Training with realtor.org - reviews?

[deannatroupe]

So has anyone started the training with realtor.org yet? Any reviews?

[EcoGreenREVA]

I am also wondering this same question. Perhaps, in the six months since it was originally asked, someone has gone through the training with realtor.org???

I so, I'd love to hear all about it!

TIA

[amdulaney]

What is the realtor.org for? Is it so you can become a Real Estate VA? I will have to check out the site and see.

[EcoGreenREVA]

Andrea ~

Copied from the Realtor.org website, here is a description of the Real Estate Professional Assistants (REPA) course:

http://www.realtor.org/edmatrix.nsf/...b?OpenDocument

The Real Estate Professional Assistants (REPA) course is a comprehensive two-day certificate course that provides an intensive introduction to the real estate business and to the specific ways support staff can become valuable assets to their employers. Every administrative employee in the brokerage office, from the listing secretary to the personal assistant, will benefit tremendously from this quick-start program.

At the conclusion of the course you will:

* Be knowledgeable in the day-to-day operations of the real estate businesses, from state laws and regulations down to the conduct of business in a real estate brokerage office.
* Be familiar with terminology used in the real estate business.
* Be able to assist a real estate licensee in: Farming, Marketing, Listing, Showing, Contracting, Inspections, Follow up
* Be able to provide clerical support in the preparation of:Listing agreements, Sales contracts and addenda, Seller net sheets, MLS input and output (CMA)
* Be able to track due dates, deadlines, termination dates, etc. in Listing agreements and contracts.
* Be able to provide general follow up and support to the licensee in day-to-day operations, understanding the specific activities permitted to be performed by a licensed and/or an unlicensed professional assistant.

You don't have to take this exact training to be a REVA - Real Estate Virtual Assistant - indeed their are several trainings for real estate assistants, some specifically for REVAs, available, from several different organizations.

However Realtor.org is the website for the National Association of Realtors - NAR which is the national's largest trade organization... notice I said "America's" largest trade organization, not just the real estate industry's largest trade organization, although it is that too.

Therefore, it seems to me, taking the REPA course through Realtor.org would be respected by the RE industry... however the REPA course happens to be a relatively new offering of the NAR, so I would like to get feedback from others here who may have already completed the course.

Not that you HAVE to take any of the courses offered by any of these organizations - no state that I know of requires a real estate agent to be certified or licensed. That means if you can get a real estate agent to take you under his/her wing and "show you the ropes", I guess you could get away w/o any formal training whatsoever - but I don't think this would be a good idea, the agent you work with may cut corners or skimp or not do things according to established norms. Taking a good formal training course should at least give you knowledge of industry standards - the trick is to figure out which training courses are "the best" and the most worthwhile.

For the purpose of better educating yourself, and for the purposes of marketing your services, I believe it's a good idea to get some industry-specific training - in real estate or any other field in which you plan to market your VA services.