How to Become a Real Estate Agent in Indiana

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 Indiana Real Estate Commission.

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

1) Licensing Requirements

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 Indiana

1) Real Estate Agent Licensing Requirements

In Indiana, real estate agents MUST be licensed by the Indiana Real Estate Commission. To obtain your real estate license, you must:

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

Age: You must be 18 years of age or older to be licensed.
Character: Must not have certain convictions.
Experience: None.
Education: Total of 8 semester hours of pre-license education, in real estate principles, practice or law at an accredited school, or pre-approved salesperson course.

Apply to take the State exam.
Pass the exam.
Pay the appropriate fees.
Apply for the Real Estate License. Within 4 months of passing the exam.

Newly licensed agents must work under the supervision of an employing 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 upgrade to a 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 Indianapolis, once you have obtained your real estate license, you may pay a fee to join the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors®. This also makes you a member of the Indiana 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.

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, the Median Sales price for an existing single-family home in the Indianapolis area was $121,700 for the fourth quarter of 2004.

5) Real Estate Schools

Here are some approved real estate schools offering the pre-licensing courses in the state of Indiana.

Central Indiana School of Real Estate
Joyce Thayer-Sword
2756 25th St., Ste. 300
Columbus, In 47201 (812) 372-9441

Hoosier Real Estate School
Donna Pfafman
4130 Patrick Lane
Ft. Wayne In 46808-1586 (260) 426-6260

Indiana University South Bend
Diana Hess
1700 Mishawaka Avenue
South Bend, In 46615 (574) 237-4261

IUPUI, Division of Continuing Studies
Mary Jane Brown
620 Union Dr., Ste. 142
Indianapolis, In 46202-5171 (317) 274-4501

Ivy Tech
Alix Vandivier
One W. 26th Street
Indianapolis, In 46208 (317) 921-4882

Purdue University, North Central
Phyllis Dranger
1401 S. Us Hwy. 421
Westville, In 46391 (219) 785-5200, Ext. 5343

Also check out information on how to become a real estate appraiser in Indiana