In spite of the want and need for transparency in the business, there has been no willingness to expose a realtor’s sales history or depth of experience – the consumer is left to their own devices to figure out how to chose an agent.
The REIC powers-that-be have always coddled the newly-licensed agents. The brokers make the maximum commission splits off them while they are cutting their teeth, and the state agencies/boards of realtors enjoy their dues for as long as they last.
But recently the California Department of Real Estate decided that all agents should have their license number on all promotional materials – flyers, business cards, etc.
Because the license numbers are sequential, now you can easily size up how long someone has had their license. It doesn’t mean a whole lot, but at least it’s something.
The lower the number, the longer they’ve had their license – here’s a timeline:
| License Date | License Number | Status |
| 12/74 | 00400000 | expired |
| 10/84 | 00873197 | JtR |
| 9/88 | 01000000 | expired |
| 1/91 | 01100000 | expired |
| 8/95 | 01200000 | expired |
| 11/00 | 01300000 | licensed |
| 6/03 | 01388871 | Klinge Enterprises corporate license |
| 11/03 | 01400000 | licensed |
| 9/06 | 01500000 | expired |
You can decide for yourself how much experience is optimal – let’s face it, there are plenty of old guys who are lazy or ripoffs. But it’s a starting point.
Most licensees under 01400000 are going to have decent experience, and hopefully 50 or so deals under their belt. On average, figure that licensees do a deal a month.
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The DRE also notes the realtor population – it has finally started to subside. Since March, 2008 we’ve been losing 1,000 to 3,000 licensees per month, but there are still roughly 75,000 MORE licensees in California than there were in June, 2005.
The DRE also has a list of people who have been served “Desist and Refrain Orders” for loan mod fraud:
So in October, Jim, you’ll celebrate your 25th anniversary! Could you write about your favorite experience as an agent–the transaction for a seller or buyer, you’ll never forget? I, for one, would be interested…
“Most licensees under 01400000 are going to have decent experience, and hopefully 50 or so deals under their belt.”
Yes but if they started after 2001 they still haven’t experienced anything besides the fantasy-land bubble. The good ones will survive this market. On the other hand, many (former) realtors will be turning in their BMW leases and staring reality in the face. This is a necessary cleansing.
Jim, great article – you are so right. At the peak of the bubble the CA DRE stated there were almost 500,000 licensees. I’m guessing that over one-third were newbies looking for easy, quick money. From my own experience, transactions with some of these untrained and unsupervised licensees were nightmares from hell. My office referred to them as “walking lawsuits”. By the way, my license begins with 00, but I don’t look it.
Thank you Jim. This is a great public service.
I don’t know why or how selling real estate became such a wide open, corrupt field.
Since the NAR seems incapable of making this a credible way for one to respectfully earn a living, the collapsing market will have to purge all of the:
hustlers, hookers, bored housewives, table dancers, bartenders, grandmas, excons, idiots, people in between jobs, people looking to “find themselves” and assorted other folks who somehow happened into selling real estate.
A good, long decline will take some sales off the table, but Jim, you’ll have less competition and a far better class of fellow agents to work with.
For the public, a purge of the real estate field will be one of the best things to come out of this epic housing Ponzi scheme.
The 10 year treasury note is now approaching 3.70% and just one month ago it was 2.92%. Interest rates are definitely headed higher; however the next level of resistance from a technical prospective comes into play around 3.97% according to the charts.
Can the feds control interest rates and inflation? Will the federal reverse increase the fed funds rate before it’s too late?
The historical trend for mortgage rates has been 1.75% above the ten-year.
3.70 + 1.75 = 5.45%
The mortgage industry has somehow been able to trim their margins the last couple of weeks – probably because the refi backlog is thinning out. They had been enjoying a 2.0 margin for a couple of months.
Good stuff, Jim. So was 1984 when that picture of you was taken?
A guy in my office has 0037xxxx, brokers issued in May 1974, still active, albeit not practicing.
There was one within a couple of numbers from my license that was marked,
“Deceased”
Yes that’s my pic from ’84, as mandated by NAR.
I don’t think I’ve changed much, but when filling out a form recently, wifey noted my hair color as “grey”.
I tried to argue that she must have been thinking about my car, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with it.
wifey noted my hair color as “grey”.
Imagine the “discussions” Mrs. Dawg and I have on this same issue. 😉