If you’re reading this, chances are you have your real estate licence. I’m sure almost all of you remember the courses you took to get to where you are, and they weren’t always easy. Mine involved a lot of studying, with a side of caffeine-fueled cramming the night before exams. If you’re at all like me, you may also remember a few late night e-mail pleas to your fellow students in the OREA online forums or frantically dialing the instructor’s hotline (5 minutes before closing of course).
Phase 1, 2 & 3 were packed full of information and when I was finished, I thought I knew it all, I mean, they gave me a real estate licence so how could I not? It wasn’t until I went out in the field under the wing of a senior sales representative that I realized I had A LOT more to learn. I eventually sat for my articling courses and had another wake- up call with the amount of information out there.
Caffeine and cramming aside, I loved ALL of the courses, wait… maybe not the part about metes and bounds. Once I finished my three articling courses, I took more! It seemed the next step was to take the broker course. I figured, why stop now?
In all seriousness, I paused before signing up for this course for two reasons. One was that I was still new and it was a lot of money for me (one month’s rent to be exact!). My second dilemma was, will I ever use it? Everyone I asked told me, “Why? Do you want to start your own real estate company?” I began to wonder if this was just a course for people who want to open their own real estate office?
I signed up and began learning and my first lesson was: This is not just a course for people who want to open their own real estate company!
The broker course taught me how to be a great Realtor®. I grew up and matured fast, which was just what I needed (according to my parents). It highlighted the responsibilities I had to my clients and my company. It taught me how to run a business and manage accounts and transactions. This is ultimately what we all have, our own little or BIG real estate business, despite working for a company/franchise. I learned how to keep books and logs, something I now use regularly. Mostly I gained confidence, a genuine sort of confidence that comes not from knowing what to say, but truly understanding.
I am grateful to be working in an industry that places so much value on learning and education. I personally choose to dedicate at least 1.5 hours/day to learning by keeping up on current events, courses at my office, reading new rules and regulations and checking out market stats.
I encourage anyone thinking about taking the broker’s course to dive in, it will pay off, and it is incredibly helpful to your business. So where do I go from here in terms of higher learning? I don’t know exactly, but there’s only one direction and that’s UP!
[Photo courtesy of Microsoft clipart.]
– Sarah Dunlop-Kiraly, YPN Committee Member and OREA YPN Guest Blogger
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