Hey guys,I have been doing some research on how to obtain a Real Estate license so I can freely appraise and help friends and family in the home buying process. I heard somewhere along the way that there are two types of licenses. One is a broker license and another is a independent.What I heard is that as an independent license holder you are free to do as you please and try to sell any property where as a person who obtained a license with a broker can only sell properties that the agency possess, such as if you have a license with ReMax and work for them, you can only sell properties owned by ReMax or owned by clients of ReMax. Can anyone tell me more about the license and whether or not the information above is accurate?A link to a very informative site or page would be highly appreciated!- Jason
An independent license is basically just a referral license, it does not allow you to sell property at all, just refer clients - the real estate agents who are working for companies then pick up your referral and actually sell the house to the client you have referred. When the deal is closed, you get a percentage of the other realtor's commission ( the one that picked up your referral). So it is a big difference between an independent license and a regular license. As far as having a regular license, you are free to sell any property that is listed in the multiple listing service - what happens is that if it is not a property listed by your broker's office, then you have to split the commission with the other broker's office who has the property listed. So the commission gets diluted down the line. If you would like information on an independent license, try IRC Referrals in Woodstown N.J. - they offer them - and an independent license is good nationwide, because you aren't actually selling properties. So you can live anywhere. The license is also less expensive to renew per year than a traditional real estate license. I held both for many years.
You can not deal with any real estate activity without an active license, and a license is not active unless it is under a licensed broker. Appraisals are separate licenses, you can not legally give appraisals without certification, which takes several years to obtain. I have no clue where you got the idea that ReMax agents can only sell ReMax properties, that is not even remotely true. Any licensed agent, with an active license, can sell any property listing, it does not matter who the selling brokerage is. You need to stop listening to whoever you are hearing this from, it is all messed up.
