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Meet the woman who wrote the book on Florida real estate

 
Crawford revises her textbook annually.
Crawford revises her textbook annually.
Published Dec. 2, 2016

If you've ever studied to become a real estate agent in Florida, chances are you used the textbook written by Linda L. Crawford.

A New Orleans native who went to college in Florida, Crawford sold real estate for several years before realizing her true interest was in education and testing. She was working as education coordinator for the Florida Division of Real Estate when the publisher approached her about helping out with the textbook, whose then-authors were getting older.

That was 20 years ago. "I came in on the 20th edition and they faded out because they were retiring and on the 25th edition it became my name only,'' says Crawford, 63. "And now every year I revise it.''

Crawford, who lives in Gainesville, was in St. Petersburg recently to meet with instructors and students at the Bob Hogue School of Real Estate, where she herself once taught.

"I like to go visit schools that use our product and find out what they're struggling with," she says. "That's my goal, to make things easier to understand.''

Crawford also spoke with the Tampa Bay Times' Susan Taylor Martin, who has a real estate license (but doesn't practice) and used Crawford's textbook.

Your book, Florida Real Estate Principles, Practice & Law, seems pretty complete at 500 pages. Why do you have to revise it so often?

A. There are so many things changing in the industry every year, for instance our homestead laws and landlord-tenant law and contract law. Once the Legislature goes into session, we follow bills online — my husband works with me — and we'll look for the ones that have potential impact on the book. IRS changes also will affect the book — if you have foreign sellers, there are rules associated with that and that changed a little a year ago.

I'm going to have to have those sections revised and ready long before the schools actually receive the books. I'm usually making my changes and submitting them to the publisher in June for the book that comes out in November.

What are some of the things that students struggle with?

A. They fear math, so you try to make it as visual as you can. One of the things students are responsible for on the licensing exam is being able to calculate a street paving assessment. The last step is that you divide by two but so many will pick the answer of the full cost of that footage as opposed to one half. You are only going to pay to the middle of the street because there's something on the other side of the street — another house, another property. You get them to visualize that and then the student will say, ''Oh, yeah.''

Many students studying for the licensing exam these days do it online instead of in a classroom, as used to be the case. How's that working out?

A. There are a lot of out-of-state companies now offering the Florida pre-licensing course online, and it's very difficult to regulate an out-of-state online presence. Not so many months ago one school came before the (Florida Real Estate Commission) that hadn't updated their material for 10 years. My caveat to the consumer is that they need to make sure that it's not just a matter of price but of quality — they might see a flashy online demo but the real question is, is it current and is it going to prepare you for your license exam? That's a new dilemma facing real estate education.

So is classroom instruction better than online?

A. I used to think that classroom was the way to go but there are several things to take into consideration. One is your familiarity with doing things on a computer and your way of learning. Do you understand things better by having someone explain it to you or by reading it and working through it yourself? The one criticism I have of classroom instruction is make sure they cover all the content and emphasize all of the content and not just the material they are going to see on the end-of-course exam, (which a student must pass before taking the state exam).

There generally is a very high failure rate on the state exam. Why?

A. There's so much emphasis today on testing rather than understanding concepts. Students want things to be quick, give it to me easy. This is a career, it's a profession and they need to focus and learn the material, not just to pass the test but because the Florida Real Estate Commission will hold them accountable for knowing the statutes and knowing the rules.

Every month, we have people getting suspended or revoked or fined. There are two kinds of people that get disciplined — there are the bad eggs that know what the law is about but choose not to abide by it. And then there are those that either have not been licensed long or haven't kept up with the rules and somebody, a buyer or seller, files a complaint. It's not just a matter of knowing enough to pass the test.

Contact Susan Taylor Martin at smartin@tampabay.com or (727-) 893-8642. Follow @susanskate