There are four levels of real estate licensing in BC. A broker is the top tier. Here’s how working with a broker is different.
In BC, to assist in buying and selling housing, you must carry a provincially recognized real estate license issued by the BC Financial Services Authority. To become licensed to sell real estate, you must complete the provincial training course and pass the entry exam.
It’s common to call everybody who sells housing a real estate agent. Still, all agents’ professional designations could be a licensee, REALTOR®, PREC, or Broker.
A licence holding the REALTOR® title shows they’ve formally committed to upholding The REALTOR® Code of Ethics. This means going beyond just having a right to sell housing. Enhancing trust in the real estate profession is critical to the BC Real Estate Association.
The term PREC is short for Personal Real Estate Corporation. PRECs benefit from limiting personal liability and may have a corporation or a holding company for tax purposes. There are no additional ethical standards or education requirements for a PREC designation.
Becoming a broker is the top tier of real estate licensing in BC. Brokers licensing requires a secondary academic course and an additional entrance exam. Being a real estate Broker means I’m held to the industry’s highest professional and personal accountability standards. All real estate agencies are required by law to operate under a managing broker who oversees the practice of the entire company and all their licensees, REALTORS® and PRECs. This is why I ultimately chose to earn my broker’s license – to go beyond the industry’s usual standards and offer greater accountability to my clients. This allows me to oversee and train agents, REALTORS®, and incorporated agents (PRECs). And this is why working with a broker is different.
