Those of you who have real estate license...

[Abigail J Steinert]

For those of you that have your real estate license, do you work for a real estate company (like remax, coldwell, etc) or do you do it independently? I just learned there is a difference between real estate agent and real estate broker; agents can't work independent but brokers can.

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Abigail J Steinert:

For those of you that have your real estate license, do you work for a real estate company (like remax, coldwell, etc) or do you do it independently? I just learned there is a difference between real estate agent and real estate broker; agents can't work independent but brokers can.

There are typically three different licenses you can have:

1. Sales Agent or Salesperson: this is a person just licensed. They must work under the supervision of a Broker. There is no requirement for you to upgrade to a Broker license; you can stay a sales Agent forever.

2. Associate Broker: this is a person with a certain amount of experience and additional education that has upgraded their license but continues to work under another Broker. For example, my state requires at least two years as a licensed agent and an additional 45 hours of education to upgrade your license to a Broker license. We can upgrade to a Broker license and still work underneath another Broker, or break off and start our own Brokerage.

3. Responsible or Managing Broker: this is someone with a Broker license that has their own brokerage. A Responsible Broker can work alone or they can have Agents and Associate Brokers working underneath them. There's no limit to how many agents they supervise. They may be allowed to supervise multiple offices or multiple companies. For example, I own my own company and have two offices in two different towns that I'm responsible for, plus I'm responsible for a Property Management company 8 hours away and for a vacation rental company owned by a friend even though I don't own any share in either business.

I hope that helps.