What is the difference between a real estate agent and a realtor?
A licensed agent who also belongs to a national trade association: a membership with a code of ethics behind it, not a rank above the license every agent already holds.
A license and a trade association membership are two different things, and the word sits on the second one. Every Realtor is a licensee. Not every licensee is a Realtor. The word is a registered trademark of a national trade association and denotes membership in it, which is why it is capitalized and why the association polices its use. Membership brings a code of ethics the association enforces through its own complaint and arbitration process, and commonly brings access to a multiple listing service run by the local associations. What it is not is a legal status, a level of license, a qualification above the state's, or a guarantee of anything the license does not already require.
The duties that are enforceable in Nevada come from statute, and they attach to the license rather than to the membership. NRS 645.252 requires a licensee acting as an agent to disclose material and relevant facts about the property as soon as practicable, disclose each source of compensation, disclose acting for more than one party and get written consent, exercise reasonable skill and care toward all parties, and hand every party the Real Estate Division's duties owed form. NRS 645.254 adds more once a brokerage agreement exists: present all offers as soon as practicable, keep client information confidential for a year after the agreement ends, and account for money received. All of that applies to every licensee, whatever they call themselves.
So the membership is real and it is not a rank. It adds a second, private channel for a complaint alongside the Division's, and in most metropolitan markets it is how an agent reaches the multiple listing service, which is why the great majority of practicing agents belong. In the Las Vegas valley that means the question separates far fewer people than its search volume suggests. The questions that do separate agents are about the work: how many homes they have closed in the ZIP code you are shopping, who their broker is, and what the brokerage agreement says about compensation, since nothing in chapter 645 of the NRS sets a commission rate.
A worked example
Working with an agent in Las Vegas
Questions people ask
Is a realtor better than a real estate agent?
Not by virtue of the word. Both hold the same state license and owe the same statutory duties in Nevada. Membership adds a code of ethics the association enforces through its own complaint process, which is a real second channel, and it commonly carries multiple listing service access. It is not a higher license, more experience or a guarantee of results, and those are what actually differ between two agents.
Do you have to be a realtor to sell real estate in Nevada?
No. NRS 645.230 requires a license from the Real Estate Division to act as a broker, broker-salesperson or salesperson in the state. Association membership is voluntary and is not a licensing requirement. Most practicing agents in a metropolitan market do join, largely because that is the usual route to the multiple listing service.