How to Get Your Pennsylvania Real Estate License

Besides the basic requirements to obtain a real estate license, there are a few other things you should consider as well. Selling real estate is not a nine to five job. It is a career commitment that can have you involved seven days a week for very long hours. Once you have that license under your belt you will need to locate an office/broker that you would like to “hang” your license with and work out of the broker’s office.

As a new sales agent you will need to learn the ropes, so-to-speak. The particular office you sign on with will have certain procedures they follow for listing properties, sharing “floor” time and covering your operating expenses. Be sure and have a list of questions to ask the broker of the office you are interested in joining. Floor time is the most important. New agents typically are not given prime floor time. In other words, the hottest clients or leads. You will need to spend a good deal of time cold calling or otherwise building up your own listings as this is where you will get a percentage on sales even if you did not make the sale on the property yourself. If you were the original listing agent you are entitled to a percentage of the sale.

You will need a good vehicle in decent shape to transport clients to view properties. You will also being doing a good amount of driving around to properties yourself. The purpose being to check listing locations and to view them when you are doing a new listing. A sales agent needs to be familiar with each property they are showing to potential buyers. Bear in mind that the upkeep of your vehicle is your responsibility. Along with operating costs such as business cards, sales signs, advertising you place on your own that has been approved by your broker. Some offices will expect you to pay a portion of utilities, phone, office supplies, etc. for the office you are sharing. With the advent of the Internet, many real estate firms now have a web site. Potentially you will have your own link on this site, which is a valuable marketing tool for a sales agent. You are a contractor operating in the broker’s office. Therefore, you are responsible for paying your own taxes, health insurance, etc. Simply put, you are self-employed.

The state of Pennsylvania requires that an individual take 60 hours of approved classroom instruction in basic real estate courses. Upon successful completion of the course work, you will be pre-approved to sit for the state-licensing exam by your instructor. The instructor at your course location will provide you with the necessary application materials to register for the exam.

There are many on-line courses available to enhance your classroom experience. However, I personally only attended classes, studied hard and passed the exam. Before investing money in extra computer software courses, take your approved classes. Work with your instructor to identify areas where you need more work and do that on your own by reviewing the course material and strengthening your weak areas. Really, everything you need to know to pass the state exam is covered in the course work in the classroom.

The math portion of the test is not daunting. Even if math is not your strong point. You need to simply study the sample formulas and apply those to the questions in the exam. If you learn the basic formulas, they can be applied to any question based on a specific formula.

The state of Pennsylvania provides a list of approved Real Estate schools in the state on their web site. Some schools have satellite (classroom) locations. Call the school in your location to find out if they have a satellite classroom available.

Review:

1. Enroll in an approved Pennsylvania Real Estate School
2. Successfully complete 60 hours of course work
3. Register for and take the Pennsylvania Real Estate License Exam
4. Select a real estate office/broker to join