New school launches for continuing real estate education

NJBIZ STAFF//February 7, 2012//

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A new real estate school will open this month to help real estate professionals meet new state licensing requirements.

TriState Realtors Commercial Alliance on Tuesday announced the launch of its Commercial Real Estate School of New Jersey.

The continuing education school will meet the need created in 2010, when the Legislature passed a law requiring real estate brokers and salespeople to complete 12 hours of continuing education courses each time they apply for a two-year license renewal. The deadline to complete the courses during this licensing round is July 1, 2013.

Jonathan Glick, TriState’s New Jersey vice president and executive vice president of Sheldon Gross Realty Inc., said the change is very important for New Jersey Realtors “because we’re a pretty dynamic market.”

New Jersey had been unique in its lack of a continuing education requirement, Glick said, meaning brokers and salespeople did not necessarily have the benefit of training that reflected the changing marketplace.

TriState already operates schools in Pennsylvania and Delaware, “so for them, it’s natural to cross over into New Jersey and start providing services here,” Glick said.

TriState’s school will focus on the commercial side of the real estate industry, a market Glick said is still very much in flux.

“I think we’re just bumping along the bottom,” he said.

Glick said the industry is “not in a downward spiral by any means,” but he said business owners remain cautious.

“It’s definitely better than it has been in quite some time,” he said. “It’s just that the confidence still isn’t there to make those moves for expansion. Everyone’s just swapping space or sitting still.”

TriState’s first New Jersey course, “Cost Segregation for the Commercial Broker,” begins Feb. 28 in Edison. Other class topics will include commercial real estate ethics, land use and sustainability, among other topics.