Frequently Asked Questions
What course do I need to complete to enter the real estate industry?
In NSW the minimum legal requirement to sell or lease property is the Certificate of Regsitration, which you can obtain from the Office of Fair Trading. To obtain the Certificate of Regsitration you need to successfully complete 4 units of competence, which RETS conducts (click here for the Certificate course).
When I complete my 4 Certificate of Registration units with RETS, what do I do next?
First you must be employed, so you can work under a licenced agent. You will need to follow the application process with the Office of Fair Trading. Click here to be forwarded to the Certificate of Registration application process.
What is the difference between a Certificate of Registration and the Real Estate Agents Licence?
A real estate agents Licence enables you to open your own real estate office. The Certificate of Registration allows you to work as an agent under a Licensed person.
I want to complete one of your courses - what do I do next?
On the top right hand side of this page is an Enrol Now button - you can access this wherever you are on the site. Alternatively click here to go to the Enrol Now page. Fill in the form and press submit. RETS will organise an invoice to be emailed to you, for the course you have enroled in. For our on-line and hardcopy courses, on receipt of payment, we will get you started. Payment for face to face courses will confirm your place (to see our refund policy go to the Student Handbook).
Why do I have to do CPD?
Renewal of a licence or certificate of registration under the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 is conditional on licence and certificate holders undertaking continuing professional development each year. Continuing professional development has been introduced as a mechanism for professionalising the industry and promoting high standards. The requirements for continuing professional development are aimed at maintaining public confidence by ensuring that industry participants are continually updating their skills. If you do not complete your annual CPD you are not fulfilling the requirements of your licence or certificate of registration.
What are the requirements to complete an online course?
It is recommended that a student be moderately proficient at using a computer. An example of this would be the ability to browse the internet, send and receive emails and create files and folders. If you are able to complete these activities using a computer you would probably be capable of completing an online course with RETS. Please note: our online course is set-up to be completed online – it would be time consuming and difficult to ‘print out’ our online course and we strongly discourage this. If you wish to have a paper based copy of the course RETS suggests you purchase the hardcopy version.
Minimum system requirements
Hardware
Processor: 1.3 GHz or higher
Mac Processor: G4 667 MHz or higher
System Memory (RAM): 256MB or higher
Display: 800 x 600 or higher SVGA recommended, 16 bit colour or higher
Video Memory: 32MB of video RAM or higher
Internet access: dial-up 56k or higher (broadband recommended - DSL/Cable/LAN)
Sound: 16-bit sound card or higher (not essential)
Printer
Software
Internet Explorer 7 (recommended), Firefox 1.5+, Google
Adobe reader
MS Word/Excel or similar
Windows Operating System: Windows 2000 with SP4, Windows XP with SP2 or later
Apple Operating System: OS X 10 or later