in this issue… BETTER THAN • WCREALTORS Mid-Year EconomicAT Update A DAY • WCR Wild West REALTORS THE• HBAOFFICE Mid-Year Forecast Update
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Join us September for the Security • AMBA1stTopGolf Social National Golf Classic at the River Place Country Club for a round • and much, much more! of golf, food, and prizes, then on September 2nd the Pirelli World Challenge Races at the Austin Circuit Of The Americas!
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AUGUST 2017 • VOLUME 22 • ISSUE 4
THE
ROUGH HOLLOW
A PRIVATE LAKESTYLE NEIGHBORHOOD
ON ROUGH HOLLOW
Making the grade:
Education & Real Estate By Riki Markowitz
W
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hen you look at the requirements for becoming a real estate agent in Texas, it may appear overwhelming. Core classes alone are 180 hours. Then there are prep exam classes, the licensing exam, and working with a sponsoring broker. A fast-track estimate before one can be an independent, selfsupporting sales agent is about two years. So if you’re looking to sell some houses in
RL
Details on page 18 All participating golfers will also get a general admission ticket to the Pirelli World Challenge!
PENINSULA AT
SIGN UP TODAY www.snmc.com/golfaustin
this decade, get out a pen and paper and map out your strategy. In this article, we talk about the classes required for getting a real estate license, plus some suggested electives that will make you more valuable to the colleagues, sponsors and agency managers you will rely on to help you find your feet.
Get Schooled The real estate schools you look at will offer Texas Real Estate Commission’s (TREC) mandatory curriculum, plus packages with electives and exam prep and practice test seminars. Champions School of Real Estate, for example, offers four basic bundles. The most comprehensive is an 11-course package, which is geared toward those at the two-year license renewal stage. According to Champion’s step-by-step guide, it’s possible to complete your core requirements in four to six weeks. But there’s no need to rush. TREC permits applicants a full year to meet all requirements, including class credits, filing your application, providing a Department of Public Saf exam. Do you freeze up during tests? You have three chances to get a passing grade. After that you’re required to complete 30 hours of study for each failed portion of the exam, according to PearsonVUE, the company that administers the test.
Featured Event August 17th, 11 a.m. — 2 p.m. MI Homes at Arrowhead Ranch
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Here are some classes that help real BENEFITING
The 2017 Pirelli World Challenge offers fans the
estate professionals best sports car increase racing on thetheir planet! Join us for a fun packed weekend of racing and much more! usefulness to clients and coworkers: Sponsorship Opportunities Available
a Sponsor! Contactoffers Sydney • Starting a small business: The AustinBecome office of Economic Development a freeLehman sydney.lehman@snmc.com | 512.795.5596 online class for opening a small business, called BizAid Business Orientation
• Build your personal brand: If you have a Lynda.com membership, you can take dozens of trainings and tutorials. You can also try out the site for free. Branding Foundations is crucial for someone in real estate.
Please remember that company policies governing appropriate conduct (including the harassment policy) apply at company-sponsored events. You are expected to comply with these policies even when you are attending out-of-town events, such as seminars. This includes traveling to and from the event, attendance at the event, and socializing with employees and others before or after the event. Anyone violating company standards of conduct (including the harassment policy), in these settings will be subject to the same discipline as if they had engaged in similar conduct on company property during regular working hours. All organization names and logos are trademarks of respective owners. SecurityNational Mortgage Company is an Equal Housing Lender. Company NMLS# 3116. SNMC0717MISC1413
• Learn to sell anything: This is right up a real estate agent’s alley. Udemy.com has a 5.5 hour on-demand video about building confidence. • Web Design: UT Informal Classes are short, inexpensive classes for the busy professional. You can learn Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Beginning HTML/CSS and a number of other web writing and design courses. • Social media: Austin Community College has dozens of courses on using social media for professionals, plus social media tools and ethics. They offer classes onsite and online. Sign up to receive newsletters from professional organizations and real estate schools, like title companies, mortgage companies, boards of REALTORS and local real estate schools like Champions School of Real Estate. Because seminars can fill up fast, getting a newsletter will guarantee that you get a schedule before it’s too late to sign up.
If you’re back for the required two-year renewal process, you’re looking at 90 hours of TREC Sales Agent Apprentice Education (SAE) renewal courses, in addition to two legal update classes – at eight hours per class.
When It’s Complicated We’ve all made mistakes at some point. But before you throw in the towel, you should know that if your background check will betray a wild young adulthood, there’s a completely legitimate loophole. It was established for “those who have any criminal
offenses, unpaid judgments, had discipline taken against a professional or occupational license, or have performed unlicensed activity.” If you’re concerned about the time the cops drove you home after your crew got caught TPing the principal’s front lawn, this form was not meant for you. Applicants must “meet qualifications for honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity.” -TREC
Front Page: Continued on page 28
Features of the Month Column: ABoR—ABoR is a good source for professional education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 3 Column: WCAoR—Education and the busy REALTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 7 Column: HBA—Mid-Year Forecast: Affordable price points for new homes shrinking . . . pg. 15. Column: WCR—Can you believe summer is almost over? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 20 Associates in Progress: Stallion Funding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 25 Associates in Progress: Blackburn Communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 27 Associates in Progress: Avi Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 31 Upcoming Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 34