Are credentials alphabet soup or competitive edge?

SRES, ABR, BPOR: Strung together after a real estate agent’s name, such letters can look like alphabet soup or a puzzle game on a business card.
But for Realtors like Sharon Moylan, NAR GREEN SRES CRP, there is a compelling reason for collecting acronyms.
“Education is power and in this particular environment, I think the more educated you are the better off you are,” said Moylan, an agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Barrington, about the ever-growing number of specialist designations in the real estate industry.
“These were aimed at things I specialize in and relate to my background in business and consulting,” said Moylan, whose credentials stand for expertise in eco-real estate, housing for seniors and relocation assistance. If a certain $1 million-plus listing sells, Moylan will also qualify for a premium property designation she has already done the coursework for.
Like many industries, as the real estate business has professionalized over time, designation and certification programs have proliferated, becoming an industry in their own right.
Along with specialist credentials for buyers or sellers, you can also get designations as an accredited land specialist (ALC), international-property specialist (CIPS) and certified brokerage manager (CRB).
The purpose of these designations, which require the completion of a variety of courses, is to keep real estate professionals up to date with the latest laws, trends and practices in their specialty.
For the right to boast the most-educated workforce, brokerages are willing to hire trainers to teach in-house classes while agents spend time and money in the hope that specialized training might give them an edge in a particular niche of the market.
But whether professional-development credentials actually drive sales or provide a business edge is open for debate.
“I think the consumer looks at the record [of the agent] and whether they are going to get the job done for them,” said John Hardnett, broker at Lila Delman Real Estate. “But the designations don’t hurt and their influence might continue to grow. That is why so many people are trying to get out in front.” In addition to the extensive training every agent is required to take before getting their license in Rhode Island, the state also makes agents complete 24 hours of professional- development classes every two years in order to renew their license.
Like many brokerages, Lila Delman provides in-house classes for agents to reach their 24-hour threshold. The company also holds specialized training sessions that focus on its core principals.
If they want a specialized designation, Realtors typically have to go outside their company and enroll in classes hosted by organizations like the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
In addition to the two dozen or so national designation and certificate programs, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors has also set up four state-specific programs: green awareness, affordable housing, rental specialist and property management.
“If you are a business, you want to take it to the next level and fine-tune your skills,” said Norma Mousseau, director of professional development at the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. “Once a member of the industry finds out where their strengths are, they want to learn about them and I think these courses lead to that.”
While some professional-development topics are always well-subscribed, Mousseau said recently that green-awareness classes and elder issues have become popular.
Of the individual classes offered by the Rhode Island Realtors Association, the three with the largest percentage of members registered are code of ethics, foreclosures-short sales and mortgage seminar, according to association figures. Mousseau said a state requirement for ethics training that must be completed this year is likely driving the number for that class’ enrollment.
Overall, 35 percent of National Association of Realtors members, which account for around half of all licensed real estate agents in the country, held at least one of the organization’s six official certificates in 2011, up from 24 percent in 2010 and 16 percent in 2009, according to the NAR report. A separate 35 percent had completed one of the organization’s dozen or so designation programs, up 1 percentage point from 2010. While most of the major brokerages in the area provide some mix of company-specific, in-house training and courses to qualify for licensing renewal, each approaches the issue slightly differently.
Coldwell Banker has put such an emphasis on professional development that the company has its own training center with staff offering many programs to in-house agents for free.
In addition to the in-house training, Coldwell Banker also pays approximately two-thirds of the cost for its agents to take outside courses toward certificates and designations, which often cost approximately $300, said Wendy Wagenbach, sales manager of the Barrington office and a former regional training manager for the company.
“Consumers have a choice with who they work with and, especially with the Internet allowing anyone to find properties, agents have to set themselves apart,” Wagenbach said.
Residential Properties in Providence does not pay for agents to pursue outside designations but holds six to eight targeted, company-wide training sessions a year focusing on the most relevant issues of the moment, plus online training through the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World group.
Residential Properties CEO Sally Lapides thinks the designation programs are great, but doesn’t see them becoming necessities or the source of competitive one-upmanship among colleagues.
“I don’t see the pressure – I don’t even know which designations each of my agents have,” Lapides said. “Clients are interested in having someone they can trust who has insight, is well-educated in the field, likeable and enthusiastic.” •