For the last three years I have been working toward obtaining one of the most prestigious real estate designations available, that of the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS). This week it finally happened and I got confirmation just today that I am being awarded the CRS designation.

It’s not an easy one to be awarded. For one, an agent has to have production numbers that are verified by a broker. You have to sell alot of homes in order to be considered…no “one home a year” sales allowed. An agent must also complete classwork and additional education that can take years to finish. Classes only come into town so often and sometimes we have to fly to them in another state.

I have to say, the classes have been some of the best I have seen, and I have learned many new things that will help me to continually strive to be a better agent. Remarkably, less than 38,000 Realtors hold the CRS designation nationwide. With over 1 Million members in the nation, those that are Certified Residential Specialists are rare to say the least. In Minnesota, only 3% of Realtors have the production to be a CRS.

So when you think about choosing a quality real estate professional, be sure to ask them about any designations they hold. If they hold the CRS designation, then you can rest assured that they have completed extensive training on residential real estate and a have proven track record of sales transactions. The more transactions an agent has, then the more experience they have. When the average agent completes only three sales a year, is it any wonder that there are so many inexperienced Realtors in the industry. Next time you choose an agent, make sure they have the experience to back themselves up.

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3 Comments

  1. Alex Stenback November 21, 2007 at 9:38 am - Reply

    Wondering what specific level of production is required? In other words, how high exaclty is this bar set?

  2. Jennifer Kirby November 21, 2007 at 6:20 pm - Reply

    Alex – great question. There are a couple ways to go about it:

    1)an agent has to have 75 transactions or $25 Million in sales, in a five year period

    or

    2)25 transactions sides or $8 Million in sales, in any two year period

    The latter requires a few more education units to earn the designation.

    The bar is set pretty high. Like I said, the national average for agents is three sales a year, but this number is spread over $1 Million plus agents. The reality is that 80% of the agents only do 20% of the national production. That means that the small 20% of Realtors out there do all the work. Those are the experienced agents you want to represent you.

    Hope this helps your understanding, and provides just one more way to help see the difference between agents that someone might interview to help them buy or sell a home.

    Let me know if you have any questions!

  3. A Darren DeSouza November 22, 2007 at 11:28 pm - Reply

    Hi!

    Great site. I have a blog I’ve started on Real Estate, Technology and Marketing. I’m focusing on Web 2.0 applications, but there will be a
    lot about relevant technologies.

    Thanks,
    Darren
    http://web20re.typepad.com

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