there's more to a career in real estate than meets the eye.

when most people think of real estate they think of someone showing them houses and writing up a contract for them to buy it...but there are many facets to real estate besides that.  there are actually four year real estate degrees, real estate economist and real estate analyst.  someone in the real estate industry may work at your neighborhood real estate office, a bank, title, inspection or survey company.  they may work as an underwriter at a bank or lending institution, be a professor at a real estate university or a teacher at a real estate school.  there are many levels of licensing, education and experience requirements involved with each.  to make it simple i'll rate them in terms of difficulty to obtain some of the credentials (entry level) from 1 to 10.

to sell a house as a real estate agent about 2.
to become a first level real estate house appraiser about 3.
to become a real estate broker (open your own business and hire agents) about 5.
house inspector about 3.
surveyor about 3.
second level house appraiser (open your own appraisal shop) about 5.
real estate school teacher about 6.
real estate professor about 9.
real estate analyst about 9.
commercial property real estate appraiser about 9.
bank underwriter about 5.
title company agent about 2.

notice i didn't use 1 or 10.  not 1 because it will require some effort and cost.  i didn't use 10 because nothing is impossible to obtain if you want it bad enough.

these numbers are just good estimates of what it will take to start in terms of time, classes and expense based on my knowledge and experience from having been in the business at a level 9 since 1991.  i've taught at a real estate school, became a broker while in college and became an analyst and commercial real estate appraiser in 1991.

the real estate industry as with others has been going through turmoil for the last four years.  we have lost many good people as casualties related to this turmoil and there will be an extreme shortage when things recover and our leaders help straighten things out.

it's been a great and rewarding career for me.  now may be the time for some of you to get in and learn the business as a career (not just a job..or way to get rich quick)..but as a career so that when things do recover in the next year or two, you'll find yourself at the right place at just the right time.