Keep It Simple, Er, Sweetheart

If you’ve ever thought that broker you were working with was somewhat of a dim bulb, there may be a good reason for that:

Robert S. Broder is teaching his students at the New York Real Estate Institute how to KISS. “Keep It Simple,” he recites, pausing for effect. “Sweetheart.” Feet shuffle, pens scribble, and the odd cell phone chirps. In the third row of the packed house, a guy in a Polo shirt and flip-flops sits slumped, looking like a frat boy after a long night. But if he passes the licensing test, he’ll be on his way to handling someone’s multi-million-dollar sale.

Everyone, it seems, wants to get into the real-estate business. According to the Department of State, as of June, there are 27,081 licensed agents and brokers in Manhattan, up 1,491 from 2004 and 4,268 from ’03. “We’re graduating well over 100 students a week,” says NYREI’s president, Richard Levine. “You could hire a new person almost every second,” confirms Halstead president Diane Ramirez. And brokers and customers are starting to say the system is flooded with neophytes.

. . .

Maybe all this was inevitable. Selling real estate offers people with modest credentials the prospect of high financial return. That makes the field attractive to go-getters—but also to dilettantes. “In New York, anyone can become a broker,” says Joseph Benz, general manager of Metro Spire. “The test in Manhattan is identical to the test given to wannabes in Ithaca.” New York agents need only 45 hours of classes — Miami requires 72 — and even then there are cheats. One student says he routinely sees classmates sign in, then walk out. Corcoran’s David Allouch, a former Wall Streeter, notes that the Series 7 — the big exam for stockbrokers — is much harder, and that the real-estate classes are cursory. “The instructor would say, This part you need to know for the test, the rest you don’t,” he remembers. “It’s about getting the answers, not about training professionals.”