Staying Compliant: Continuing Education for Brokers and Salespeople & Upcoming Changes
By Sydney Roy, Marketing Advisor @Manfredschool
Continuing Education is Required to Renew Your License
Every two years, real estate salespeople and brokers are required to complete 22.5 hours of approved continuing education including at least 3 hours covering the topics of fair housing and/or discrimination and one hour of Law of Agency (two hours if it is the licensee’s first licensing cycle). Beginning July 1, 2021 the Department of State will require that your 22.5 hours of continuing education will also include 2.5 hours of ethical business practices and at least 1 hour of recent legal matters governing the practice of real estate brokers and salespersons in New York.
Also notable is that the Department of State will no longer recognize the 15-year real estate broker continuing education exemption. Beginning July 1st, 2021 all brokers who are currently exempt will be required to complete continuing education. The new requirements are effective on the actual date the license expires rather than the date the renewal application is submitted for processing. If the expiration date printed on your license is on or after July 1st, 2021, you must meet the new requirement before you can renew.
Continuing Education is an Opportunity to Make Your Business Stronger
When someone is not successful in the industry, it is usually because they view real estate as an easy or passive job. This could not be farther from the truth! To have your own real estate business, you must hold yourself to a high standard. While most agents do the bare minimum, successful agents go above and beyond. The most outstanding agents and brokers are proactive! They continuously seek knowledge, stay up-to-date on requirements and strive to be better experts in their field. Being a part of the real estate industry requires consistently reviewing trends, motivating yourself, networking and putting yourself “out there.” Maintaining a constant stream of education will allow you to be and to feel like the expert your community needs.
The Industry is Always Changing
When you become an agent or a broker, you are responsible for maintaining your own business. Although you might get mentorship through your brokerage, you will still want to make sure you have close contact with your local real estate school so that you can be made aware of changes to continuing education requirements and the industry. At the Manfred School we always strive to make our students aware of all their requirements, provide new and exciting continuing education courses and keep meticulous records should you ever be audited by the Department of State. Additionally, our instructors are all successful veterans of the real estate industry. It is helpful to learn from those who have already achieved success.
Manfred Membership – The Best Value for your Continuing Education Requirements
The best and most successful agents view continuing education as an ongoing opportunity to sharpen their skills and learn about important changes in the industry. Continuing education should not be viewed as just a requirement. It should be viewed as a source of knowledge that will better help you run your business. For that reason, we wanted to give our students the opportunity to “subscribe” to our ever-changing continuing education schedule and take unlimited classes. Whenever our students see a topic of interest to them, they should be able to take the course without paying $110 each time.
That is why we created the Manfred Membership program to encourage our students to take more courses for less money. The cheapest way to complete your 22.5 hours of required continuing education (and unlimited courses beyond it) is to sign up for our membership program for $13.99 a month. Only by prioritizing education can you realistically build a rewarding business in real estate.
