Alphabet Soup - NAR Designations and Certifications

Hey, I'm Mark Given, and you're watching Alphabet Soup: NAR Designations and Certifications. If you don't know me, I'm the founder of the Trust-Based Philosophy and the Trust-Based Academy. I've written 10 books, and I'm an Amazon number one bestselling author. I've spoken all across the United States and even internationally, virtually from China to London. And I write a 1-minute message every Wednesday that's read by thousands of people across the world. And probably best of all, I'm a realtor just like you and have been for 21 years now. Harvard did a study some years ago, not that terribly long ago. And here's what they were trying to discover. What's the percentage of people in the United States that are drawn to grow their minds? In other words, you grow your business by increasing your knowledge base. The more you learn, The better you do. And here's what they learned. In all industries, only 10% of people have a learning mindset. So what that means is that 90% only improve their skills if it's part of their job requirement. Now, NAR now has 1.4 million members. In fact, it's more than that. It's growing so fast that we're pushing upwards towards 1.5 million members. And what that really means to you is that it's not that difficult to compete in the real estate industry. If you understand that learners are the ones that grow their business, serve more people, and make more money. In other words, if you're a little bit of a freak and you're willing to take some classes and learn more about how to serve better, how to build your systems and your programs and, and, you know, to help more people, you'll make more money. I've learned it. In both real estate and in my career in retail prior to real estate, that our comfort zones, both yours and mine, are just very small. We love being there, but the magic, the magic in life happens out here. So what I want to talk to you about for the next few minutes is how do we take that freakish mindset of wanting to grow ourselves, to make more money, to serve more people, and use NAR as a catalyst with their education to do that. There are so many NAR designations to choose from that it can almost be confusing. So what I thought I would do is run you through about the top 14 NAR designations, explain to you just a touch about each one of them and help you know which ones might be right for you to grow your business, to grow your skills and to serve more people. In fact, if you look at the screen right now, you'll see that there's a website at the bottom. You can go to this website, nar.realtoreducation, designations and certifications, and you can study any of these a little bit deeper. But here's what you need to know as we begin. You don't need all these designations. And the truth is, all of these designations and certifications will not help you in what you are most passionate about. So there's 7 skills that every agent needs to succeed, and here's what they are. Number 1 is flow systems. How do we grow our business within our sphere of influence? The people we already know, instead of having to go out and buy more leads and search people that could that would be interested in buying or selling real estate or leasing commercial or residential properties. You grow the people, you know, birds of a feather flock together. So you grow the people that already know you, like you, and trust you, and you build relationships with them. There are lots of courses on how to build your flow systems, which would include technology, right? Relationships, and even things like skills like you know, database management and building your CRM. Number 2 is all the things you need to know about buyers. You know, real estate is local, so what you need wherever you are is different than where somebody else is. I live in little Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and what's going on even in Raleigh is very different than what's going on in San Francisco. I need to know what's going on here because it's so local. So you need buyer systems. How do you help your buyers succeed? Number 3 would then would be the opposite of buyer systems, you know, seller systems. Sellers want to sell high and sell fast. So how do you help them do that? Position themselves. There are great NAR designations and certifications that can help you understand how to help with flow systems, buyer systems, and seller systems. But not just that. Number 4 would be pricing systems. Pricing systems are critical to both buyers, sellers, and you know, just all those crazy lookers out there. So just know that it's important for you to know how to price. We all learned a CMA, but you really need to understand absorption rate, you need to understand odds of selling, and you need to understand all the tools available to you to help you price homes better so you can help your sellers price right and your buyers offer right so they can compete. Number 5 would be a niche. There's so many different things that you can do. Most Realtors, in fact, I would say The bulk of those 90% of the realtors we talked about with Harvard are trying to be everything to everybody. And the truth is, if you'll find in real estate what you're passionate about, the world now seeks experts. They seek specialists. Be a specialist. So find a niche within the real estate industry that you can just maximize. You can knock it out of the park, be the go-to person for your marketplace. Number 6 would be a business plan, understanding that Profit is good, but man, you don't want to wait till the end of the year to find out if you've made any money or how you're spending your money. So you really need systems to understand how to market, how to let your money flow properly so that we don't have these ebbs and tides that are just dramatic and frightening. So a business plan, you need to understand how to do that year after year after year. And it wouldn't harm you to take a course on business planning every couple of years. And then the last thing, of course, is one thing I'm very passionate about, which is an exit strategy. Not— there's not a single person here that's thinking on your deathbed that you want one more listing presentation. So at some point you're going to slow down or you're going to just stop, stop being in the real estate business altogether. Why not build your business to sell your business, not just to walk away with a hope and pray that you'll have some referrals. So let's go and talk about the number 1 through the number 14 top NAR designations and certifications, and number 1 is GRI. There's over 68,000 GRI designees in the United States. Now, GRI was really designed and has always been designed for newer agents to get into the business, but I teach GRI in a number of states across the country, and I will tell you that it's not unusual to have brand new agents, some that have just been in for a few months. But I also get agents that have been around for 20+ years. Why? Well, because the GRI program in your state has a whole series of education and many different topics that will help you grow your business. And although most of those classes are either online or in a class, and they're not more than a day long or a few hours long, you still get some, some really good quality information by some really great teachers and speakers that are experienced in those categories. So I have written the GRI Business Planning course for several different states across the country, and that's the one I'm passionate about because I want you to grow your business year after year after year and be highly profitable. And, you know, hey, work less and make more. So I'm just one of the GRI instructors of many across the country. I highly recommend GRI for brand new agents. The number 2 designation in the NAR fold of designations and certifications is actually the Short Sale Foreclosure class, SFR. Now what's interesting about that, there's also a short sale and foreclosure class within the CRS realm of classes. And you can take other courses that are just CE courses across the country, but the SFR course short sale foreclosure class is the NAR course on how to be better with short sales and foreclosure properties. It's a 1-day course. There's over 48,000 designees, or actually that are certified with this particular education across the country. And you know what, real estate, because of the ebb and tide of real estate and the economy, there will always be short sales and foreclosures. That may not be your niche. That may not be the thing you want to become an expert on, but just know that there are plenty of people out there that see the need to hire a REALTOR® to help them when they're in a distressed situation. So that's number 2. Number 3 is the ePRO. That's all about internet marketing. It's all about using technology. So internet professional, uh, there's over 33,000 of those across the country. Obviously, there's some online classes on this, but it's, it's also designed to help you maximize your skills. Now, if you're 50 or older, this might be a class that would be a benefit to you and really help you. The fourth highest numbered designation or certification in the country is ABR. Now I've taught the Accredited Buyer Representative class and teach it across the country. I teach it in Nevada every year. I teach it in North Carolina every year. Uh, and I've taught it in other states. I just taught it recently in South Dakota. Your need to make sure that you help buyers succeed, and at the same time you help them compete and you stay out of real estate jail, is, is pretty darn important. So there's over 23,000 ABRs across the country. They have a wonderful program for reaching out to other agents that are ABRs run through the, the REBAC program. I highly recommend it. It's, uh, it's a course I took in the very very first year that I got in real estate back in the turn of the century in 2000. I took it with an instructor, his name is George Bell, still around, he's in North Carolina. I love George. I learned a ton that helped me serve my buyers better. It can be a really great class. And so it's one that I recommend, number 4 in the NAR group. Number 5, there are only about 22 CRS instructors across the world. And I feel blessed and fortunate to be one of those CRS instructors. I've been a CRS instructor since 2006, so going on 15 years now, and they are highly recognized. Some call them the rock star instructors of the real estate industry. I, you know, I don't know if I am or not, but anyway, the point is the Certified Residential Specialist courses within the RRC, the Residential Real Estate Council, are tremendous. And just want you to know that the standard— some of them are 2-day classes, some of them are 1-day classes. You'll find top-notch instructors and they will fire hose you with value and relevant information. So I highly recommend CRS classes. Go out and take one. It's, it's— you won't be disappointed. You won't be disappointed with the instructors. You won't be disappointed with the amount of information that you learn, the new skills, the new systems and new techniques that are relevant and immediately usable. So that's number 5. Let's go on. By the way, at the bottom of the screen, if you're seeing those, those are the logos for each of those 5 designations or certifications. Let's move to number 6, At Home with Diversity. My friend Robert Morris down in Tennessee just rewrote this course. There's over 18,000, nearly 19,000 AHWDS across the country. Highly recommended. Obviously, with all the things going on in the world today, At Home with Diversity might certainly be a course that would be an investment for you. And of course, you would never spend money to take any of these classes. You would invest the money because look what it will do for you and your clients. Number 7 is the SRES course, the first national course I ever taught. I love this course. I teach this course across the country too. One of my favorites. I always love teaching CRS, but outside of CRS, my next favorite course really is the SRES course. It's a niche course for, uh, working with mature clients, seniors real estate specialists. Over 18,000, uh, SRESs across the country. It's an elective also for the ABR class. So if you take the ABR class and you need an elective course, you could take the SRES, combine those two, have two designations that you could immediately use I love SRES. It's not right for everybody. If you don't love working with mature clients, then, you know, you probably don't want to find this as your niche. But there are many, many agents across the country that understand that they're in a marketplace that the mature clients are their number one client. In fact, mature clients are very loyal, right? And they'll highly recommend you. So that's number 7. Let's go to number 8. Number 8 is the MRP class. I teach this class all across the country too. The Military Relocation Professional class, nearly 18,000 of these designees are certified MRPs across the country. Obviously, if you, if you're in a military area, you do VA loans, or you have the need to help either active or retired military, you would want to take this 1-day course. It really is an excellent course to help you think about the needs of the military. It's specific to the military, but it will expand your mind, help you do a much better job in competing in the military market. Number 9 is PSA. This is a newer NAR course, uh, you know, handled by RE/BAC again. It's the Pricing Strategy Advisor course. Really good if you're out there and wanting to, you know, list to live. So if you're wanting to list homes, you want to expand your listing marketplace, or, you know, your competition in the listing world, take the PSA course. I really like this course. I've taught this course several times in North Carolina. I have a few of them booked elsewhere, but it's actually got some real good meaty stuff in it. And if you want to be better at listing, take the PSA course. Number 10 is the SRS class. Been around a few years now. It's obviously the opposite to the ABR class. It's the Seller Representative Specialist class. Obviously, if you want to expand in the area of working with people that need to, you know, price their homes, right? It's kind of like Nine, PSA. SRS is an excellent course. A lot of people have taken it, only about 7,500 people out there so far, but some people have really, really bragged about how much they got out of the SRS course. And these are the logos for those designations and certifications. Let's go to the last 4 that I have for you. Number 11, number 12, number 13, and number 14. Number 11 is CCIM. If you're out in the commercial world, there's about 7,000 Certified Commercial Investment Members out there. Very difficult course, very intense course. This is gonna be a hard course for you to get through. It's a number, it's a whole series of courses.. But if you're in the commercial world, highly respected REALTORS® that do commercial want this course because it elevates them in the marketplace. If you're in commercial, if you're gonna focus on commercial, you really do wanna consider and go, you know, get it done and take the CCIM course. Number 12 then is the Broker Price Opinion Resource Course, BPOR, about 5,400 people out there. I don't teach this class, but I've heard people that have taken it You know, if you're out there in the world of competing again in short sales and foreclosures, the broker price opinion resource class might be very helpful to you if you work with distressed properties. Number 13, if you're in a marketplace that you're selling resort-type property, second homes. I live in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. I already mentioned that. We have a beautiful Lake Gaston right out here just a few miles from me. Many, many, many people come from other areas to buy second homes and so The Resort and Second Home Specialist course, about 5,000 agents out there. 5,000 agents out of 1 point— nearly 1.5 million. Do you see how just taking some courses can help elevate not only your knowledge base, but it would help, you know, improve your credibility if your customers and clients really understood what this meant to them? So RSPS, you might want to consider that if you're out there selling resort and second home specialists. This is a great course for you to understand better how to serve those clients. And the very last one I'm going to share with you today is the green course. Now, if you're in a marketplace that you've got people that want to, uh, understand green building concepts and, uh, you know, you have that kind of clientele that, that are in Asheville, North Carolina, as an example, in my marketplace here in North Carolina, there's about 3,300 of those designees, certified agents that have the green certification. And, um, you know, that's a wonderful course for me in my marketplace, not such a needed request. I don't have that many people that actually talk to me about it, have no builders in my marketplace that build green. So although I've taken this course, I actually taught this course for a little while. I wrote a course for CRS about this. I studied up on it and wanted to know more about it thought that it would be a much more accelerated trend 10 years ago than it's become, but not, not in my marketplace, but in other marketplaces. So those are the 14. Here's an important question for you: real estate, profession or industry? Well, you know, pretty much every state across the country would define real estate the same way. Every licensing bureau, every licensing agency out there would say this, that real estate is actually an industry. You know, a profession, you get paid for your billing time. Those are lawyers, doctors. My son is a dentist. But an industry means you control, you know, your own destiny. In other words, if you're not doing as much business as you think you should be doing, if you're not succeeding to the level that you should be succeeding, well, I can tell you Maybe what you need is a little more education. Maybe you can get this through your company, through your local association, through your state association, and clearly through the National Association of Realtors. It's really about learning to speak a new language. You know, business is tough. It's hard. And there's a huge turnover in the real estate business as it relates to Realtors. Uh, there's so many, many people that come in and they just can't survive. Because they cannot make sufficient income to live the lifestyle that they want and deserve. So, it is really about survival. And if we learn to speak a new language, man, it is amazing how not only will we thrive, but we will save our own lives and help other people. It is kind of like this. We all need to learn another language. And I don't know about a Vista language school, but I do know this. I'm Mark Given, founder of the Trust-Based Philosophy and the Trust-Based Academy. Your world will grow and expand if you'll focus some time this year and every year on building your alphabet soup. NAR designations and certifications, they won't let you down. So I hope to see you in a class sometime. Be healthy, be safe, take some classes.