Massachusetts Real Estate License

Massachusetts is perhaps best known for Boston and the Boston Tea Party, Harvard University and a wealth of the famous including several US presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George Herbert Walker Bush. As if that were not enough, Maryland is also the home of the first public park, Boston Commons, and the first basketball game in Springfield.

The State of Massachusetts covers 7,840 square miles of land, 450,000 acres of which is dedicated to 20 National Parks, 34 State Forests, and 48 State Parks.  There are 14 counties, the largest of which by population is Middlesex.  The approximate population is 6,398,743.  The largest cities in the state are Boston (also the largest city in all of New England), Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, Cambridge, Brockton, New Bedford, Fall River, Quincy and Lynn.

The Real Estate Market in Massachusetts has a average home selling price of $425,000,  with Ocean front property selling at a much quicker rate than inland properties.  Oh and just in case you need something fun to tell your new clients, the Boston University Bridge on Commonwealth Ave. in Boston is the only place in the entire world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane!

Even with all of the above aside, Massachusetts is a great place to begin a career in real estate.  To help you along, we have provided some information and requirements for obtaining a real estate license in Massachusetts.

Real Estate License Requirements for the State of Massachusetts:

• Complete your Pre-license education:  All individuals seeking licensure as real estate agents must first complete the statutory pre-licensing educational requirement at one of the Board’s approved real estate schools.

• Successfully complete your State of Massachusetts real estate exam.

• Every individual applicant for a license as a broker who is required to take an examination therefor shall, as a prerequisite to taking such examination, submit proof satisfactory to the board that he has been actively associated with a real estate broker for a period of one year as a real estate salesman and that he has completed additional courses in real estate subjects approved by the board, such courses to total thirty classroom hours of instruction.

Below are excerpts from the Massachusetts Real Estate Salesperson Course Outline, for a complete outline visit this page.  The outline is as follows:

Module 1: Property/Property Rights/Ownership

1. Real vs Personal Property
   1. Fixtures
      1. intent of the parties
      2. method of annexation
   2. Tangible and Intangible
   3. Corporeal and Incorporeal
2. Property Rights
   1. Bundle of Rights
   2. Control, Possession, Enjoyment, Disposition
3. Limits to Property Rights
   1. Rights of Others
   2. Government Rights
      1. Eminent Domain
      2. Police Power
      3. Zoning and Building Codes
   3. Taxation
   4. Escheat
4. Estates
   1. Freehold vs Non-Freehold
   2. Freehold
      1. Fee Simple
      2. Fee Simple Determinable
      3. Fee Upon Condition
      4. Life Estate (Remainder)
   3. Concurrent Estates
      1. Tenancy by the Entirety
      2. Joint Tenancy
      3. Tenancy in Common

Module 2: Condominiums/Cooperatives/Time Sharing/Land Use - Subdivision

Module 3: Contracts/Deeds

Module 4: Financing/Mortgages

Module 5: Brokerage

Module 6: Appraisal

Module 7: Fair Housing/Consumer Protection

1. Basic Concepts
   1. Protected Class
      1. Includes: membership in class; perceived membership: association with class members
   2. Complainant
      1. Individual (e.g., homeseekers, real estate agents, etc.)
      2. Group of individuals, including minors
      3. Testers
      4. Organizations
   3. Respondent
      1. Property owners
      2. Real estate agents and agencies
      3. Management companies, etc.
   4. Testing
      1. Technique of matching
      2. Legitimate (not entrapment), Havens v. Coleman U.S. Supreme Ct. decision
   5. Familial Status/Children
      1. Having Children, pregnancy, adoption
2. Federal Civil Rights Act of 1866
   1. Protected Class - Race
   2. Prohibited Practices
      1. All discriminatory practices prohibited
   3. Covered Housing
      1. All housing covered; no exemptions
   4. Enforcement
      1. File civil action in appropriate court
      2. Unlimited damages
3. Federal Fair Housing - 1968 (Title VIII)
   1. Protected Classes - Sex, race, color, religion, national origin, handicap (mental and physical), familial status
   2. Prohibited Practices
      1. Refusal to sell or rent or otherwise deny
      2. Discrimination in terms of sale or rental
      3. Discrimination in advertising
      4. False denial of availability
      5. “Blockbusting”
      6. Different terms for loans - incl. “redlining”
      7. Varying access to brokers’ organizations
      8. “Steering”
      9. Appraisal report with value impact on any of above
      10. Making notations indicating discriminatory preferences
      11. Coercion, intimidation, interference with any person in excise of rights
      12. Relative to handicap:
          1. Refusal to make reasonable accommodation in policies
          2. Refusal to permit reasonable modifications of existing premises at handicapped person’s expense
          3. Failure to design and construct new covered multifamily dwellings, intended for first occupancy after 3/13/91, so as to be handicapped-accessible
   3. Property Covered
      1. Residential property (not commercial)
      2. Any type of residential property if:
         1. Handled by real estate broker (depending on type of property, liability may be only for broker)
         2. Discriminatory advertising
         3. Any written notice or statement indicating discriminatory preference
      3. Single-Family
         1. Privately owned with broker
         2. Privately owned with discriminatory advertising
         3. Privately owned with more than one house sold in 2 yrs.
         4. Privately owned with more than three houses owned (dealer)
         5. Not privately owned (corporate)
      4. Multi-Family
         1. Any five or more unit building
         2. Two to four units, non-owner occupied
         3. Two to-four units, owner-occupied (liability for broker only, not owner)
      5. Covered multifamily dwellings (for design/construction standards - handicap discrimination)
         1. Buildings of f our or more units if one or more elevators
         2. Ground floor units in other buildings of four or more units
   4. Housing Not Covered
      1. Sale or rental of single family by private individual with three or less properties
         1. Without a broker
         2. Without discriminatory advertising
         3. With no more than one house sold in two years
      2. Rental of owner-occupied two to four family (Not covered for owner, covered for broker)
      3. Sale/rental of property owned by religious organization
      4. Private club
      5. Housing for older persons - familial status only
   5. Enforcement of the 1968 Fair Housing Act
      1. File complaint with HUD
      2. File civil action in U.S. District Court
      3. Administrative process (Administrative Law Judge or Civil Action)
      4. Remedies: civil penalties, damages (actual and/or punitive), injunctive relief

Module 8: Massachusetts License Law

Tags for this article: become a real estate agent, boston real estate license, how to become a real estate agent, massachusetts, massachusetts real estate, massachusetts real estate license, real estate course, Real Estate License, real estate license information, real estate training