Real Estate Agent VS Real Estate Broker- Pros and Cons

[Zachary Sit]

Hello Bigger Pockets community!

I'm just starting out with my online real estate courses and I'm wondering what are the pros and cons are of being a real estate agent versus being a real estate broker. I live in California and from what I've read, you need to be an agent for at least 2 years before becoming a broker, but can circumvent that if you have a 4 year degree (which I have). From all of your experiences, I would love your personal input on the pros and cons of the two. 

I currently have a mentor who says being an agent is sufficient and doesn't feel the need to go after her broker's license. But as I chat with other agents, I've repeatedly heard, "why don't you just go for your broker's licence?" 

So I wanted to reach out to the greatest community in the world as see what else had to be said!

(... and just like any test that I've ever taken, I must ask, is the real estate agent exam hard?)

[Lumi Ispas]

@Zachary Sit , I have a question for you: Do you live your life based on people's feedback or based on what you really want?

Do you want to be a broker and manage other agents? Do you want to be responsible financially of other agent's lives, opening an office and trade a 9;00-5:00 job to be the slave of an office?

Being a broker, it's an ego driven business. RE offices are rarely profitable, less than 1 in 10 offices are actually making money, however, few want to give up.  Most big franchises make money from the franchise money, however, the offices that hold the licenses are profitable few years of every 5 years!

How experienced are you to open up an office?

I'll share with you, In my first years in business, I had a ton of clients ask me the same question. After awhile I gave in and went back to school to get my 120 hours in, paid all the fees, took my exams and became a "broker". Guess what happened, my sales did not increase. Did I learn anything? Yes - I do not have any desire to open an office and love what I am already doing.

 I train and mentor new agents because I love to give back and help them, I advise seasoned agents because I love to, and I continue running my business regardless of the title.

If you decide to go for this license, go for the real reason: to open your own office, however, run your business as an agent for at least few years to see what you really like doing, and in the same way, learn what running an office really means.

Good luck to you!