Real Estate Blog - ABR,CRS,CCIM,GIR What does it all mean and does the Public know or care ?

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ABR,CRS,CCIM,GIR What does it all mean and does the Public know or care ?

We as Realtors love our titles and our training but does the general public really know what it all means and the requirements for that alphabet soup we pile behind our name. Realtors I ahve to ask do you disclose which "titles" and awards are National Association Of Realtor designations vs in house, self taught self awarded titles Do you disclose the educational requirements and training requirements for non NAR titles or do you just dazzle them with a laundry list. Should an agent be required to disclosure the history or for the fact be allowed to use a non NAR title in advertising their services. My MD is board certifeid to show he/she has meet a standard of serivce and the public is "safe or protected" in his care. Yet Agents more so now then ever are adding title after title behind their name and the public has no clue about teh quality or standard if training required to become "Distressed Real Estate Certified" or LPC Loss Prevention Certified. Do not get me wrong I spend thousand of Dollars and Countless hours in training not all of it under the NAR umbrella and have found great value for myself and my clients from such training.

But I have to ask -- Do you disclosure your "training" behind your title and is the public being lead into a falsh sense of security becasue of all those confussing letters adn title we attached to our name ?

Dear Mr / Ms Buyer and Seller as part of full disclosure PUBLIC this is a list of NAR REALTOR DESIGNATIONS. I am not saying other title,awards,certifications are not of value - heck all education has value- But please Mr / Ms Buyer or Seller interview your agent ask for references reveiw their sale history please don't just pick the agent with the biggest title.

The leader of the pack .

For Full details on each visit http://www.realtor.org/education/realtor_university/designation

ABR, Accredited Buyer Representative

ABRM, Accredited Buyer Representative Manager

RLI logo ALC, Accredited Land Consultant

CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member®

CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist

CPM, CERTIFIED PROPERTY MANAGER®

CRB, Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager

CRS®, Certified Residential Specialist®

CRE, Counselor of Real Estate

GAA, General Accredited Appraiser

Green sustainable property designation Green Designation

GRI Graduate REALTOR® Institute

PMN, Performance Management Network

RCE, REALTOR® association Certified Executive

Residential Accredited Appraiser

SRES®, Seniors Real Estate Specialist

SIOR, Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS®

Transnational Referral Certification

At Home with Diversity Certification

e-PRO®

Resort & Second-Home Property Specialist Certification

Posted by Eric Reid on 07/08/2009 11:18 AM

Comments (4)

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Originally posted at: Renaissance Realty Group’s Blog: ABR,CRS,CCIM,GIR What does it all mean and does the Public know or care ?

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4 Comments on ABR,CRS,CCIM,GIR What does it all mean and does the Public know or care ?

JUL

Eric: I can sure guarantee you the public does not know what these letters mean...heck I don't even know many of them myself. If I get these in the future, I'll just give the info out in my packets, and explain it there.

But, if I have room on my business card, I guess I can list them there too!

You got a good one with GRI .. That takes tons of time energy and hard work ..

Clients don't really care what the designations are or mean, they just want to know how it's going to help them. You make a good point, it's not the letters that count, it's what is behind them that matters.

Eric - You bring up an excellent point. I got a lot of designations early in my career, ABR, CRS, CRP and GRI. But lately, I've come to think, as my friend Bryant Tutas does, that designations are for other Realtors, not for the public... I think education is great, but because I "have" the designation and took the classes, I may or may not add value. There are always exceptions. MY CRP Certified Relocation Professional was a really hard and TRUE test - no open book stuff. But I think a lot of the new designations are just to find a way for a Realtor to sign up and keep paying yearly renewal fees.

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