Your first step in starting a career in real estate is to learn as much as you can about what this type of career is like. Sources for this information could include friends or neighbors who are REALTORS, as well as information available on REALTOR.com. In addition, we recommend that you attend a “Career Night” sponsored by Joel Ward Homes. Offered at no cost or obligation to you, this will provide you with valuable information about a career in real estate from Joel Ward, one of the area's most experienced real estate brokers.

Topics include:

• Advantages of being self-employed as a REALTOR
• Challenges of being self-employed as a REALTOR
• Income/Expense expectations
• Marketing your services
• Providing services to sellers
• Providing services to buyers
• How to select your broker
• Steps to Becoming a REALTOR & initial expenses

For those who choose to move forward with a career in real estate, the next step is to enroll in the state-required 45-hour prelicensing course for real estate salespeople. Joel Ward Seminars offers this course as a branch location of the Illinois Association of REALTORS Licensing and Training Center. This course is one of the requirements for licensure in Illinois as a real estate salesperson, and also prepares students to take the licensing examination. This course is open every student, whether or not they have made a commitment to work for any particular broker.

Topics in this prelicensing course include: The nature of real estate and real property, forms of ownership, encumbrances, liens, real estate financing, closing procedures, equal opportunity in housing, real estate license law, and property management.

Remember: you have several choices in prelicensing courses, including several branch locations for the IAR Licensing and Training Center course. It is our goal to offer each student a superior educational experience as a result of clear, articulate and experienced instructor in a modern facility. To achieve this goal, this course is taught from a digitally projected PowerPoint presentation instead of using blackboards or overhead projectors. And while many other courses will refer the student to interesting and valuable websites, we are able to visit these websites together, as a class, as they are projected on our 6'x8' screen.

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