How about the C.R.A.P. designation? (Certifications for Realtors Are Pointless)

Before anyone rips my head off, I'm joking! (mostly)

I don't have any designations. Never been asked why not. Those agents with them that I've talked to seem to have gotten the most from the GRI and ABS. I may get those if I can find the time. Broker's licensing is going to come first though...

Getting letters after your name for the sake of getting them and "looking good" IS pointless. But education is *really* important. I don't think the designations themsleves mean much, if anything, to the general public. But if you learn one thing in a designation class, it may be well worth it.

I have an ASP Accredited Staging Professional 'designation'. I Love it because I can help my clients with staging their home and they like the advice and assitance. It has also recently landed me tomorrows new listing. I took the course because I wanted to not just to have letters by my name. It is an additonal service I can provide to my clients many agents in my area cannot so it is worth bragging about a little ;). I don't mind others designations I am glad agents Want to have additional training.

I am a great believer in education.  Professional designations are a an indication of achievement and that those individuals try to excel in their chosen fields.

Mostly, professional designations are highly regarded by those whose lives are defined by what they do, they think that by having more letters after their names they are more valuables to society in general.  Buyers and sellers of real estate have not idea of what the designations mean... they do like their agent because she/he is personable and understands their needs.

Personally, I have a B.S. and MBA.. joined a Fraternity in College and have the Greek letters in my school ring.  I chose to get my Broker's license rather than a GRI, CCIM or other designation.  Maybe some day...

The only reason I have my GRI was to get my continuing education out of the way to keep my lic., other than that I'm with Jay! - C.R.A.P. Never had a buyer or seller ask or care when I'm at a presentation.

Todd

The public doesn't know what the letters mean and doesn't care.  Continuing education forces me to take classes and they lead to ABC's and XYZ's after my name.  

You are selling yourself and your competence, not your designations.  When I endorse the back of my commission checks I just sign my name without designations.  They don't matter.

I agree with Jay and Francy, education is important, but the general public doesn't care about designations.

Designations are an excellent way to give a new agent knowledge in the field without having experience.  The general public doesn't care, for the most part, what or why you have alphabet soup after your name.  But like Todd said, if I have to do the hours I might as well get something it.  I have my GRI and ABR, I really enjoyed my ABR classes and learned quite a bit and I will eventually sit for my CRS.  

I have several designations but the one I'm most proud of is my JIM designation. Anyone who is an old member of RealTalk will know what that is and that less than 100 were ever given out!

Gene, I've always wondered what JIM stands for, even asked once,

the fellow in Knoxville has it.  He didn't tell me - will you (wink-wink)

You are talking about my good friend Jim Lee, who along with other members of the JIM society, unanimously bestowed it on me. Any designation coming from our peers is worth all the other designations combined. At one time, RealTalk had a link to all the JIM members and what they did to earn the award. I wouldn't have a clue what that URL would be and non-members of RT probably couldn't view it anyway. We'll see if there are any other P2'ers that are old RealTalkers who remember why it was bestowed upon me.

Jason,

I have to agree with Jay,Francy,Todd, and Anson.  I've never been asked what the designations mean.  Customers don't care about you,  all they want is for you to show them homes in person or online. If you track where your online visitors go, you will notice that most of them come in thru the homepage and go to the "search MLS" page. Once they have the info that they need, they leave.  THAT'S IT!

Go for the education not the designation.  With all the courses that you receive for free at Keller Williams, is more than enough. I've invested my time and money on many courses, and in my opinion, none of them compare to Camp: 443. Also, you can view many courses on KW Connect.

Alex

http://Alex-Cruz.com

http://WestchesterCountyCondos.com

and Mark

Education is priceless... designations are pointless (just like the silly 'awards' passed out at our yearly banquet which we don't attend even though we are recipients of several... my broker asked me, "don't you want to be recognized by your peers?"  MY answer, "I want to be recognized by my banker."  LOL).

Not only does the public not know what they mean, I don't have a clue what most of them stand for either.  Susan has some, I think, but she never lists them.  

I do believe in education ... I don't care for designations. And I agree, most people don't know what these stand for anyway ... what they want is to buy or sell a house, in which case, the letters don't mean much.

The only letters that I put on my business cards and sometimes in other correspondence would be "MBA" ... not because I have a degree but because when people see it, they realize I am old enough to probably know something about this business ... unfortunatelly, or perhaps fortunatelly? ... I am one of those people who haven't changed much since their teen years (just couple weeks back, shopping for windows with my husband, I was asked what high school I got to ... and something else about my "dad" ... which didn't make my husband very happy ... the poor guy is just 5 years older than me) and once people see the three letters behind my name in most cases that tells them I'm old enough to be of service to them (provided they know what MBA means ... as with any abbreviations and designations, not everyone does).

Jason, don't worry about designations ... at least for now ... just try to learn as much as you can from all kinds of sources ... there will always be something to learn in this business as it is changing everyday.

Well here in the greater Philadelphia Area we have a talk show radio host Jay Lamont - who tells listeners that they should work with agents with designations so people do ask.

If you add too much alphabet soup after your name and somehow wind up in front of a judge or hearing panel defending yourself, what do you think the judge will say?

Judge: "With all these designations, you should have known better!"

Gene, that's a great point!

NJ is one of the states that don’t require continuing education. While the alphabet behind a name in Real Estate should not impress even the guy in the mirror, you’re stupid not to engage in a class or two every year. You might learn something about your job and save your customers a whole lot of heart ache. Funny how Brokers in this state are "forced" to get re-certified in ethics every four years where as if they supported continuing education as a mandatory thing, ethics would come naturally to them.

Great posts! Gene . . . the JIMs are quite the elite group!

I'm an ABR, ASR, CCSS, C-CREC, ePRO, MRE, REALTOR and Broker . . .

ePRO has been most important to me -- and has helped me earn the most money! The referrals and better way of doing business are why.

I can get anyone a $25 discount on the course as an ePRO Trainer. Just go to my main site, http://RealEstateBHC.com and scroll down on the home page to the banner to sign up online. Coupon code is 5232. You'll pay 334 for the course instead of 359.

Customers/clients, it seems to me, have been most concerned/impressed with me being a REALTOR, and a broker. So if you're eligible, get a broker's license even if you don't plan to open an office.

There's no such thing to me as an unimportant cert/des. Education will differentiate you from the rest and reduce your liability.

The worst, absolute worst advice I ever got in this business was from my first broker (strangely enough, she gave me excellent training except for this one thing). She told me it would be better for me to WAIT to start taking designation courses until I had a few deals under my belt! (Gasp! It's really the reverse--get smart and you'll get more deals faster)

Next stop for me is CCIM.

Broker 1st then epro

I have several designations, CRS,SRES,E-PRO,PMN,CGPS, i did it for the information, and referrals.  One just got me $3,000.000 in business last month.  

Barbara Carrillo

Broker Associate

Remax Accord

313 Sycamore Valley Rd. West

Danville, Ca. 94526