For a first timer in real estate, titles attributed to real estate professionals may sometimes be confusing. There would be instances that you, like to other clients and even some of these professionals, may have used these terms interchangeably. Now this article contains information as seen in realtor, which would try to give some insights regarding those terms and roles performed by each individual behind each title.
Real Estate Agent
A real estate agent is a title attributed to a person who earned a real estate license, be it a sales professional, associate broker or a broker license. Requirements to achieve this particular license may vary from state to state, but in all states a person wanting to be a licensed real estate agent should complete a minimum number of classes and pass a test.
REALTOR®
This is also a real estate agent, but the only difference between him and a real estate agent in general is his membership with the National Association of REALTORS®. And this suggests that this person uphold the standards of the association and its code of ethics.
Real Estate Broker
This title signifies a higher form of education beyond the agent level as required by the state laws. Before an agent is considered as a broker, he must first pass the broker's license exam. To make it simpler, brokers can work alone with their license of course, and they may also hire an agent to work for them.
Real Estate Salesperson
This title simply means that a person is a real estate agent, it's another term used to indicate an agent.
Real Estate Associate Broker
This could be tricky sometimes, but this only means that a person chose to work under the management of a broker despite his additional education in real estate and in spite of having his own broker's license.
Knowing the titles and the roles behind each title is of significant importance. For it is through your basic knowledge of it that you may learn to choose the best person to represent you depending on your need. Aside from this basic knowledge, these information would also provide some additional insight on how real estate had evolved throughout time to cater the different needs of clients.