Licensing and Education
In North Carolina, it takes 75 hours of class time to obtain a real estate license. Meanwhile it takes at least 1,200 hours of class time to obtain a license to cut hair. Now either our stylists are incredibly over-educated or our real estate brokers are woefully under-educated. Make of this what you will.
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I really have no idea how long it takes to educate future barbers and stylists. But in addition to how to actually cut hair, I can imagine that they spend time on health and sanitary issues. In fact, those probably make up the bulk of their class time. So I am not here to demean the amount of time required to obtain a cosmetology or barber license; I actually appreciate the effort involved.3
With that said, it is my contention that the complexities of the real estate business are at least as onerous.
And yet, here in North Carolina, we require less than one-tenth the amount of class time for an individual to qualify as a provisional broker. Granted, all brokers are then required to take an additional ninety hours of postlicensing education over the next three years. And until a provisional broker completes these ninety hours, he or she must operate under the supervision of a Broker-in-Charge. While requirements vary, North Carolina is similar to other states.
So my question: Is this adequate?
And further: Are the problems with the real estate business a function of lack of education?
My personal answers are no and no.
Let’s start with the second question. Would more class time correct the problems and issues posed in this book?
Let’s be honest, probably not. More education is not going to change the broker’s two primary jobs and how they affect transactional competence. It is not going to change the financial incentives of the business. It could, I guess, make brokers more business and/or technologically savvy. But while the instructors could spend more time on ethics, class time alone is probably not going to change anyone’s ethical disposition.
So if not education, is there another way to improve the business? The only way I know to genuinely improve the business is to educate consumers, and then for those consumers to demand better brokers.
But okay, back to the first question: Should we increase the amount of class time to obtain a license? Well, now that I have thought-out the second question, I think I want to change my mind on the first. I just am not convinced that merely increasing the hours of class time will achieve a better class of broker.
But like I said, make of this what you will.
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3. See the North Carolina Board of Barber Examiners and the North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners. Other states have similar requirements.