Real Estate Broker
One of the most recurring real estate doubts is regarding what is a broker in comparison to what is a real estate agent.
Well, it depends from state to state to tell exactly what a Broker can and cannot do, but it’s safe to say that, in every state, a Real Estate Broker is someone with more real estate education and experience than a real estate agent. To become one, you have to attend a certain number of Real Estate classes and pass the state exam. The duration of those classes is longer than the ones an agent goes through and the exam they take is more difficult to pass too. Summing up: although all Brokers can act also as Agents, not every Agent can act as a Broker.
In general, you could say that a Broker is the person with the certification necessary to list the property and sign the papers and overview the transaction between the home seller and the home buyer. But there is a large variety of other services he/she provides for home sellers and home buyers, like Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), preparing contracts and acting as the guardian of the escrow. Sometimes, the home seller or buyer doesn’t even meet the Broker, but a real estate agent that works under him/her.
The Broker is the one who collects the commission once the sale is made and he/she divides the value to all participating parts like the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent – most of the times an employee of his, but, depending on the type of listing agreement (like an Open Listing) it can be someone independent from him/her.
Popular Real Estate Terms
Same as term nonconforming use: Property use which is in violation of the current zoning ordinance, but had been in use prior to the zoning ordinance's enactment. A nonconforming use is ...
3D Printed Homes are basically homes that were printed via 3D Printers. Though semantically the phrase is pretty obvious and straightforward, there’s a lot we need to contextualize ...
Real estate market where supply significantly exceeds demand enabling potential buyers to obtain lower prices and good deals. ...
The Exclusive Right to Sell Listing is a type of Listing where the Listing Broker/Agent wins his/her commission even if he/she wasn’t directly responsible for the sale.Let’s ...
Transactions taking place between individuals who are alive rather than when one of the parties is either dead (e.g., estate) or is contemplating death. For example, a deed may transfer ...
Flood insurance is a type of home insurance created to protect a homeowner’s property against damages caused by floods. Flood insurance is typically not included in the regular ...
Those factors causing the movement of people, industry, and business from the central city to the outside central city areas, suburbs, and/or small cities. Elements of the dispersing force ...
Indicators reflecting future changes in economic conditions; referred to as the Composite Index of 11 Leading Indicators. This index indicates the direction of the economy in the next six ...
An offset statement defines a specific property owner’s underwritten certificate against their property. The reason behind this action is to set forth the current condition of liens ...

Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.