How to Skip the System: Maryland Broker Waiver for Maryland Lawyers.

Are you a licensed attorney in the State of Maryland? Would you like to broker real estate? Do you want to skip being a licensed salesperson and avoid working for someone else that takes part of your commission and charges administrative fees? Do you want to avoid time-wasting activities such as answering phones, desk duty, mandatory house tours, and marketing meetings? I did. And here’s how I did it.

        I. Let’s start with the law:

Annotated Code of Maryland: Business Occupations and Professions – §17-305

(2) If an applicant is qualified to practice law in the State, the Commission shall waive the educational and experience requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection for that applicant.

So, if you’re a licensed attorney in the State of Maryland, then you can complete the broker application and take the exam without having to meet the educational and experience mandates required of all other applicants. If you’ve recently passed the bar, the exam isn’t that hard, and it won’t take nearly as long. I knocked my broker exam out in less than an hour one Saturday morning back in 2007.

        II. What do you get to skip?

So what are the educational and experience requirements waived by statute for licensed Maryland attorneys? First, you get to skip 60 hours of pre-licensing classes. Second, you avoid being a salesperson and working for another broker for 3 years. Third, you skip 135 classroom hours of broker classes, which cost thousands of dollars. You can then complete the broker application waiver for DC and Virginia (although Virginia requires waiting 3 years). Within a matter of weeks, you can be fully licensed. Nuts, huh?

        III. Most importantly, you SKIP THE SYSTEM.

Traditional real estate brokerage models are antiquated. If you throw away every notion of how you THINK a real estate brokerage should work, you canstart with a clean slate. Remove all ineffective and time-wasting activities. Remove the marketing programs and propaganda. Instead, start focusing on doing a great job for your clients.

        IV. Potential Pitfalls.

Just because you’re a lawyer with a real estate broker license, it doesn’t mean you’ll be a successful broker. You’re certainly qualified, but there is an ebb and flow to transactions that is substantially different from the legal business model to which you may be accustomed. You can’t treat a real estate transaction like a lawyer treats them. But if you expose the market inefficiencies that are rampant among the traditional brokerages, you can do a great job for your clients and have fun making a living. How? Well, I can’t really blog about that here. I have to keep those trade secrets to myself.

Want to start your own brokerage? Super. You have my support. The more lawyers brokering real estate, the better off the industry will be. If you’d rather join a successful group that’s already knocked out the overhead, branding, and administrative duties, give me a call or email. We aren’t looking for quantity, though, we’re looking for quality. At Lawyers Realty Group, our clients deserve the best.

Buy Smart. Live Well.