Joe Wilson's Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog

Recently I successfully passed the California real estate broker's license exam and so now I'm officially a broker. A lot of people have asked me why I bothered to become a broker so here's the explanation:

1) Professionalism: My business philosophy has always been focused on professionalism which I've defined as Knowledge, Service and Integrity. The broker license signifies a much higher level of real estate knowledge and consequent ability to provide a higher level of customer service. Just to qualify to take the California state broker license exam requires taking eight 40 hour courses in areas such as real estate practice, legal aspects, finance, economics, appraisal, escrow, property management and brokerage office practice. Once these courses were completed, I took a comprehensive prep course that required dozens of hours reviewing all the myriad details needed to successfully pass the six-hour broker license exam and finally, I took and passed the exam. With the increased knowledge I've obtained during this process, I'm now able to bring an even higher level of professionalism to my clients' real estate transactions and better serve their needs.

2) Differentiation: I often say that the bar is set pretty low in the real estate profession. This isn't to disparage the many professionals in this business but rather it's a comment reflecting the relative ease with which one can obtain a real estate sales license. Professional organizations like the National Association of Realtors (NAR) enforce professional ethics among its Realtor members but not all agents choose to become members of NAR. I believe the vast majority of agents are competent and ethical but I also feel that mere competency isn't enough when handling one of the most important financial transaction that most buyers and sellers will experience in their lives. Many agents increase their knowledge in discrete specialties by obtaining professional designations like: ABR, ACRE, ACR, CRS, E-PRO, GRI, SRES and on and on. Some agents have so many of these "specialties" that I wonder how specialized they really are. I've always felt that these designations, while useful are more of a personal marketing gimmick. Nevertheless, differentiation IS important when you're competing for business with the thousands of agents practicing real estate in this valley, and unless you know me personally, you may not understand what professionalism means to me. The Broker designation, at least in my mind, is well understood by the general public as a mark of a true real estate professional and better conveys the standard that I've always tried to practice.