How to Become a Real Estate Agent in Alaska

Planning to start a career as a real estate agent? To get your real estate license, you will need to take classes at a real estate school, and satisfy all the requirements set forth by the Alaska Real Estate Commission.

Here's what you need to know to become a real estate agent in Alaska:

1) Licensing Requirements in Alaska

2) Duties of a Real Estate Agent

3) What is a REALTOR®?

4) Income Potential

5) Real Estate Schools

How to Become a Real Estate Agent in Alaska

1) Real Estate Agent Licensing Requirements in Alaska

In Alaska, real estate agents MUST be licensed by the Alaska Real Estate Commission.

To obtain your real estate license, you must:

Satisfy the minimum requirements requirements to apply for the real estate exam:

Age: You must be 19 years of age or older to be licensed.
Character: The applicant must not be under indictment for forgery, theft, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, or any other felony implying character untrustworthiness. If previously convicted, complete sentence must have been served.
Experience: None required.
Education: Successful completion of the 20 credit hours of an approved pre-licensing course is required to become a real estate salesperson.

Apply to take the State exam which is offered weekly in Anchorage, twice a month in Fairbanks and quarterly in Juneau. Application must be within 18 months of completing the education requirement.
Pass the exam by obtaining a score of 75 or greater (max = 100).
Apply for the Real Estate License within six months of passing the exam.

Licensed agents must work under the supervision of a licensed real estate broker. Most new agents start out by working for one of the large brokerages like Coldwell-Banker, Century-21, Remax, etc. If you would like to have your own business and work for yourself, you must have a real estate broker's license.

2) Duties of Real Estate Agents

A real estate agent's main job is to assist their clients in the process of buying and selling real estate.

Their list of duties include:

Submit buyers' offer to purchase to seller for consideration
Work with escrow officers, lenders, home inspectors, and pest control operators to ensure that terms and conditions of purchase agreements are met before closing dates.
Interview potential buyers to determine what kinds of properties they are seeking.
Prepare documents such as listing agreements, purchase agreements, etc.
Coordinate property closings, overseeing signing of documents and disbursement of funds.
Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers, generally representing one or the other.
Determine a property's competitive market price by comparing the property with similar properties that have recently sold.
Schedule appointments to show homes to potential buyers.
Generate lists of properties that are compatible with buyers' needs and financial resources.

3) What is a REALTOR®?

A real estate agent becomes a REALTOR® when he or she pays an annual fee to be a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribes to its Code of Ethics.

The agent generally joins through the local board or association.

For example, in Anchorage, once you have obtained your real estate license, you may pay a fee to join the Anchorage Board of REALTORS®. This also makes you a member of the Alaska Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of REALTORS®.

All REALTORS® are real estate agents but not all real estate agents are REALTORS®.

4) Income Potential

Real estate agents are generally paid based on a percentage of the sales price. The seller will generally pay 4-6% of the sales price as the fee and that will be split 50/50 between the seller and buyer's broker.

For example, if the fee for a $100,000 house is 6%, the buyer's broker will be paid 3% or $3000 and the seller's broker will be paid 3% or $3000 as well. The agent is paid by his or her broker, according to their previously agreed-upon commission split. This is often 50/50 for beginning agents, so in that case the agent in our example would receive $1500.

5) Real Estate Schools

Real estate schools with Alaska Real Estate Commission approved pre-licensing courses include:

School	Phone #
Royse and Associates	(907) 563-3086
Prudential Jack White Real Estate School	(907) 762-3112
Prudential Vista RE (alaskarealestateschool.com)	(800) 909-6464