Aspiring Agent? You may want to start your courses NOW

RECO announced yesterday some massive changes that will affect how soon new Realtors can get started in the industry, these are leading into an overhaul of the registration process expected in 2020.

RECO is sticking with OREA for administering the courses for now (at least until 2019), but has changed the time line of when Agents will be able to be registered and trade.

Currently, students must successfully complete only the first three courses before registering and being able to trade- for students who enroll after April 1, 2016- they will have to complete five courses (the same 3 existing courses, plus two of the "articling segment" courses that were to be taken in the first 2 years of trading).

If you register before April 1- you will be grandfathered under the old rules. You will still have to take all the courses- but the massive difference is you can register with RECO, join a brokerage, and start earning money after the first three courses- not all 5.

Find out more about these changes on the RECO website.

I'm interested to see the result in how many students sucessfully complete the program from starting the first course to registration, and if that number decreases from the current stats. It's no secret that a huge percentage of people who start the courses will never finish- and many agents will not continue in the profession beyond the first couple of years.

I'll be honest as someone who has recently completed this program I'm MUCH more excited to see what 2020 brings. The content of these courses, while generally relevant (and I'm being generous there, I'll let you know when my intimate knowledge on links and chain surveying helps me to close a deal in the field) is woefully inadequate for some of the actual day to day challenges new realtors face.

I hear over and over again that you should expect your broker to step up to help provide that training during the first few years. But having paid what I did to OREA, I would have expected more practical career training for my role in real estate- business development, relationship management, websites for realtors, lead generation, business planning and budgeting... these should be some of the electives that the officially mandated education source for Realtors provides.

At least with the current system, after as little as 3-4 months, and an investment of approx $3k, I see the articling segment as a co-op period. I am still doing OREA courses, I'm learning through "on the job" training with my brokerage, and I can earn money at the job. Putting off any sort of real world experience and earning potential further- better be worth it for the students.

I hope OREA's monopoly is challenged and they realize that they need to provide a more customized and engaging education process. The online learning is basically virtual versions of the print textbooks to click through with the same quizzes offered in the text book. Remote instructors aren't available- something almost every college and university on Ontario offering online courses is already doing. They readily admit that resources like Passit.com or Exam Tudor (both of which they presumably have agreements and make a profit from) are needed by many students to actually help them study course content.

Another bizzare anomoly in the current process is that the final course in the pre-registration segment isn't yet available online, and because students are forced to register for an "in class" section but aren't required (since 2011) to attend classes fill up with ghost registrations. Students pick the first available class- no matter the location- and just write the exam locally. Those who could actually benefit from the in class learning are faced with waiting for an open spot when in reality the classrooms are likely close to empty.

OREA also forces students to pick an exam date upon course registration- a tactic I can only assume is to increase the revenue from their $50 rescheduling fee (even if a student completes the entire re-scheduling process themselves online).

I am not sure what the future of Realtor education looks like in Ontario- but I'm hopeful that more robust online learning, student friendly policies, and practical tools that help aspiring realtors prepare and plan for their futures are included in the plan.

#reco #orea #realtoreducation #ontariorealtorschool #realtorcollege