Research by CFA documents how easy it is to obtain a real estate license by taking a required course and passing a state license exam.  More than 1.5 million Realtors (plus other agents) compete to sell 5-6 million homes a year, with Realtor sales agents receiving a median net annual income of only $25,000.

The report shows that it is much less demanding to earn a real estate sales license – which takes a state median of nine weeks at a state median cost of $600 – than earning a license to practice almost all other financial services occupations, which normally require a college degree as well as special training.  It is even easier to earn a real estate sales license than to practice many manual occupations, from plumbing to hairdressing, which usually require an apprenticeship of more than 1,000 hours as well as coursework.