Thinking about “parking” your real estate license?
Consider this first…
You’ve worked hard to build your reputation as a REALTOR® people trust. If you’ve been in real estate for any period of time, you probably have hundreds of people who look to you as their real estate resource. That’s too valuable an asset to give up. Why not keep your client relationships active and keep your business income flowing during this next chapter?
Parking your license typically means transferring to a brokerage that isn’t a member of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. While this saves you about $2000 in annual RAE/AREA/CREA fees, it also means you have no access to MLS, no keysafe privileges, and most important, you can’t call yourself a REALTOR® as that’s a licensed trademark of the Canadian Real Estate Association.
It’s true that if you transfer your license to a non-RAE brokerage, you can always refer clients to an active agent at another brokerage for an agreed upon referral fee. This can work, but there are a few risks you’ll want to consider:
- First of all, if you’re not personally staying in touch with your past client after referring them to another agent, most likely they’ll go straight to that other agent the next time they need to move. That could be very costly for you!
- Then (and this is the part that has the biggest financial impact for you), the next time they need an agent to refer their friend or family member to they’ll likely suggest they contact the agent who you asked to assist them. This can lead to your referral stream drying up, quickly!
- Also, you may be paid just once for what could turn into multiple transactions! Not every agent you refer to will send you a referral fee on subsequent deals with the same referred client. That’s another risk to your future income stream.
- And, because you no longer have access to MLS and can’t call yourself a REALTOR®, over time your sphere will be less likely to reach out to you at all.
