Conducting business in another state as a real estate agent can be tricky. This process looks complicated in multiple different states. There's a lot of confusion among new agents when it comes to reciprocity, portability, and turf states. We're here to break this down for you in order for you to be more clear and confident on some of real estate's rules and regulations.
Reciprocity
Are you moving? Or are you going to be living between two states during the course of the year? If so, you're going to need to know about real estate license reciprocity. If an agent wants to work in a state long term, or more than a handful of transactions, they're going to need reciprocity in that state.
For example - if you're a California real estate agent and your aunt wants you to sell their house in Ohio - that's a one time thing. You don't need to look into reciprocity, you need to look into portability (section below). But, if you're wanting to spend your summers in California and the rest of your year in Texas - you're going to need to know about those state's specific reciprocity laws.
Texas offers no reciprocity, so agents moving to Texas, and other states like it, will need to redo all of their education and testing in order to get their license and begin working in the real estate industry there. There's states that offer partial and limited reciprocity as well and typically have agreements with other states that help agents work with within their state long term. You'll need to research specific states to see what works for your scenario.
Portability
Portability works in two main ways: cooperative and physical location regulations.
A cooperative state regulation means that an agent can conduct business in a state that they do not have their license in. The only hoop to jump through is that agents need to have a co-brokerage agreement with an agent who is licensed within that state.
A physical location regulation means that there is no need for a co-brokerage arrangement, but you must conduct your business remotely. This makes helping clients in other states with a physical location agreement very efficient and convenient.
Turf States
Well, this explanation is simple. If the state you're wanting to conduct business in is a turf state then simply put - you cannot do so without having a real estate license in that state. This is a great opportunity to work on your referral relationship with other agents!
While this may be disappointing to hear, it's rare that states completely close out other agents and therefore most of the time you'll be able to make something work and continue conducting your business.
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