Real Estate As a Career
Is this the Right Career for you?
There are many opportunities for individuals interested in pursuing a career in the real estate industry. Real estate offers an extremely wide variety of specialties such as trading services (sales), rental property management, strata management, appraisal, mortgage financing, commercial trading services and leasing, farm trading services, investment real estate, land development, counselling and research.
However, your decision to undertake a career in real estate, as with the choice of any vocation, merits very careful consideration. It is a field in which you may easily misjudge your future. Each year many individuals expend time, effort and money to enter the real estate vocation only to discover that they cannot complete the required licensing course and examination or, having done so, that they are unsuited to the work.
Determination of Ability
A large number of individuals usually decide to enter the real estate trading services field each year. In order to help minimize wasted time and expense by individuals (as well as by firms), an "aptitude" test was developed to try to assist individuals in determining whether they have the potential to succeed in the field of real estate trading services.
Known as a "Real Estate Sales Aptitude Test" (RESAT), the test is available to anyone who is considering entering the real estate selling field. While not mandatory, the test will provide you with some indication of the likelihood of your success in terms of sales potential. Because it was developed using B.C. experience, it is potentially helpful only for individuals educated in Canada or whose background is North American.
Results are made known only to the individual and not to the licensing authorities. The decision whether or not to proceed is one that must still be made by the applicant alone. If you wish to take the test, complete and mail the RESAT Application Form together with a money order or cheque, made payable to the British Columbia Real Estate Association, in the amount of $36.75 ($35 plus $1.75 GST). Please note that the test is only available by mail. If you have any questions regarding the RESAT, please contact BCREA).
Being of Good Reputation
The Real Estate Services Act requires that applicants for a licence shall be of "good reputation". Following application for a licence to the Real Estate Council, the applicant is investigated. (The Real Estate Council is the licensing and regulatory agency established by the provincial government to administer the Real Estate Services Act.) General business and personal reputation are reviewed along with criminal convictions and charges, which must be disclosed, including any where conditional or absolute discharges were granted. Current policy is that these are not necessarily a bar to registration, depending upon circumstances and recent record.
In the case of summary conviction offences unrelated to employment, an application for licensing will not be considered until the completion of sentence, parole, probation or payment of fine. Where summary conviction offences are related to real estate employment, application for licensing will not be considered until at least two years after completion of sentence, parole, probation or payment of fine.
Longer waiting periods are imposed for white collar crimes and for indictable offences whether related or not related to employment. If you require further information with respect to these waiting periods, please contact the Real Estate Council or review the Real Estate Licensing Guidelines for Individuals booklet.
Pre-screening
An individual who has some concern about satisfying the requirements of "being of good reputation" should, prior to registering for a Licensing Course, complete an Application for Pre-screening Form. That application, together with the appropriate pre-screening fee, currently $100, should be returned to the Real Estate Council office. An advance decision may thus be obtained as to the applicant’s suitability for licensing, subject, of course, to passing the course and examination.
Income and Expenses
The type of compensation structure you receive will depend on which real estate specialty you select. Typically, a specialty such as rental property management is salary based while a specialty such as trading services is commission based. You should talk to various people in the industry and to a number of brokerages to see what type of compensation structure they use.
If your compensation structure is commission based, it means that that you will have little or no guarantee of income level. While predicting income is difficult, your earnings could be affected by your sales ability, people skills and hard work, or by the market conditions, property area, property type and the commission structure. You should also take into account the cost as well as the time needed to establish a practice and to build up an income to meet your personal requirements. Therefore, you should have sufficient capital available to support yourself if your personal goals are not met as soon as you would like.
Making a commitment to a career in real estate also includes a number of financial considerations. Licensing course fees, licensing fees and a number of business related expenses (cell phone, computer, etc.) are just a few of the expenses that need to be considered.
How Do I Become Licensed?
The real estate industry in British Columbia achieves high standards in licensing by requiring individuals to fulfill comprehensive education and experience requirements. There are a number of licensing levels that can be achieved during a career in the real estate industry. For an illustration of the various licensing levels, see the Real Estate Education Flow Chart (PDF).
Initial Licensing Courses
To become licensed, individuals must successfully complete the Real Estate Council's education requirements. If you are considering a career in real estate trading services (sales), rental property management services, or strata management services, you will require a licence to provide those services. Once the choice between trading services, rental property management or strata management services is made, the appropriate licensing course must be taken through the University of British Columbia (UBC) Real Estate Division. Individuals should expect to take up to one year to complete the required course prior to becoming licensed. (Note: Individuals with prior real estate education or experience may be eligible for an exemption from the coursework. Please consult the Real Estate Education Guidelines booklet.)
If you would like to become licensed to sell real estate in British Columbia, please read the Trading Services Representative Step by Step Licensing guidelines.
If you would like to become licensed as a rental property manager in British Columbia, please read the Rental Property Manager Step by Step Licensing guidelines.
If you would like to become licensed as a strata property manager in British Columbia, please read the Strata Management Step by Step Licensing guidelines.
Additional Licensing Courses
Once licensed, an individual’s licence level and/or category may be upgraded with further education. A number of choices exist for licence upgrades. Most individuals selling real estate or managing property in British Columbia are representatives licensed to provide trading services or rental or strata property management services, however, they may choose to become an associate broker or managing broker. Should a licensee wish to upgrade to become an associate broker, they must successfully complete the Broker’s Licensing Course at the UBC Real Estate Division. To be eligible for enrolment in the course, they must have been licensed as a representative for six months. Before the licence will be upgraded, individuals must have been licensed as a representative for a minimum of two years during the preceding five (5) years prior to changing their status.
If you wish to become licensed as an associate broker in British Columbia, please read the Associate Broker Step by Step Licensing guidelines.
If you would like to become licensed as a managing broker in British Columbia, please read the Managing Broker Step by Step Licensing guidelines.
Licensees who have a licence to provide trading services, rental property management services or strata management services can become licensed to provide one or both of the other licensed activities by taking the appropriate Supplemental Course at the UBC Real Estate Division. The Supplemental Course can be taken at anytime, while licensed as a representative, associate or managing broker. Please contact the UBC Real Estate Division for more information on Supplemental Courses.
Inter-Provincial/Jurisdictional Licensing
If you are or have been licensed outside of British Columbia and wish to become licensed in British Columbia, please read the Inter-Provincial/Jurisdictional Step by Step Licensing guidelines.
Exemptions/Challenges
In certain cases, course exemptions are available based on previous related experience or education. Details are set out in the Real Estate Education Guidelines booklet.
Further Education Courses
A number of opportunities are available for further increasing one’s knowledge. For example, the UBC Real Estate Division offers a Diploma Program in Urban Land Economics, completion of which satisfies the academic requirement for admission to the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia whose members use the designation RI(BC). As well, in conjunction with the Thompson Rivers University Open Learning (TRU), the UBC Real Estate Division offers a post-diploma degree completion program that leads to a Bachelor of Business in Real Estate (BBRE). For more information, on these courses, visit Real Estate Division website.
Also, the BC Real Estate Association, the real estate boards and many real estate companies conduct extensive education programs designed to update and improve upon the professional standards of their members.
Relicensing Education Program
The Relicensing Education Program (REP) requires licensees to complete applicable continuing education courses every licensing cycle as a condition of continued licensing. For further information, please see the REP page.