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Real estate schools sizzle in wake of hot market
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
With homes in the Charleston area selling quickly and for record prices, now is the time to be a real estate agent, and it is a great time for the area’s real estate schools.
South Carolina is churning out real estate sales agents at a remarkable pace. In 2004, there were 14,226 real estate salespeople with active licenses statewide, up 16.9% from 2000, according to the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, a nonprofit entity of real estate regulators based in Montgomery, Ala.
All those new agents have to get their education somewhere, and in Charleston, where homes are selling in an average of 66 days, the second shortest duration since 1999, and for an average price of $270,334, the highest average ever, real estate schools are being established and expanded to handle the influx of students.
“Things are booming,” says Arlene Samuels, CEO of the Charleston area’s two Fortune Academy real estate schools.
There are 10 real estate schools in the Charleston area, and four of those obtained their licenses in the past 1 1/2 years, according to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Among those newly established schools is Jim Hasbrouck Real Estate Institute, based in North Charleston.
Hasbrouck, who taught at Fortune Academy in Mount Pleasant before starting his own school in January 2004, says the time was right for him to enter the real estate school business.
“There’s a lot of people coming into real estate. It’s very, very positive right now. You have control over how much money you make,” Hasbrouck says.
He set up shop at 6296 Rivers Ave. in North Charleston to be near the booming markets of Moncks Corner and Goose Creek.
Hasbrouck, who charges $475 for pre-licensing classes, says in the 19 months since the school opened, it has experienced steady growth and needs a third instructor.
“We’ve got 10 to 12 people in a class,” says Hasbrouck, whose school offers day, evening and weekend classes.
“In January 2004, we had none. Then we got three to four, then five to six and seven to eight. Each month, the classes are coming up. We’re growing by 5 percent a month.”
Schools expanding
Established real estate schools, such as Fortune Academy, which opened the doors at its Mount Pleasant location,
537 Long Point Road, in 2002, are finding the demand for real estate education merits expansion.
Arlene Samuels, along with her husband Paul, recently celebrated the opening of their West Ashley school at 2090 Executive Hall Blvd. off Savage Road. Fortune Academy Inc. is based in Myrtle Beach and has 15 locations in the state.
The new school will better serve students who live in James Island, Summerville and Kiawah Island. Eventually, Fortune may look for additional sites, Arlene Samuels says.
“We’ll grow as we need to,” she says. “We’ll see how the river flows. We’ll do what the market and the people need.”
In June, more than 300 students completed their required education, be it pre-licensing, post-licensing or continuing education, at the Fortune Academy in Mount Pleasant. Sixty hours of instruction, which cost $475 at Fortune, are required to receive a provisional license in South Carolina.
An additional 30 hours of instruction are required for a permanent license, and a series of continuing education courses are required afterward.
Aspiring real estate agents can complete the pre-licensing requirements in as little as two, depending on how rigorous a study schedule they follow. Some students prefer to attend daily classes, while others may only attend weekend classes.
Paul Samuels, who has been a real estate broker since 1980, says real estate schools are prohibited from disclosing how many students pass or fail the real estate license exam, but he says three-quarters of his students end up working in real estate.
The remaining quarter often takes classes simply for personal knowledge, he says.
At the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors, which has operated a school since 1996, classes sell out more often than not, creating a backlog.
“(Pre-licensing) classes began selling out in late February or March of last year, and enrollment has remained consistently high. Interest is staying up. We tell people that they shouldn’t expect to get in a class if they wait too long to sign up,” says Sherry Martin, assistant to the director of education, adding the Association of Realtors also charges $475 for pre-licensing classes.
Charleston Trident Association of Realtors cuts its classes off at 50, but there are often more students in the classroom because those who have missed a class or want to review a section are allowed to participate.
The 50-student maximum is a peak after many months of ever-increasing class loads.
Younger students
An interesting change in enrollment recently has been the increase in young people signing up for classes.
In years past, real estate primarily attracted older adults looking for a change, including women who wanted a career after raising children, Martin says.
“You’ve got a lot of young people thinking about salesmanship and trying it as a first career. Some have seen their parents in it and seen them do real well,” she says.
While real estate is white-hot right now, and has been for a few years, there is much talk of a bubble burst when interest rates rise, leaving some to wonder what the future holds for a new real estate agent.
Paul Samuels is optimistic.
“No matter the situation, people will buy houses. Maybe you can’t sell four or five or six of them a month, but one sale will still make you more than an average person makes in a certain amount of time,” he says.
“I lived through the real estate bubble burst of the 1980s, and all that was, was people who were investors had to hold onto their property for a little longer,” says Samuels.
“With stock, you go up and down with the wind. You can always sit on your land. There is never a better investment than real estate.”
No guarantee
However, instructors caution that a real estate license does not guarantee six-figure commissions and stress-free days. Building a client base takes time and effort.
That does not faze Nancy St. Hilaire, who currently works in industrial safety but recently began taking real estate courses with Hasbrouck. She hopes to earn her license by the end of July.
“It is like jumping off a cliff, but it’s something that I can earn a decent living doing, and it’s something I enjoy,” she says.
The National Association of Realtors currently has 1.2 million licensed real estate agents. Five years ago, the association had 700,000 Realtors.
The Realtor designation is used by NAR members who abide by the association’s code of ethics; it is not a requirement to sell real estate.
Though there has been an undeniable increase in the number of real estate agents, and that trend seems to be continuing, NAR’s chief economist, David Lereah, says that does not mean the market is saturated.
There is enough work to go around, he says, because not all 1.2 million Realtors are selling homes.
Paul Samuels agreed, saying often a real estate license is obtained by people involved with property management or consulting rather than selling property.
In 2003, the NAR reported that the average number of transactions annually handled by a single Realtor was 13.
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@crbj.com.
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