Becoming a Realtor

In the state of Wisconsin, we only need to take a 72 hour course.  You can take it online through the state, or what many others choose to do is to take it through an approved class.  I chose to take it through Shorewest, but pay the extra money to purchase the class on a USB drive.  It was about $300.  I was given the textbook that the course uses and the Wisconsin law book for real estate.  The textbook had quizzes at the end of each chapter and had two practice tests at the end.  I'm a pretty good study, so listening to each class and following along in the books was just fine for me.  In fact, I would multitask by listening to the classes in the car when I was driving somewhere, cooking, or doing laundry.  It was very convenient for my lifestyle and learning style.

I took the test when I finished the course and was so nervous for the test.  I'm a math person, and I actually calculated the number of questions I knew the answered correctly, calculated the probability of me guessing correctly on the others, added those together, and repeated until I felt I had a score comfortable enough to pass.  In order to pass, you need to score at least a 75%.  They do not tell you a grade.  They just tell you if you passed or failed immediately after taking the test.  The test itself was about $75.

Then I had to apply for a license with the state.  That was about another $90 or so.  Here's the great thing about having a license in real estate.  You don't have to work for a broker in order to get paid.  As long as you hold a license, it doesn't matter where in the United States you are, you can collect referral fees.  For example, I have a bunch of friends in Texas since I lived there for half of my life.  If my friends in Texas told me they wanted to find a real estate agent, and I called one in Texas and referred my friend to them, once my friend closed on a house I would get paid a referral commission from that agent.  It would work the same if I was in Wisconsin referring a friend to another agent in Wisconsin.  There is no standard rate for anything in real estate.  Everything is always negotiable.  However, if I were to put a number on the average referral commission, it's 25% of the commission.  That being said, if a home sold in Wisconsin for $250,000 and the agent split their fee with their broker, the agent would get around $3,000 for the commission.  If I referred the family to that agent, I would get $750 once the closing took place.  Not bad for just giving up a name and phone number to someone else.

However, if you want to be licensed and practice, then you need to look at an agency.  I chose Shorewest because of their training programs and the fact that they won't just let me sink or swim.  They have a multitude of services that they provide their clients as well, making the buying/selling process easier on the clients.  Here are some expenses that I had to also pay.  There is E&O insurance.  This basically is a cover your *** insurance policy so if you get sued by a client you have some representation.  That costs $595 per year.  I also had to pay to be a member of the GMAR.  That stands for the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors.  This in turn also allows me to be in the national association.  That was much more expensive.  My expenses were pro-rated, and if I recall correctly I paid about $700 for the membership.  So it is expensive to start up, and truthfully, I haven't made a penny back yet.  I'm only in my first month of officially hosting open houses and canvasing the neighborhoods in hopes of getting a listing.  My co-workers assure me that I will do well in the industry though, because I remember things about people, and I'm personable.  Fingers crossed!

If you're considering becoming a Realtor though, it's easy enough to do.  You just have to take that first step and enroll in a class!