What Are Those Abbreviations After Your Realtor's Name?
A.B.C., 1-2-3 -- Does Anyone Care About Those Letters After Realtors' Names?
Hi - I’m Cheryl Dukes -- South Fulton, Georgia Realtor -- CFR, ABR, ACL, CIPS, CLIM, CPM, CRS, GRI, FYI and ASAP
Okay. Those last two, I just threw in for fun, and 7 of the other 8 don’t belong to me. What do all those letters after Realtors’ names mean anyway? More importantly, does anyone care?
The other day I received an email from a real estate broker with 9 abbreviations after her name. I didn’t have a clue what they were for, nor was I interested in finding out. 
I’ve never had a buyer ask me if I was an ABR (Accredited Buyer’s Rep) or a CFR (Certified Foreclosure Resource), nor have I had a seller ask me if I was a CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) or an ASR (Accredited Seller Representative).
In fact, I’ve never had a buyer or seller ask me to list my real estate designations, or ask me why I don’t have multiple abbreviations after my name. Their questions and concerns tend to be more along the lines of “how are you going to get my house sold?” or “can you help me find a house so we can move in by Christmas?”
Quite frankly, I find it a little bit annoying for Realtors to put all those initials after their name, when our clients don’t seem to care about them, much less even know what they mean. Oh I’m all for us gaining the knowledge that these designations give us. I’ve even achieved a couple designations myself. But I don’t use the initials representing the designations after my name, because the whole thing just seems rather silly and and it doesn't seem to impress my prospective clients.
If you Realtor has multiple initials after their name, then by all means, I hope it’s working out for them. But I’m changing my title to Cheryl Dukes, South Fulton, Georgia Realtor, N.A. (No Abbreviations).
Cheryl Dukes, Realtor
Solid Source Realty, Inc.
Atlanta, Georgia
770-475-1130 x4486
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