The barriers to entry into our profession have changed quite dramatically in the last few years and it is far more difficult to obtain your real estate license. In my opinion it is definitely a positive direction to increase industry standards to combat the negative stigma the real estate profession often portrays. In this article I will provide you insights on how to sucessfully prepare and pass your real estate course. The best indicator of success in any endeavor is proper planning and in order to succeed in this business this will be a skill you can immediately start developing.
How to Prepare
You will need to consider resources to allocate during the process of the course. The 2 most important are disposable capital and study time, if you don’t have either of these then work on getting those first. I would suggest an amount of $10,000 and an 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours each day for a year to realistically obtain the goal of passing the course. It is a good idea to have an alternate source of income during the beginning of your career as it takes time to build your book of business. Many people underestimate the effort it takes to get your license which will require substantial focus and dedication. Also be prepare for a large amount of initiation fees from the governing bodies such as CREA, OREA and your local board as well as MLS fees that are reoccurring once you begin trading. It is a serious commitment once you decide to start and being well prepared will increase your chance of success. Many will begin with enthusiasm and quit because they charged in blindly and lost steam due to lack of preparation mentally and physically.
Tools and Where to Register for the Course
Once you have prepared your resources and ready to enrol you can navigate to this webpage and take a long thorough look through the course through Humber College. When you pay for the course you will have a time line to complete each module and progress to the next. I would highly suggest using Passit on each module to supplement your learning through the various aids they provide with their study guides. The whole course can be done on-line and at your pace so it is possible with a full time job or if you have other responsibilities to take care of. A few things to be mindful of: If you miss studying too many days in a row and try to cram it will likely sabotage your chances of passing the course. Set an alarm and without distractions study for an hour, once it goes off continue with your normal life this is much more consistent and sustainable. Course 2 is particularly hard but the rest are quite manageable, so don’t get discouraged when you feel like it is too much. You may fail at one or more of the exams which is common, just reschedule and run the Passit guide a until you pass. If you keep using that tool it is inevitable as long as you don’t quit that you will succeed and complete the course. The reward is that once completed you will have passed the greatest barrier to entry to our industry and the real learning will begin…
What to do After you Complete the Course
Find a Brokerage that will Fit your needs
In my experience the most important things to consider when starting out is without question the quality of training and commission split. Many places will tout high quality seminars and programs that turn out to be on-line modules that provide very little benefit. You need to find a mentor agent, someone who you can call with the situations you will not be sure of. They must also possess enough experience and wisdom to guide you properly in the beginning phases to set you up for success in the future. Do not underestimate the importance of selecting a mentor as you will adopt their practices and mindsets into your way of conducting real estate trading. Also the commission split should be reasonable not to gouge you from all the business you will conduct as you will need to replenish your resources after the expenses you have incurred. A good test is to call the person and ask them about the process to register with RECO and see how they do guiding you through the registration process. If they don’t have the time or seem annoyed with your questions it is probably a sign of non compatibility. The agent/broker you decide to mentor under can make or break you so choose wisely.
