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Is It Worth the Risk to Work with an Unlicensed Real Estate Agent?
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Jul 16, 2025
Real estate deals involve more than just properties—they involve trust, legality, and financial security. In this video, we break down the serious risks of engaging in real estate transactions without a licensed professional. From legal consequences to ethical pitfalls, we explain how these deals can jeopardize both individuals and the broader market. Gain the insight you need to protect yourself and ensure every transaction is done right. You can learn more about Risks of Unlicensed Real Estate Deals on our blog through this link: 👉 https://real-estate-crunch.com/risks-of-unlicensed-real-estate-deals/ #RealEstateCrunch #RealEstateTips #LicensedAgentsMatter #PropertyTransactions #HomeBuyingAdvice #LegalRealEstate #RealEstateRisks #ProtectYourInvestment
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[Music]
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This is Anita from Real Estate Crunch.
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You know, one of the things that a lot
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of people they think about when they
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look at real estate, they say, "Oh, you
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know, I want to be able to do real
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estate, but without a real estate
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agent." Fine. If you want to buy a home
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on your own without the real estate
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agent, you can. But if your friend wants
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you to sell their home or your neighbor
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says, "Hey, you're a great salesman. Can
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you help me sell my home?" Then that is
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a whole other and different story. We're
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going to talk today about some of the
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risks of unlicensed real estate deals.
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Because there's a lot of people that
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think that, oh, this should be no big
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deal. I should just be able to do it.
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But the truth is, there are some very
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defining rules when it comes to real
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estate. You know, if you've ever sort of
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like thought about like, "Oh, I could
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sell my neighbor's home." And you say to
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your neighbor, "Oh, let me sell your
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home for you." And you're not a licensed
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real estate agent. That actually is not
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legal. You need to be a licensed real
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estate agent in order to buy or sell
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property. It is not legit. And this
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might surprise a lot of people because
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they might think, well, this doesn't
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really matter at all. But, you know, in
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in almost all states, and I believe it
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is all states, that you need to have a
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license. You have need to be a licensed
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real estate agent. And each state has
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different boards and different things
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that you must do to become a real estate
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agent. So if you really want to sell
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that neighbor's home of yours, first get
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your license and then you can do it, you
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know. So that is really important. There
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can be a lot of financial and profession
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um professional repercussions if you try
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to do this. You know, stepping the world
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of real estate be can be can seem
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thrilling at time, but you know, the
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shortcuts in the industry can lead to a
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dead end. Diving into real estate
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transactions without proper license
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isn't just rulebending. It's a recipe
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for disaster for your finances and
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career and for your own career. And this
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could really impact you in other areas
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of your life. If you begin to try to
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circumvent the licensing rules, you
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could face, you know, you could face
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hefty fines, you know, thousands of
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dollars worth. And you could also be
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sued, you know, by the by the buyer or
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other people if it's not an actual
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transaction that you're supposed to do.
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You could actually go down to as, you
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know, trying to scam or trying to scam
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somebody out of their property. That's
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one of the reasons why they have real
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estate agents is to protect the buyer
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and the seller. And so if you decide
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that you want to try to buy and sell,
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you're going to try to buy and sell a
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property. If it's your own property, you
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of course and you own the property, you
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are legally allowed, you know, to do
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your sellers, you know, sold by the
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owner. But if it's not your property and
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if you're not the owner of the property
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and even if it's your parents' property,
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your cousin's property, your nextdoor
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neighbor's property and you are not an
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agent, you are not legally allowed to
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sell by owner. Of course, you could, you
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know, advise somebody, you could help
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somebody, you know, or or if they wanted
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to sell by owner, you you could, you
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know, advise and help them, but you
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yourself are not legally
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able to act as an agent. And the reason
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is is there's some ethical
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considerations and it's for the
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consumer's protection. If I'm going into
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a a property
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and um I'm considering to buy a home and
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the person I'm talking to, you know,
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there's the owners there and then I'm
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talking to what I think is the real
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estate agent and I have my real estate
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agent there and we think we're
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negotiating between the two real estate
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agents with the owner and we're not. you
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know, that of course has ethical
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concerns and can be concerns also of a
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scam or fraud. So there can be all of
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those concerns, you know, with that, you
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know, so it's really essentially not
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good to do and is not legal. And it goes
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back again that if this is something
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that you really want to do, if you
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really want to be able to buy and sell
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real estate, then go and get your
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license and become board certified. In a
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lot of states, it's not that difficult.
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You need to do some coursework. you need
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to take an exam and you can become a a
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licensed real estate. A lot of people,
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they sell real estate while doing their
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full-time job. They might do real estate
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on the side. They might become a real
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estate agent just because they're, you
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know, interested in real estate. You can
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do it for all those different reasons,
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but do not say that you are a real
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estate agent and try to buy and sell
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property if you are not. My co-author
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James Johnson has written a blog on this
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entitled Risks of Unlicensed Real Estate
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Deals if you'd like to be able to read
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more on this. But we um highly recommend
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and we highly stress that if you are not
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a real estate agent, do not try to pose
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as one and do not try to buy and sell
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property without the proper um legal
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documentation to be able to do so. This
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is Anita from uh Real Estate Crunch.
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Thank you so much for listening. We will
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put a link to James Johnson's blog post
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in the description uh below if you'd
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like to be able to read more on this.
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And um if you'd like to read more,
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there's lots of this on the internet and
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check with your own state. You know, if
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you're if you're not sure, call your own
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um state and they can tell you exactly
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all the rules on this, but um the main
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rule is that real estate, you have to be
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a boardcertified real estate agent to be
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able to sell real estate. Same way that
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if you go to a doctor, you want to make
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sure the doctor passed the board. If you
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go to a medical facility, the nurse has
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or if you're working with an accountant
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that the accountants has passed the
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board that you know, all of these
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different things they that they're all
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boardcertified for a specific reason and
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real estate is one of those. Thank you
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so much for listening and being part of
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our community. If you have not yet,
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press the subscribe button. We'd love to
5:58
have you join with us. Thank you.
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[Music]
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