The only downside to a timely new law forcing newly licensed real estate agents to be better educated in the changing California market is that it will take another full year before consumers can even begin to fully benefit.

With the market doing an about face in both sales and home price appreciation, consumers need skilled realty representatives to see them through what could be some hard times.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed AB 2429, a measure that bumped up the level of education necessary for real estate agents to obtain a license.

Under existing law, administered by the state's Department of Real Estate, a "quickie" conditional real estate salesperson license is available to otherwise qualified applicants who only pass an accredited "Real Estate Principles" class as well as the required written examination.

The conditional license comes with a requirement that, within 18 months, salespeople must also pass two more accredited courses, a "Real Estate Practice" course and another, an accredited elective chosen from the disciplines of appraisals, property management, finance, economics and law among others.

"Currently, an applicant may take (and pass) one class, pass the exam, and receive a conditional license, then take up to 18 months to complete the required course work, all the while engaging in licensed real estate activity," said California Association of Realtors (CAR) president Vince Malta.

"AB 2429 will increase the foundational knowledge of sales licensees entering the profession, and prevent ill-equipped licensees from engaging in licensed activity," Malta said.

Under the new law, which isn't effective until October 1, 2007, conditional licenses are abolished and applicants must pass all three classes and the written test before obtaining a license.

The California Association of Realtors supported the legislation because the housing boom also generated a boom in real estate career opportunities, but most newcomers -- 85 percent in the last year -- opted to enter the field with the quickie shingle.

CAR membership has nearly doubled since 2000 when there were approximately 97,500 members. By the end of 2005 there were approximately 187,400 members, according to CAR.

"This is something the industry has needed for some time. Yes, there is a large number of people in, and still entering the business, but this law is more about raising the minimum level of education, which will have a positive effect on the minimum level of service agents can provide to their clients," said Edwin Resuello, president of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors and broker-owner of Realty World-Silicon Valley Homes in San Jose.

In today's market, consumers, especially home sellers, are in dire need of sharp real estate agents who are trained to market and sell homes quickly before prices fall, while squeezing as much as possible out of listings.

Home sales decreased nearly 30 percent in July in California, compared to July 2005 sales and the median home price statewide rose 5.1 percent during the same period, according to CAR.

While the median statewide price was up on the year in July, CAR's statistics reveal month-to-month price declines from June to July this year in 16 of the 19 areas it tracks throughout the state.

Year-over-year home price declines occurred in four major metropolitan areas this August, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Services. It reported the median home price in August fell 6.7 percent in San Mateo County (the largest decline among major populated areas in the state), 2.3 percent in Marin County, 2.2 percent in San Diego County and 1.5 percent in Alameda County, compared to August of 2005.

Some agents say current changing market conditions is reason for consumers to select only seasoned professionals.

"In addition to finding a top agent, make sure that they have at least 10 years experience in the business. They have strategies and systems in place to sell property in any market. Newer agents have not experienced slow markets and do not adapt as well as older ones," says Mark K. Hicks, a real estate and mortgage broker with the Seabrooke Group in Campbell, CA.

The new law is, however, a start in the right direction.

The "Real Estate Principles" curriculum includes studies in agency, finance, contracts, appraisal, taxation, title and transfers, among other subjects. "Real Estate Practice" is a refresher course that also adds studies in ethics, business practice, marketing, communications, negotiations, investments and others.

The third course will help prepare an agent for a brokers license and further ground him or her in a specific area, including property management, loan brokering and lending, common interest developments, office administration and other chosen fields.

Consumers should be aware that there's no law that says an agent has to wait to bone up now on new requirements coming next year.

Generally, better educated agents perform better.

Published: September 26, 2006

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.