Just like in most professions, real estate has its fair share of continuing education requirements. Brokers, for instance, need to clock in 45 hours of DRE-approved continuing education broken down into specific hourly requirements from ethics to consumer protection. Continuing education is important for the industry as it protects consumers, but it’s also important for the broker as well. It’s just one way of helping you remain up to date and help prevent you from clinging to old or outdated ways.

Aside from staying compliant, many professionals and businesses continue their education as an independent undertaking. In fact, many brokerages, especially large national names, provide educational training for their staff. Keller Williams, for example, launched a digital four-week education course for agents last year in 2020. With this much of an investment on education, it underlines its importance as something far more important than just compliance. 

What topics should brokers focus on when continuing their education?

First off, let’s start by saying the majority of the most crucial topics have absolutely nothing to do with selling a house. Let’s start there! Our leadership at Zipi believes there are key topics that brokers need to be trained on to experience success in this industry. So, with that said, here is a list of continuing education for brokers:

• Hiring the right people (staff and agents) 
• How to lead and train your staff properly 
• Ways to continuously add value to your staff and agents 
• Creating opportunities for the team
• Ways to manage and track financials successfully
• Explaining the residential purchase agreement/residential listing agreement and disclosures  
• Financial literacy 
• Diversity, equity and inclusion
• Successful ways to build a company culture of technology adoption and early adoption
• How to continually educate the team on best practices, new tech, real estate changes, etc.
  

One area that we want to point out is the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion education. This country put the issue of racism and discrimination at the forefront of society in 2020, which shined an extra light on real estate’s plethora of problems with diversity and equity. And even with that extra light shining, the industry is still failing to serve people of color. In the state of California, for example, legislation is underway to mandate implicit bias training for all real estate licensees. Senate Bill 263 would require both real estate brokers and agents to take an implicit bias training course, understand the historical and social implications of these biases and learn tools they can use to recognize their own implicit bias. While fair housing agencies, as well as the media, have a magnifying glass out to look for discriminatory practices, continuing your education on diversity, equity and inclusion is the best way to solidify that everyone has equal access to housing — regardless of skin color. 

‍
Zipi is the Real Estate Operating System (OS) that aims to make real estate simple from agents and deals to commissions and billings. Request a demo to get in contact with one of our expert team members.