Are you wondering what it takes to become a real estate agent in Tennessee in 2020?
That's what this video is all about so stay turned.
What's up everybody? I'm Rachael Hadidsaz, I'm a Realtor with Crye-Leike in Murfreesboro,
Tennessee. I post new videos every week about all things real estate in the Murfreesboro
area. Go ahead and click that subscribe button so you won't miss a video.
Alright, so today I've got five things you want to do to become a real estate agent in
Tennessee in 2020.
The first thing you want to do is determine if this is the right career path for you.
Real Estate has a lot of ups and downs, so it's really important to know exactly what
you're getting into. I'd say watching this video right now is you doing your due diligence
as we say in real estate, so good for you!
If you know a Realtor, ask to shadow them for a day. Know what their day to day life
is like in the world of real estate. If you don't know a Realtor, that's okay. You will
definitely know plenty. You can just go to a brokerage and talk to any of the brokers
there. They're always happy to talk with people that want to get into real estate or interested
in real estate. A broker is just basically the office supervisor. They're also a real
estate agent, but they supervise the other agents in that office.
Once you've determined that this is the career path for you, you want to get yourself educated.
There are a lot of different ways to get educated, a lot of different places online offering
classes, or likewise you can go to an on-site classroom. A lot of people want that on-site
classroom because it gives them a sense of accountability. They get support from the
teacher directly. I, myself, went to an online classroom just because I wanted to go on my
own schedule. I was able to hold myself accountable, so that was the benefit for me and I saved
some money as well. I wouldn't call it a cheap option, it was still pretty expensive, but
it was less expensive than going to the classroom. As far as the education goes, you're required
to take ninety hours in Tennessee to be able to get your license. That is sixty hours of
pre-licensing education, then you take your exam, then you have another thirty hours of
pre-affiliate education that you take.
Once you finish with the sixty hour pre-licensing examination, then you are eligible to sign
up to take the exam with PSI. I live in Murfreesboro, so the closest place to take the examination
to me was in Nashville. So I signed up, I was able to take the test about a week later.
Oh by the way, there are two tests, there is a state and a national portion. You're
required to have a seventy or better in order to pass. You are going to want to study A
LOT. I personally, I took a bunch of practice exams and on those practice exams, I made
sure I could pass at an 85 to a 95 range. And then I felt like, I will definitely ace
the test at a 70 or better when I get into the room. And I did, I passed the first time.
Once you pass the test like, like I said, you'll take that other thirty hours of pre-affiliate
education and you're required to take another exam after that. But that one is like along
with your education, you don't have to go to PSI to take that test.
Once you take that test, and pass it, then they'll give you a certificate that you can
print. And that leads me to my fifth thing that you're going to want to do, you're going
to get all your paperwork together and submit it to the Tennessee Real Estate Commission
or "TREC" as we call it. And they are the ones that actually give you your license.
All the paperwork that you're going to need, you're going to need your certificates that
you completed your ninety hours of education, you're going to need the papers where you
signed for your state and national exams. You're also going to need proof that you went
and got yourself fingerprinted, you're going to need your high school transcripts. You're
also going to need errors and omission insurance. E&O insurance, that is something that protects
you in case of inadvertent mistakes. It does not protect your from fraud or any other sort
of deliberate crime. That can get you in a lot of trouble, not only are you going to
be in trouble with the law, you could potentially lose your license just depending on the circumstances.
They are pretty serious about these things. Basically a lot of that is covered in your
education, like the different things that you could get in trouble for, how much you
could potentially get fined for. It's something important that you all need to know. It just
kind of lights a fire under your ass so that you stay out of trouble basically.
One follow up to that, if you have committed a crime within the last decade, you're required
to submit documentation on that. It's not a complete, like "no you're not going to get
a license," but they do want to know about it. If you're unsure whether the crime that
you committed is something that will allow you to get licensed, just send the Tennessee
Real Estate Commission an email before you do any sort of education or shell out and
kind of dollars or time on education for any of this stuff. Because, what if you can't
get licensed in the end? That would suck.
Just a follow up to that, you're probably going to choose a brokerage which to hang
your license at. Most real estate agents do. I chose Crye-Leike Realtors in Murfreesboro
Tennessee to hang my license at. It was really awesome because they submitted all of my paperwork
for me. They took care of my E & O insurance. All I had to do was just sit at the desk while
my office administrator put in all the paperwork. A couple of days later, I had my license.
Once I got my license, I was able to get access to the Multiple Listing Service that's the
software that all the agents in the area list the houses on. You're going to want to get
familiar with all of that. You may also want to sign on with your local board of Realtors.
That is something that I did. I'm a member of the National Association of Realtors, the
Tennessee Association of Realtors, and also the Middle Tennessee Association of Realtors.
The difference between a Realtor and a real estate agent really just comes down to a little
bit more education and we are held to a higher standard of ethics. I really like being a
part of the National Association of Realtors and all those other associations just because
it's great to be part of a professional organization. There are so many opportunities to learn and
for continuing education. I personally recommend it. There are people that are just real estate
agents. The choice is entirely up to you. I just recommend doing your research and see
what's right for you.
If you'd like to know a little more about what a Realtor does for their clients, I just
made a video called "Do I need a Realtor?" Go ahead and go check that out next. If you
have any questions or comments, leave me a comment down below. I also have my contact
and social media in the description, so if you have any questions about anything that
I talked about today, give me a shout. If you like this video, give it a thumbs up,
go ahead and subscribe to my channel, and hit the notification bell so you don't miss
a single video. I actually have a lot of really awesome content that's going to be coming
out in the next few weeks. Well thanks for watching and I will see you next time.