According to Catherine, there are several deep-seated problems in the brokerage industry related to agent training. According to the NAR-commissioned “Danger Report untrained and unethical agents pose the greatest threat to the brokerage industry. Instead of viewing agents as an extension of their business and as representatives of the real estate community as a whole, an alarming number of brokerage firms use agents simply to increase their profits. Catherine doesn’t want to become a better broker just for her brokers; she wants to do it because the industry needs to survive. As Catherine explains in the following excerpt from my podcast, 67% of the population does not trust brokers. Brokerage firms that do this not only put their brokers at risk, but also contribute to public distrust of our industry as a whole. If brokerage firms fail to provide these two critical services, their brokers and the industry as a whole will suffer. But brokerage firms are not the only ones to blame for the industry suffering from poor broker education. If the growing distrust of our industry does not diminish, many experienced brokers, not just recent graduates, could easily look for another job. During the critical pre-licensing period, novice brokers are required to undergo only minimal training, which is up to the state board. This realization made her determined to make a change; it lit a fire in her to become an agent who gives agents the tools they need to succeed, not just someone who collects her hard-earned commissions. Is a new broker dying to make huge commissions so that she can start living large? We’re sorry to tell you this, but it probably won’t happen. In some states, it only takes 40 hours of training to become a licensed real estate agent. Very quickly “they” realized that the training and answers needed for new brokers to succeed were not available, that the system was broken. In other words, less than a quarter of new brokers would survive in the industry, and even fewer would succeed. That’s the question I discussed with broker Catherine Skarim on episode 649 of the Real Estate Rockstars podcast.