Booming Real Estate Market Draw Diverse Crowd to Schools 

PHOENIX

Phoenix's record-breaking real estate market is posting big numbers in sales and profits. It also is posting big numbers at area real estate schools, where people of all ages and backgrounds come to get in on the action.

They enroll for different reasons. For some, it's a first job. For others, a career change. For others still, a retirement cushion. They all expect to succeed in their own way.

There are 150 approved real estate schools in Arizona, many of which prepare students for the state licensing test. Every month, almost 600 people become real estate agents in a state that now has more than 72,000 licensed agents. Just five years ago, the number of agents was hovering around 50,000.

There are different kinds of schools, ranging from those based online to those affiliated with a university. No matter the course of instruction, the goal is the same for students: complete the 90 hours of classes required to take — and hopefully pass — the state licensing test.

On a recent Thursday, more than 100 students packed a land-development and legal-descriptions class at the Arizona School of Real Estate & Business in Scottsdale, one of the oldest and largest schools in the state for aspiring real estate professionals. At the front of the room, professor and school director Bill Gray delivered an animated explanation on how to calculate acreage and read legal contracts. Around the room students called out answers and took detailed notes.

Later, during a break, six students talked about their reasons for going back to school in real estate. Their stories provide a window into the allure of Phoenix's hot home-sales market.

Bethany Longmire, 22, graduated two months ago with a bachelor's degree in music. She was living with her husband in Colorado and couldn't find a job. So she called her uncle, a broker in Arizona, for advice.