Realtor, Agent, Broker, Sales Executive what’s the difference
May 24th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News
Realtor, Agent, Broker, Sales Executive what’s the difference?
For those of us inside the industry we don’t realize how confusing and misunderstood it is. What are all those titles?
First let’s break it down into two categories. One is about a license and the other is an association. Each state has its own set of rules and guidelines, they pretty much mirror each other, differences are usually local issues that are being dealt with. Here is a link to Utah’s Administrative Rules for Real Estate which comes under the department of Commerce. It is not very exciting reading by any means.
In Utah there are two basic licenses, Real Estate Broker and Real Estate Agent. Brokers are broken into two categories Principal Broker or an Associate Broker. An associate broker is someone that has a broker’s license but is not the principal. All real estate companies MUST have a principal broker. All active real estate licensees are either a principal broker or they are licensed under a principal broker. A company can have all brokers but only one is the principal and then the rest would be associates.
Then there is Realtor. Not all real estate agents and brokers are Realtors. A Realtor is someone that is a member of the National Association of REALTORS or as it is called in the industry the NAR. The NAR is a trade association and not a licensing agency. The NAR has a set of rules that its members agree. Locally NAR members are also members of the Utah Association of Realtors and their local board, I am a member of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.
So then what the heck is a Real Estate Sales Executive or a Real Estate Sales Professional? Those are just fancy names for a real estate agent. There is the notion that being sales person is not a good thing or just a real estate agent is not very sexy or something, and people try to disguise that. I say hogwash, being a sales person is like any other profession, there are great, mediocre, lousy and downright not nice. It just seems that the only ones that ever get any press are the latter. A professional is a professional no matter what the profession whether you are a Doctor, Painter, Lawyer, Plumber, Accountant, Electrician or Real Estate Agent.
What about all those letters? GRI, CRS, ABR, CCIM, CIPS, CPM, SRES…?
That is a seperate topic I could spend time on but I won’t.
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