If you do decide to use a broker, the next big question is, how do you find someone who is knowledgeable, reputable, and compatible? The first thing you should know is that real-estate brokers and salespeople (who typically have less experience than brokers and must be supervised by them) are licensed by the state in which they operate. Licensing requirements vary dramatically from one jurisdiction to another, however. One of the more demanding states is Delaware, which requires salespeople to have a minimum of ninety-three hours of course work in order to obtain a license; to get a broker’s license there, one must have five years of experience as a sales agent and at least thirty home sales. In Arizona, sales agents must complete forty-five hours of course work in real-estate principles; brokers there need an additional ninety hours in specialized real-estate courses and must have three years of experience. Louisiana demands ninety hours of course work for a sales license and 150 hours plus two years of experience for a broker’s license.
At the other extreme are states such as California, which requires only three real-estate courses of its sales agents. California brokers must be licensed agents who have acquired at least two years of sales experience within the previous five years. New Hampshire has no educational requirements at all for salespeople and demands only one year of real-estate sales experience for brokers. Rhode Island likewise has no requirements for sales agents, but brokers there must complete ninety hours of course work in real-estate subjects or have one year of experience as sales agents before obtaining a license. In addition to the licensing prerequisites that are in place in most states, thirty-five states require continuing education for salespeople, brokers, or both.
Clearly a license means different things in different jurisdictions. All it really tells you is that the agent has completed whatever educational requirements that particular state imposes before granting a license. It tells you nothing about the agent’s knowledge of the market or his or her competence or reliability. To get a sense of that, you really have to ask around. There’s no substitute for someone’s firsthand experience, so you should just start asking people whether they know any brokers and, if they do, what they know about them. If you want to check out a particular agent more rigorously, you can contact the state licensing agency and the local Better Business Bureau to find out whether or not he or she has a record of consumer complaints.