This may not seem like the ideal time to start a career in real estate. The housing market has been in one of the worst recessions in decades and construction companies, home builders and real estate brokers have spent much of the last two years laying off workers. And many experts, such as Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, expect only a modest rebound in the market in 2011.
The good news is that the real estate market has always been an important sector of our economy, and that isn’t likely to change. The Bureau of Labor statistics predicts a 14 percent growth in employment demand for real estate brokers and sales agents through 2018, noting that a growing population of young adults will be buying homes in the coming years. Even in today’s economy, many buyers are taking advantage of bargain prices and low interest rates to purchase homes.
“There will always be a need for people to buy and sell houses,” said Kathy Sanders, online program manager at the College of Continuing and Professional Education at Kennesaw State University. “Our plan was to have people ready to work when the market does turn around. We know that when that happens, companies will be hiring again.”
The College of Continuing and Professional Education at Kennesaw has made real estate training convenient by putting more than 30 courses online. Students may enroll at any time and can work at their own pace, as long as they complete the course in 180 days.
The college offers a prelicense course, which covers the 75 hours of education required for sales agents to sit for the Georgia Real Estate Sales Prelicense Exam. The Handbook for Examination and License Procedures is published by the Georgia Real Estate Commission and is also available on its website (www.grec.state.ga.us).
The course covers real estate law, mortgage fraud, finance, contracts and the basics of ownership, transfer and use of property. To enroll, applicants must be at least 18 and have a high school diploma or GED. Tuition is $499.
The Georgia real estate broker prelicense course reviews the fundamentals of real estate and also covers brokerage management, office operations, broker responsibilities, mortgage fraud, financial management and government regulations. The course meets the 60-hour broker prelicense requirement for Georgia. Applicants must be 21 and have a high school diploma or GED.
“Knowing that real estate professionals must complete 24 hours of continuing education every four years to maintain their licenses, we are offering about 30 continuing education courses online,” Sanders said. “There are courses in property management, real estate ethics, commercial leases, home inspection in real estate practice, contracts and legal issues for agents, among others.”
The courses run from 3 to 24 hours, with costs ranging from $59 to $299. Each of Kennesaw’s real estate courses are approved by the Georgia Real Estate Commission.
“We have already gotten calls from people who are interested in this field or who need continuing education, and we’re able to tell them that they can start right now,” Sanders said.
For information, call Kathy Sanders (770-499-3355 or 770-423-6765) or go to www.ccpe.kennesaw.edu/realestate.
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