Check up On Your Brokers Real Estate License

By chezfat | Dec 10, 2009 | 0 Comments | Rating: 0

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Real Estate License

If you are in the market to buy a house or maybe you are in the market to simply refinance your house surely you've put some thought into working with a real estate broker. The broker works to essentially match you up with a lender who can finance your real estate purchase or refinance your existing obligations. The broker works on a fee commission basis and is typically paid by the lender financing the new loan. This is where potential conflicts of interest come into play.

Real Estate Broker

The reason going with a broker is a smart option for a home owner or purchaser is that the broker has access to many lenders and can find the best deal for you. You can save a lot of money by buying FSBO real estate and then let you broker find you the best financing. Because the lender pays the broker a rebate for the business the buyer of the home seemingly pays nothing to the broker out of pocket. This means the broker can be left unchecked in his or her business practices as they could easily direct borrowers to lenders who are not in their best interest but rather in the best interest of the broker.

If you are in the real estate market there is no reason why you should shy away from using a broker. They offer a valuable service to both the borrowers and to the lenders because they are essentially matchmakers. You should however not go into the agreement blindly. You should check up on your broker's real estate license to make sure that he or she has a clean record in past transactions. If the broker's real estate license is found to have sanctions placed against it you can then look into the reasons behind why those sanctions were imposed.

Broker Due Diligence

In California for instance you can check a DRE license for sanctions online just by searching for the name of your broker, his company name, or by his DRE broker's license number. If you see sanctions imposed on him you can then call the DRE flag desk to further investigate the sanctions placed against the broker's real estate license. The sanctions typically are listed online as a hearing number. The Department of Real Estate can actually look up the hearing and inform you as to which business and professions codes were in violation and what actions were taken. This is important for you as the client because you probably don't want to be working with a real estate broker who works in his best interest rather than your own.

Another worthwhile point to make in regards to the broker's real estate license is regarding its age. Depending upon your needs or demands you may wish to work with seasoned brokers with a lot of experience. Your real estate broker makes a hefty sum of many by closing your loan through any lender let alone the lender in his best interest. He may say some things to you that lead you to believe he is qualified to take you business. Checking up on his broker's real estate license can give you an idea of just how seasoned he really is. You may be surprised to find out that your broker may be working under a conditional salesperson's license due to him still being in the educational process of getting licensed. If it's important to you that you work with an experienced broker his broker's real estate license will reveal this information if you go to the governing body that issues the licenses.

Of course every state is different and the process for checking up on your broker's real estate license is different in each state. For instance checking up on a Missouri real estate license might be a completely different process than checking on a California license but the basic premise remains. If you are using a broker to find you the best deal on your mortgage you want to make sure this broker is not taking advantage of his clients by working in the best interest of the broker. You are also working with a broker for his or her expertise in the field of mortgage lending. If you have more experience than your broker then why would you be using him or her? If you find that your broker is inexperienced or find negative sanctions against him then why would you use this broker? You should always look up your broker's real estate license for these reasons if nothing else. This information can always be found with the real estate license governing body in the state you are doing business in. As an added resource you can also check with the better business bureau for information on the broker or company if any exits.

Out Of State Real Estate License

Another consideration you might have if you really want to dig deep into your broker's real estate license and history is to look into more information on your broker out of state. Because you can get a broker's real estate license in every state and they work independently of each other if a broker is sanctioned in one state they can continue doing business without any disturbance in any other state they may be licensed in. This can be lot of work for sure but if you are thorough you can check the broker's real estate license in all fifty states or at least the number which is applicable to your broker's real estate footprint.

To this concern their has been some efforts put in place in recent years by various governing bodies to centralize the real estate broker business and to link the states up to one central source as a way to limit the potential for real estate fraud via real estate brokers. If all the broker's real estate licenses from all the states were tied together than any sanctions in any state would be apparent to everybody no matter which state that broker did business in. This will be a great achievement in regulating broker's real estate licenses when this synchronization takes place. Until then however it is best to remain a concerned, skeptical, and intelligent consumer. Just as all steps of the real estate sales, purchase, and refinancing process are loaded with variables so too are the various services provided by real estate professionals. Make sure you do some due diligence on your next transaction especially if you use the services of a licensed real estate broker.

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