In the 1950’s it was common for college students to workat a local diner, in the ‘60s to join protests, in the‘70s to join the Peace Corps and in the ‘80s and‘90s to bartend. Now the new trend is in real estate.

It may not be as common at other colleges, but at SMU, getting areal estate license and becoming a salesperson in college is anemerging trend. Field Hucks, an SMU junior, believes this is truebecause “it is not a nine-to-five job, and you can make yourown hours, so you can create a schedule around your classes andsocial life.”

This opportunity has enabled Hucks to “help a lot offriends find places to live, be prepared for after-college jobs andmake extra cash in the process.” Carter Fournier, another SMUjunior who serves as Hucks’ broker, adds, “this is agreat opportunity for students who plan to pursue a career in realestate investment and development because they can make money whilegaining essential work experience.”

Fournier started working in eighth grade doing the computer workfor his aunt Judy Pitman, who he describes as being “one ofthe most respected and established brokers in Dallas.”

She sponsored him until last year when he received his brokeragelicense and started his own company, Concord Interests. Now,Fournier employs SMU students, who would normally have a hard timefinding a sponsoring broker and provides them with clients.

Fournier has already hired five SMU students and says that he is”always open to new talent.”

His Web site has a place for SMU students to e-mail their resumeif they are looking for a sponsoring broker. Fournier says that heis looking for “a diverse group of students that representall areas of SMU,” and asks, “who can meet your needsbetter than your peers?”

Fournier’s goal is to “build relationships with SMUstudents who will eventually grow older, buy more expensive homesand become lifetime customers.”

He adds that SMU is a perfect market for college-age salespeoplebecause college students are more likely to hire other collegestudents.

“College students feel more comfortable with someone theirown age who is more familiar with their interests and know whatlocation and type of house students are looking for. They are alsomore fun to work with than a 45-year-old salesperson who is lesslikely to identify with SMU students,” Fournier said.

“The SMU Greek scene is very helpful because you can geteasy contacts, references and customers,” Fournier said.

Hucks added, “Because word of mouth is big at this school,if you satisfy one client, their friends are likely to come to youfor business also.”

Fournier says that his market with SMU students “is just agood place to start,” and in a couple of years he wants tohave more clients out of SMU. He plans to eventually buy investmentcompanies and get into commercial real estate and retail.

But for now, he maintains he has already “sold a couple ofmillions of dollars” in his real estate transactions.

Fournier agrees that getting a real estate license in college isdefinitely an emerging trend because it is “usable at ourage” and it “gives students the knowledge andexperience to jumpstart their real estate careers.”

“Real estate is more of a trend at SMU than other collegesbecause students want to live in neighborhoods surrounding SMU thathave higher living standards,” Hucks said.

This makes it easier for agents to make money, which makes thisvocation so appealing to SMU students. Also, SMU is a wealthyschool and many students’ parents, like Hucks’, areable to provide startup capital.

“Although this is an increasing trend, there aredefinitely some barriers to enter the market,” Hucks said..

Assuming the prospective salesperson has taken the classes,passed the tests and has found a sponsor, he still has to continuehis education to maintain his license. Also not only do classesroughly cost $700, but there are also annual fees to the DallasAssociation of Realtors.

To get a real estate license, first a prospective salespersonmust take classes though a real estate school or complete onlinecorrespondence courses. SMU students are able to balance theseclasses with their average course load because they can be done attheir own pace, so they don’t conflict with their dailyacademic and social schedules.

After completing four classes with 180 classroom hours, studentssend their information to the Texas Real Estate Commission wheretheir forms are validated.

Once this is accomplished, students must pass a national andstate real estate exam that Hucks describes as “much harderthan the classes” before getting their sales license.

However, after a person receives his or her sales license, thehardest part is finding a sponsoring broker, which is necessary tobecome an active salesperson and receive commission. This isbecause when a broker agrees to “sponsor” asalesperson, he automatically becomes liable for that person.

Therefore, the broker must review and be present at allagreements.

As a result, unless they have connections with prominentbrokers, most new salesmen have to intern with firms without payfor an indefinite period of time before they can become active inthe business.

If a sponsoring broker is not found within six months, theprospective salesperson becomes inactive and is not able to performreal estate transactions, which can only be accomplished by abroker.

In addition, the sponsoring broker usually receives half oftheir salesperson’s commission because they provide theclients and assume responsibility for the transactions. Although ittakes a lot to start your company, Hucks maintains “that isevery salesperson’s ultimate goal.”

Obtaining a brokerage license is possible once a salesperson hashad their real estate license for three years, but most peopleremain in sales because it is extremely difficult to for them tofind clients that would enable them to start their own company.