Sign of the times Followup... new licensing requirements?

AFter a long hiatus from blogging for personal reasons.... i look back and see that my sign of the times was correct... last years lowered charity during toys 4 tots did in fact point to a deeper recession ahead.

We've seen what this means in the real estate market but from what i have noticed for real estate professionals this is actually a good thing. Agent numbers are much lower than they have been in the past fewer years and offices have closed down or "consolidated" or "merged" as a result. The increase of agents leaving the business leaves the business better off for those that are still in. Personally i think the exodus of agents is a good thing... and if anything we need to increase the standards of those entering.

In a world that has grown to be more consensus driven this sort of answer may not be what most are looking for. However, for the greater good, we are better off with less agents that are better trained and more knowledgeable than having more agents that are anything but knowledgeable or trained.

Some people are just not meant for this business and if that should be im sure they know it as well. It does a great disservice for them to stay not only to the public but also to themselves.

I wanted to put forth an ideal for new licensing and see what kind of criticisms would come of it.

NY recently increased its licensing requirements to 75 hours for a salespersons license. I motion to keep that in effect, however, for the broker's requirements i think that should be increased to 75 hours as well and in addition all brokers should have either a Bachelor's degree or at least 30 credits in business/real estate/law. This may seem unprecedented but i believe it is in the public's best interest to implement these rules and regs.

I know some critics may say that a Bachelors or 30 credits will not guarantee better agents..... but it will guarantee that they had the honesty to complete a course and pass (not just sit there and convert oxygen into carbon dioxide) . It will also guarantee that at one point in time they had the knowledge. Business courses would be preferred obviously because broker's are in a position to open their own firm or choose to work with another broker. I have much more to say but to keep this brief i will end it at that.

What does everyone else think?