all set stick it in an envelope with a nice $475 check and send it on it's way. Once you have mailed the application you can create an account with DORA and check the progress.

FINALLY AN AGENT:

You finished the whole process, but now you've got to actually work. Be ready for advertising and marketing material offers. Some may be useful, but it really depends on what type of marketing you do. I will leave this section open ended, because at this point you don't need this write-up anymore.

Please leave comments or questions!