Men lie, women lie, numbers don't. For most real estate agents, acquiring their license will cost between $500-$1,000. This includes application costs, pre-license education, fingerprinting, background checks, and real estate licensing exam costs. Considering the average American savings account, most people barely have enough to get their license, never mind keeping it. For those who make it through, the following financial challenges will strike a nerve. Once you've paid all the pre- license fees, completed your education, and passed the state exam, you must hang your license with a broker. They didn't tell you in school that most brokers are members of the National Association of Realtors. The National Association of Realtors (N.A.R.) is a third-party organization that various real estate professionals can join. Their core purpose is to help their members become more profitable and successful by providing a "code of ethics" and additional training to its members and the ability to use their Multiple Listing Service, or as we like to call it, the M.L.S. Essentially, membership with N.A.R. is not mandatory to legally practice real estate; no more than joining a car club is required to drive a car. All that is legally necessary is a license; however, if a real estate broker has chosen to become a member of N.A.R., according to the membership agreement, all of the broker's agents must also purchase a membership, or the broker will risk being fined by the association. Most brokers want to be members of N.A.R. for the simple fact that N.A.R. provides agent training as well as access to the M.L.S. Simply put, it is a lot easier to list houses on the M.L.S., and although listing houses without the M.L.S. is possible, it could become quite expensive when done on a large scale. For example, while some innovative companies like Beycome.com
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