There was just some discussion about this on /r/RealEstate. Apparently a 60 hour class and a multiple choice exam are all that's between you and a real estate license. I had no idea the threshold was so low.
Any fool can get a real estate license. The hard parts are joining a brokerage (owners usually don't want to take on random new agents) and then finding clients. In California the majority of license holders did zero transactions last year.
Here in Hawaii at least, the hiring process is actually reversed from most careers. You pay a variety of fees just to park your license there - wether or not you actually complete a transaction. Most brokerages will hire anyone so long as they aren’t actively damaging the reputation of the firm.
