Every other year in June real estate agents licensed in Minnesota must have completed a total of 30 hours of continuing education in the last two years and pay a licensing fee to keep their real estate license.  While I don’t know exact numbers, I’m assuming that approximately 1/2 of agents will have their licenses up for renewal this year.

Based on the current market conditions and the fact that membership in the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors has doubled since 2000, it is safe to assume that some agents will not be renewing their licenses this year.  I believe I heard that around 1/3 of all agents licensed in MN do 2 transactions or less a year.  At that number it becomes expensive to hold a license and also very time-consuming to keep up on the market and law changes for such little income.

This is a business that requires regular activity to keep you current and effective and so I look at June as a month of cleaning house.  One of the most difficult situations is to be working with an agent that doesn’t know what they are doing because they haven’t done a deal in 6 months.  They sometimes don’t want to ask for help and therefore you don’t know when there’s a problem.  It hasn’t ruined a closing yet, but it’s put strain on a couple of them.  That’s why in those situations I have to remain extra vigilant with the other side of the transaction because no matter how hard I work, if the other side doesn’t do the same, the deal may not close.

Not everyone is cut out for this career… for those agents that are leaving the business, thanks for realizing this and I sincerely wish you the best!