real estate license - progressive or regressive?

Submitted by carinal on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 09:43.

are real estate agents/developers on the opposite spectrum of urban planners? would getting licensed increase my marketability if i also have a masters in urban planning? is it a wise investment? how different are the two professions/fields?

i'm considering becoming a licenses real estate agent for the purposes of increasing my knowledge in development and having the dexterity to 'ride the fence' in the urp profession. i'm interested in knowing whether you have any insight on this dual capability - how closely do the two coincide and/or overlap? if you have any experiences in doing or knowing someone who did it, or if you see any benefits, what would you recommend in pursuing this route?

i won't start a m. urp program until fall 2009, so if i pursue a license, it may be before i begin school. is it a practical and useful move?

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Well, first let me say that

Submitted by jdonnovan on Sun, 01/25/2009 - 20:47.

Well, first let me say that I think chrisinsobe really hit the nail on the head here, what a great answer!

I would say that obtaining your real estate license would not only allow you to further your education, but would also allow you to look at your job as an urban planner from a different/unique perspective. That perspective may or may not give you an edge up on the competition, but it certainly wouldn't set you back.

A person can never be to educated and anytime you have the ability to better yourself, I say go for it!

RE License

Submitted by chrisinsobe on Tue, 04/22/2008 - 09:34.

First off, do you want to sell Real Estate or do you want to be a planner...?

There is very little connection between having a RE License and the planning profession. I am both a planner (AICP) and a RE Licensee (Calif. and Fla.). Interestingly, I was the only one in an office of sixty RE agents who had a planning background. I also work as a planner on a contractual basis (mostly in Arabian Gulf emirates during the past dozen years).

A RE (sales) License allows you to work as an agent for a Licensed Broker and to represent buyers or sellers of real property. A RE Broker's License allows you to go solo as an agent (and join your local MLS without needing to be employed by a broker), and/or set up your own RE brokerage business, employing other agents. Either way, having a RE License is all about selling and marketing, both yourself and the properties for which you act as an agent. Success is all about getting (property) listings (thereby the need to sell yourself) and then (especially in the current RE market) being able to market and sell those properties. Having planning knowledge has very little to do with any of this.

Having said all this, possessing a RE License along with some selling experience in the RE business may be useful if you are contemplating a career in private sector real estate development. The private sector - RE developers especially - look suspiciously upon applicants who have only academic and/or public sector experience; one time soon after I completed grad school, interviewing with a large RE developer to be an in-house planner, I was advised to avoid having a lot of public sector jobs show on my resume. On the other hand, having a RE License along with some RE marketing experience, clearly demonstrates that you have some interest and first-hand knowledge of the RE business; developers like this.

Conversely, if you are looking for a career in the public sector, getting a RE License is pointless, IMHO (and possibly counterproductive)... I tend to leave the fact that I have a RE License off my resume when applying for any public sector work, as public sector types and academics look equally suspiciously at anyone connected with the whole business of real estate development. Most of the planning profession, in fact, seems rather biased against all real estate developers. If your career aim is to be a CEQA-wonk in the Neighbourhood Community Development Sub-Section of the Environmental Planning Section of the SF City Planning Department, then maybe you would want to leave any reference to having a RE License off your resume.

Sorry, my biases are beginning to show... however, again, it all boils down to which direction you want you career to take.

Good luck.