The ABC's of Real Estate Agent Designations

When you receive a business card from a Real Estate Agent, or Realtor, you may notice that many of them have a series of letters after their name. SRES, GRI, CCIM, ePro, RECS, etc., etc.

What does all of this mean? Do more letters necessarily mean a better agent for me? Let's discuss this a bit and see.

First and foremost, it is important for the consumer to know that there is a difference between agents and Realtors. Agents are those who have been licensed by the state(s) in which they operate but have chosen for some reason NOT to belong to the industry's associations. The national association is, as one would expect, the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In the state of Pennsylvania, where I work, the state association is (you guessed it) the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors (PAR). In Lancaster County, the local association is (to no one's surprise, I am sure) the Lancaster Association of Realtors (LCAR).

It is the local Realtor associations that generally operate the local MLS or Multiple Listing Service. This is where all Realtors list their properties for other Realtors to view, sort of like a New York Stock Exchange of real estate properties. It is here where Realtors, and some agents, can go to find properties for their buyer clients and where they can list their sellers' properties for the whole market place to see.

Non-Realtor members can sometimes join the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) but will have limited access the the services. The fact that someone is a Realtor shows a commitment to their business and a connection with the rest of the industry. This connection helps to ensure that they remain up-to-date with industry news, legal developments and ethical standards.

Being a Realtor is to real estate as being a member of the local Bar Association is to an attorney. I personally would not want to be represented in court by someone who has not maintained the minimal standards required by a professional association. And when it comes time to invest in the largest investment most people will make in their lives, I wouldn't feel comfortable working with someone who is not a Realtor.

But, what about all of those other letters on business cards? There are a lot more designations than I will be able to discuss here. But we will take a look at the basic ones that you are most likely to see on a Realtor's card. By the way, most of these designations require membership in the National Association of Realtors - another reason that you should opt to only work with Realtors.

I personally believe that the 2 most sought after designations by Realtors are the GRI and CRS designations. GRI stands for Graduate Realtors' Institute. To attain this designation, one must attend classes that cover everything from running a real estate business to properly representing a client. the courses are somewhat general in nature, but the GRI designation certainly shows a commitment that an agent has made to go the extra step in knowing his/her business better than the average Realtor.

The CRS designation stands for Council of Residential Specialists. Many of the courses required for the GRI designation are the same courses required for the CRS. The CRS is often thought of the highest designation that can be held by a residential Realtor®. More courses are required AND there is a volume or production requirement that is associated with this designation, making its requirements more stringent than any other designation. CRS certified members represent the top 4% of the agents in the industry.

Another popular designation is the ABR or Accredited Buyers' Agent. This accreditation is earned by a combination of course work that focuses on the responsibilities of representing buyers in a real estate transaction, and a production requirement of a certain number of transactions where the agent represents only the buyer.

As one might expect, there is also an Accredited Sellers's Representative or ASR. This is a new designation and is in the process of being authorized by the National Association. It is expected to be authorized in the next few months.

ePro Certified is another designation which is relatively new to the Realtor member. It is earned by completing a fairly rigorous online course with online tests and exercises. Attainment of this designation is an indication of a strong commitment to the use of technology in the real estate business. As the percentage of those looking to complete a real estate transaction beginning on the internet increases from 76%, the importance of this, and other technologies, becomes apparent.

If you are one who uses and depends upon technology to make your life easier and more efficient, and you want to use it to make your real estate transactions similarly more efficient, then this is a designation you should seek out.

Similarly, another technology-oriented designation is the RECS designation. This stands for membership in the Real Estate Cyberspace Society. Often those who are ePro Certified also are members of RECS. It should be noted that there are no tests or production requirements to earn this designation. One merely has to be a member, e.g. pay the annual dues. BUT, it is unlikely that many will remain members and not take advantage of the tremendous technology benefits offered by this organization. This group is going a long way to making Realtors more proficient with the technologies that are available today, and preparing Realtors to use the upcoming technologies of tomorrow.

I just realized that this post is getting to be rather lengthy, so perhaps a future installment on other designations will be appropriate. In the meantime, be aware that only those designations that relate to you or your situation are the ones that will be valuable to you. But, any designation shows the desire of a Realtor to go beyond the average requirements and improve themselves as professionals in their field.