Real Estate Continuing Education

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There are over 1.2 million licensed real estate agents in the U.S. They sell people's houses, they find people homes and they deal with corporations, property and commercial areas. Agents are required to participate in real estate continuing education programs to keep up with industry changes throughout the years.

Real estate continuing education, commonly called CE, is a necessary part of a career in real estate. Each of the State Departments of Real Estate requires licensed real estate agents to achieve a certain number of acceptable CE credits before that agent can re-register his or her license.

For example; the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) requires all real estate brokers and salespersons to achieve 45 'contact hours' of continuing education in one renewal period. Maryland , on the other hand, requires at least ten and Louisiana only eight in each year. One CE 'contact hour' is considered 50 minutes of educational time. Note that Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are different; one CEU equals 10 'contact hours.'

Some state departments of real estate require agents to take courses in certain subjects such as ethics and consumer services. For example; California mandates that real estate agents take one six hour survey course on Ethics, Agency, Trust Fund Handling and Fair Housing along with a minimum of 18 hours on Consumer Protection.

Check with your local department for further information on what your state requires and if there are any allowances. Some states will reduce the number of CE hours for agents with a certain number of years' experience. For example, Maryland reduces the required credits for agents who have held licenses for over ten years. CE courses must be approved and accredited by the relevant state department and/or real estate licensing board or commission.

Some good resources for agents who are looking into real estate continuing education programs:

The National Association of Realtors (NAR). With over 1 million members, NAR is the largest association of real estate agents in the U.S., providing a wealth of information on topics at www.realtor.org.

The Real Estate Information Professionals Association (REIPA) describes itself as 'the principle national trade association for professionals and corporations involved in providing real estate.' Visit their site at www.reipa.org.

WorldWideLearn.com claims to provide the ' world's largest directory of online education.' World Wide Learn offers accredited CE programs, schools and providers.