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Would getting a real estate sales license be helpful in breaking into real estate law (transactional/finance)?

If so, is it worth the studying + fees associated with it?

If you can use it to show an interest in real estate and work experience dealing with contacts then maybe it can help you land a job. Some solo practitioners keep licensed to get extra forms. But in general no it probably won't help and it won't help you be a better real estate lawyer beyond basic familiarity with some things.

Also...anon for this?

Edit: I'm in Texas and states do have different broker licenses so ymmv. Commission rules mean you can't do both so it's not helpful for that for us.

I know someone at my firm who is a broker.

Are we talking BigLaw or just general RE practice?

Anonymous User wrote:I know someone at my firm who is a broker.

Are we talking BigLaw or just general RE practice?

OP here. Sorry for accidental anon.

Graduated recently. Interested in Real Estate Transactions or Finance.

The only real estate experience or background I have is taking Real Estate Transactions during law school. When I'm applying to real estate practice group positions, I find it's difficult to show why I'm interested other than "I took a real estate class in law school"

Interested in biglaw but also midlaw (live in california, and there's a decent amount of mid-sized real estate firms here).

Wondering if I should try to obtain the real estate salesperson license or if it's just a waste of time/money. Definitely not trying for a broker license since it requires 2 years of experience

IME getting your "salesperson" license is probably useless unless you want to join a brokerage instead of practicing law. It adds no practical value to your practice. On the other hand, quite a few people in my office have their broker's license, and when we do transactional there is an opportunity to do the purchase/sale for the broker's fee, which can be a lot depending on how much the building goes for (think 1-2% on a $50 million building).

Some states allow attorneys admitted to the state bar to waive the general requirements for the broker's license. Usually, you just fill out the application and pay the fee.

In New York you used to be able to get your license as an attorney without taking the exam.

Npret wrote:In New York you used to be able to get your license as an attorney without taking the exam.

AFAIK they still are.

In my state you don't even need the license. Lawyers have auto broker power. I figured this was more common.

In Texas you are automatically able to act as a broker, but the rules on commissions mean you aren't able to do both functions at the same time and be compensated for both. In most functions you can't get the commission at all.

viz-luv wrote:but the rules on commissions mean you aren't able to do both functions at the same time and be compensated for both. In most functions you can't get the commission at all.

I think this is true in any state per RPC. Can't double-dip.