I recently wrote a blog on the friction between traditional real estate agencies and discount brokerages http://activerain.com/blogsview/57865/Don-t-Be-Afraid and in the responses a couple of traditional agents expressed the opinion that discount brokerages don't have the level of professionalism that traditional brokerages have or something to that effect.

Well, this blog isn't to further that debate.  If you wish to participate in that particular brew ha ha, please feel free to click on the above link, read the post and the comments and jump right in.  What I'm writing about today is the terrible lack of professionalism in the real estate "profession" over-all.  

I've heard many agents over the years lament about how real estate agents don't get the respect that they deserve.  I've also read in some blogs on here agents suggest that we should be as respected as lawyers, doctors or CPA's (notice that they didn't mention politicians!).  My response to these folks is why should we expect the general public to hold us in high regard?  

How many of us are truly professional?  I don't mean professional in the sense that we dress nicely, keep a clean desk or serve on 27 different committees at our local real estate board.  I'm talking about the type of professional that actually knows what they are doing?  That can work a transaction and has done so more than three times in the past year?  

I don't mean to be negative here, but I've spent a few hours here and there reading the various blogs on ActiveRain and while there are obviously some very qualified, articulate Realtors out there, the sheer number of idiots spouting off out there is amazing!  After reading some of these blogs I wonder if some people don't know what the little red line under certain words mean?  Also, while I'm not the best writer out there and God knows that I'm a terrible speler, if you write at a 5th grade level or below, please at least enlist the aid of somebody to proofread your blogs before you post them!  

Regarding the subject matter of the posts, well you know what they say about butt holes and opinions.  Everybody has both and a right to have whatever opinions they desire, no matter how stupid they may be.  Reading some of these blogs reminds me of the fact that it's WAY TOO EASY TO GET A REAL ESTATE LICENSE!  

Think of the professions that those bloggers that I mentioned above think that we should be held equal to.  How long do you have to go to school to be a lawyer? A doctor? An Indian Chief?  Ok, stratch that last one due to it being too politically incorrect to list, but the answer to the others is; years!  What other "profession" can you go to school for three weeks, take a test and call yourself a "professional"?  The lady who does your wife's nails probably went to school longer than you did in order to get your license!  

The end result is that there are far too many of us out there and because of this glut, the vast majority of agents end up not making any money and leaving the field.  I recently did a search of agents on my local MLS who lived in my zip code.  The agent's whose profiles came up and who had listings displayed a link to their listings.  How many listings do you think that the "average" agent carried?  In my zip code and others that I checked, it turned out to be less than one! 

A few years ago in doing research for an article that I was writing I came across a report that broke down the average earnings of various groups of real estate agents.  Did you know that the "average" real estate agent earns less than something like $14,000.00 a year?  That's gross, not net.  Is it any wonder that most agents don't stick around long enough to learn their trade?

The other negative result of this glut is agents trying to "out service" one another.  A few years ago I saw a bill board with a picture of a real estate agent bouncing a baby on her knee.  The caption stated, "I'll even watch your kids for you!  Superior real estate services."  I'm sorry, I can't even envision my attorney bouncing a kid on his knee!  Nor should I have too!

How do we fix the problem?  Well, I think that the first thing that should be done is to phase in minimum educational requirements.  That's not to say that you should be required to obtain a college degree prior to becoming an agent, but simply doing your time through 40 -60 hours of real estate school is not enough.  Appraisers have to work under senior appraisers for a certain number of appraisals and demonstrate their ability to perform their job, I don't think that this would be a bad requirement for real estate agents.

Continuing education courses should be lengthened and testing to assure that the course material was learned should be instituted. 

Brokerages should be accessed a substantial license fee for every license that they hold.  If I had to pay $500.00 or a $1,000.00 per year for every license that I hold, I can assure you that I wouldn't hold on to an agent who only dabbled in the biz.  

If all else fails, let's all pitch in and charter some ocean liners.  If we all went to sea and only a portion of us were to return, maybe the market would end up being better served and our standing in the community would rise! 

Those are just a few of my ideas.  If you have some thoughts on the matter, please feel free to comment.