Real Estate Agents and Brokers
 Sonoma County, San Francisco North Bay, Ca. USA

assist sellers in marketing their property and selling it for the highest possible price under the best terms. When The difference between salespersons and brokers
In the past, when brokers (and their agents) only represented sellers, the term ‘’real estate salesperson’’ may have been more appropriate than it is today, given the different ways that brokers and their agents can help a buyer through the process rather than simply “sell’’ him or her a property. Legally however, the term 'salesperson' is still used in many states to describe a real estate agent.

Real estate education: In order to become licensed, most states require that an applicant take a minimum number of classes before taking the state licensing exam. Such education is often provided by real estate brokerages as a means to finding new agents.

Today in many states, the real estate agent (acting as an agent of the broker with whom he/she is employed) is required to disclose to prospective buyers and sellers who represents whom. See below for a broker/agent’s relationship to sellers and their relationship to buyers.

While some people may refer to any licensed real estate agent as a real estate broker, a licensed real estate agent is a professional who has obtained either a real estate salesperson's license or a real estate broker's license.

In the United States, there are commonly two levels of real estate professionals licensed by the individual states, but not by the federal government:

Real estate salesperson: When a person first becomes licensed to become a real estate agent, he/she obtains a real estate salesperson's license from the state in which he/she will practice. To obtain a real estate license, the candidate must take specific coursework (of between 40 and 90 hours) and then pass a state exam on real estate law and practice. In order to work, salespersons must then be associated with (and act under the authority of) a real estate broker.

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