# History and reason for job title "Realtor" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791 "2001-03-21T00:12:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/1 "2001-03-21T00:12:59Z")
I know this is an old word because at one point in _Babbitt_, the title character’s son refers to him as a “real estate agent”, only to have his dad angrily snap out “Realtor!”. So how did this title come about? Why were such terms as _real estate agent_ or _real estate salesman_ so objectionable? Hell, I think _real estate agent_ sounds kinda cool, while _realtor_ sounds like a made up brand name concocted by some marketer. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/2 "2001-03-21T00:15:34Z")
Can the moderator fix the thread title? [note: Gotcha covered. -manhattan] [Edited by manhattan on 03-21-2001 at 05:14 PM] ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/3 "2001-03-21T19:26:50Z")
“Hell, I think real estate agent sounds kinda cool, while realtor sounds like a made up brand name concocted by some marketer.” That’s because it IS a made-up brand name! You often see the word “Realtor” followed by the registered trademark symbol (R) because it’s a registered trademark of the National Association of Realtors. [http://www.realtor.com/Basics/AllAbout/Realtors/WhatIs.asp](http://www.realtor.com/Basics/AllAbout/Realtors/WhatIs.asp) Personally (and this is strictly MHO), I think the trademark thing is a losing battle. Like xerox (versus photocopier) or kleenex (versus facial tissue), most people use realtor as a generic word, interchangeable with “real estate agent”, and not the specific brand name it’s supposed to be. How many people **other than realtors** include the (R) after the word when they write it? ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/4 "2001-03-21T23:30:44Z")
This Realtor® crap has gotten way out of hand. Didn’t they used to be called “realtors”, with no capitalization or trademark? How can the PTO possibly justify granting a trademark to a private business for a commonly used word? This would seem to set a bad precedent. For instance, could my company trademark the word “Engineer”, so that competing companies would henceforth have to refer to their engineers as “Technical Professionals” or some such circumlocution? You know the only reason the newspapers print it as “Realtor®” is that they make a lot of revenue off real estate ads and therefore have to suck the Realtors’ asses. If I ever get rich, I’ll buy a bunch of ads in the local paper, then threaten to pull them unless the paper refers to me exclusively as “The King of Bonerland®”. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/5 "2001-03-22T00:17:16Z")
Why is this brain teaser and/or an aggravation? Realtor is simply the professional name that real estate agents who are members of the Board of Realtors use in their work to identify themselves as belonging to the National Association of REALTORS and being subject to it’s rules and regulations (which BTW they are quite serious about). Non-Realtor licensed “Real Estate Agents” are subject to the state rules and regs but not the “Realtors” rules. It’s less of a big deal nowadays in that the state regs have gotten a lot tougher. A few decades ago the title REALTOR attempted to convey that you were dealing with a person dedicated to professionalism and not just a yahoo with a license. see [http://nar.realtor.com/](http://nar.realtor.com/) "Buying a Home?..Work With a REALTOR® If you see a home as one of your most important investments, the REALTOR® you work with could be one of your most valuable resources. Unlike many real estate agents who are simply licensed by their state to do business, REALTORS® have taken additional steps to become members of the local board of REALTORS® and have agreed to act under and adhere to a strict Code of Ethics. When Buying a home, you can benefit from the knowledge and skill of a REALTOR®…because We’re REALTORS®. Real Estate is Our Life." etc Lots of professions (including engineers BTW) have specific designations qualifying the generic descriptions of a/the job that the designation granting organizations are very particular about the use of. There is good reason for this in that these designations typically had to be earned (like my CCIM designation)[http://www.ccim.com/](http://www.ccim.com/) and cost hundreds to thousands of dollars a year to keep in place. These designations (theoretically) let a potential client know that you have a some demonstated and quantified professional competence in your chosen profession. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/6 "2001-03-22T00:40:08Z")
“Realtor” was coined specifically as a trademark; it didn’t exist before that (the earlier term was “real estate agent”). > [@](#): > > For instance, could my company trademark the word “Engineer”, so that competing companies would henceforth have to refer to their engineers as “Technical Professionals” or some such circumlocution? No. Or, at least, that sort of trademark couldn’t hold up, since the term existed in common use before the trademark was registered. “Realtor” did not exist as a word until the trademark was registered. ---
**Author:** ![Alonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Alonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonist)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/7 "2001-03-22T12:43:59Z")
So why don’t used-car salesmen call themselves “Dealtors”? ---
**Author:** ![DVous\_Means](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DVous\_Means](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVous_Means)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/8 "2001-03-22T13:18:27Z")
For the record, they are known as real estate agents in Australia. The term “realtor” is much less used in this part of the world. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/9 "2001-03-22T16:02:33Z")
Easy. A real estate agent can say anything they want to in order to sell a house. They can make up any confabulation. Want to report them for saying something they knew wasn’t true? It can take months, maybe years before the national assn of real estate agents gets around to your claim. Enter, Realtor, most cities have a Realtor Board, you call them with your claim, you get quick reponse. Shucks, you can call them anytime & ask if someone is a Realtor. I know, I did it myself one time… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/10 "2001-03-22T16:44:26Z")
> [@](#): > > So why don’t used-car salesmen call themselves “Dealtors”? No reason why they couldn’t. They just didn’t come up with the idea. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/11 "2001-03-22T17:06:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\* > Easy. A real estate agent can say anything they want to in order to sell a house. They can make up any confabulation. > > Want to report them for saying something they knew wasn’t true? It can take months, maybe years before the national assn of real estate agents gets around to your claim. > > Enter, Realtor, most cities have a Realtor Board, you call them with your claim, you get quick reponse. Shucks, you can > call them anytime & ask if someone is a Realtor. > > I know, I did it myself one time… > > \*\* Ummmm… I am a licensed commercial real estate agent, a REALTOR and a CCIM (don’t ask). There is no “national assn of real estate agents”. All “RE agents” within the limits of my knowledge are licensed and disciplined, if necessary, by the real estate liscensing authority of the state in which they reside. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-and-reason-for-job-title-realtor/58791/12 "2001-03-22T23:41:12Z")
“if necessary, by the real estate liscensing authority of the state in which they reside.” I bet they have that info on your license or it came with your license. I never read of an agent getting an ass whipping by their board of licensing but I suppose it happens.