Real estate is a dynamic industry, and that’s one of the reasons it’s an enjoyable, challenging, and interesting career. The industry is ever-changing to adapt to a transforming marketplace, and staying in step with those changes takes determination and a willingness to pivot. Current Issues: Cooperation, Negotiation, iBuyers, and Disaster Preparedness will help keep you on your toes. The course looks closely at four trending issues:

• MLS Statement 8.0, more commonly known as the Clear Cooperation policy

• iBuying, a 21st-century home buying and selling system

• Negotiating nuances

• Natural disasters and disaster planning

With an emphasis on how best to support your clients and customers, this three-hour course will update you on recent changes and current trends that impact your real estate practice and the way you serve your clients and customers. Clear Cooperation and iBuying have a direct impact on the way you do business, and a fresh look at today’s negotiating strategies will strengthen your finesse in this critical skill. Finally, the rise in the number and severity of natural disasters across the country has led to new recommendations that help protect consumers and your own real estate business.

Course highlights include:

• The new NAR policy, MLS Statement 8.0, more commonly known as the Clear Cooperation policy

• Transparent cooperation and what that means for licensees

• New MLS requirements related to the Clear Cooperation policy

• Issues with limited exposure marketing practices

• Basic methods of the iBuying transaction system

• How licensees can make iBuying work for their clients

• Methods to plan and prepare for successful negotiations

• Strategies for conducting win-win negotiations

• Best practices for buying and selling in natural disaster risk zones

• Disaster planning to protect licensees’ businesses

With more than 20 million veterans living in the U.S. today, real estate professionals can provide a valuable service to a strong client base by walking in their eligibility shoes.

If the answer to “Did You Serve?” is yes, this can open the doors of homeownership for Veterans and service members who may not qualify to purchase a home through conventional financing.

Course highlights include:

• A glimpse into the military lifestyle, what it means to serve, and how best to communicate with those who served

• Tools and techniques for informing veterans on the benefits available to them

• VA home loan program benefits, qualifications, and process

• Strategies for identifying appropriate home options for Veterans  

• Myths and misconceptions about VA loans

• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts

The real estate market reflects our nation's diverse population, and the successful real estate professional understands and adapts to each client's needs.

What's new in fair housing? What isn't? 

Course Highlights:

• The newest fair housing guidelines relating to criminal background screening, reasonable accommodation for assistance animals, and hoarding

• A look at the socioeconomic impact of discriminatory practices in housing

• An online test to check your own inherent bias 

• The court case that led to sexual orientation and gender identity being afforded federal fair housing protection 

• Resources that will help you identify and better serve the diverse populations within your market

• Statistics and demographics on homeownership from:

  • The National Association of REALTORS®

  • The U.S. Census Bureau

  • The National Fair Housing Alliance 

• Two proposed additions to the seven federally protected classes

Proper document management provides proof that a licensee did what was required, when it was required. It serves to protect the consumer and it reduces the licensee's risk of litigation.

Get ready to become more comfortable with selecting and using transactional documents. 

Course highlights include:

• Common documents used in real estate transactions

• Common contract clauses, addenda, and contingencies

• Avoiding the unauthorized practice of law

• Multiple offer management

• Document signatures, notarizations, and identification

• Transaction management methods and best practices

• Document management and retention methods and best practices

• Technology and security for document management

• Legalities of electronic communication

• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts

Real estate professionals wear many hats: expert communicator, attentive listener, trustworthy confidant, obedient servant, loyal advocate, and knowledgeable educator, to name just a few. To juggle these roles effectively—and within the lines of the law—licensees must remain informed. Real estate professionals are in a position to provide an invaluable level of consumer protection as they support consumers through their real estate transactions.

This course explores licensees' role as advocate and educator, and how they can protect consumers and their business from the threats of antitrust and fair housing violations and predatory lending. We'll start by looking at what federal protections are in place to combat these unfair practices. We'll also provide the steps you can proactively take to protect the consumers you work with day in and day out and the business you've worked so hard to create.

Course highlights include:

• Federal antitrust laws and violations

• Avoiding antitrust violations and protecting consumers from them

• Antitrust complaint process and penalties

• Federal fair housing laws and violations

• Redlining, blockbusting, and steering

• Buyer love letters

• Fair housing complaint process and penalties

• Predatory lending

• Truth in Lending Act

• Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act

• Protecting consumers from predatory lending

• Reporting predatory lending

Whether you want to develop a niche business working with first-time homebuyers or simply increaseyour overall knowledge so you can better help inexperienced first-time homebuyers, this course willprovide you with the necessary foundation to serve this unique population.First-time homebuyers often rely heavily on agents’ expertise, and many feel overwhelmed, intimidated,and fearful of the prospect of buying a home. Your knowledge and calm influence can lead them towardtheir goal of homeownership, step by step.In this three-hour course we’ll explore the key characteristics of this niche market, how to cultivaterelationships with these buyers, and how to prepare them for the transaction ahead.

Course highlights include:

• First-time homebuyer market stats

• Pros and cons unique to working with this market

• Housing affordability’s impact on new buyers

• Targeted marketing approaches and conveying homeowner benefits

• Providing value to first-time homebuyer clients

• Walking clients through each step of the transaction

• Financing, loans, offers, negotiations, and closing

Fraud has become a major issue in the industry. Lawbreakers use real estate as a vehicle to steal the life savings of unsuspecting homeowners and defraud lenders out of millions of dollars for their own gain. Federal, state, and local governments have taken steps to combat real estate fraud, but it remains a major problem—one you need to have a solid understanding of to ensure you're able to shield your clients and yourself from being defrauded or unknowingly committing fraud.

Keeping It Honest: Understanding Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud has been updated to discuss the latest fraudulent schemes and explain recent government initiatives aimed at stopping fraud and protecting consumers.

Course Highlights:

• Fraud and its impact on the real estate industry

• The newest and most prevalent types of fraudulent schemes

• Red flag behaviors that suggest someone is engaging in fraud

• How to report fraudulent or suspected fraudulent activities to the proper authorities

• Key government initiatives aimed at stopping fraud and protecting consumers

• Activities and scenarios to provide real-world context for course content

The internet is full of promotional opportunities. Whether it’s a post on Facebook or a tweet linking to your new listing, a status update on LinkedIn, a virtual home tour on YouTube, or photo collage on Pinterest, you can easily promote your professionalism, highlight your expertise, increase your connections, and showcase your listings. Or you can fall flat on your face.

This course shows how to use the unique advertising and marketing opportunities available online to better serve your clients and customers, and further promote your own brand.

Course highlights include:

• How consumers—and agents and agencies—are using social media and how this is impacting the real estate industry

• How to use various social media platforms—including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest—to promote your business and better serve your clients and customers

• How various social media platforms differ and how to select the ones that are best for you and your needs

• Tips for creating an online marketing strategy

• Legal and ethical issues surrounding online marketing

• Copyright law, trademarks, and public domain content

• Tips for avoiding common social media missteps.

• Activities and scenarios to provide real-world context for course content

Attacks on real estate professionals have made headlines at an alarmingly more frequent rate in recent years. After an incident where a licensee is harmed, everyone vows to do better, and the topic of safety is pushed to the front of training schedules. Then complacency sets in.

Criminals count on complacency.

This course reviews studies and statistics of safety issues in the real estate industry, and best practices for personal safety.       

Course highlights include:

• Crime statistics and studies that challenge preconceived notions

• Risk factors and vulnerabilities that unique to real estate professionals

• Case studies to illustrate how criminals target their victims

• How to develop a personal warning system and trust your instincts when something feels “off”

• Activities and scenarios to provide real-world context for course content

Whether for a buyer or seller, the comparative market analysis, properly done, can mean several thousands extra dollars in their pockets, and can determine whether a deal can be struck at all. But because it’s such a well-worn tool, it’s tempting for a licensee to get complacent with the CMA, and “phone it in.”

Don’t be that licensee!

This course covers the how-tos of a professionally researched  comparative market analysis.          

Course Highlights:

• The three-step approach to market analyses: the market, the property, the numbers

• Sources for subject property data and market data

• Using expired and active listings to inform pricing strategy

• How to prioritize criteria when selecting comparables

• How to adjust and homogenize selected comparables 

• How to weight selected comparables when selecting a list price range

The inspection period is a big hurdle to jump over on the way to closing. The inspector’s job is to call out defects. The buyer agent’s job is to negotiate repairs. The seller agent’s job is to mitigate damage. It can sometimes be hard to hold a deal together.

Protecting your buyer as a buyer’s agent means understanding the importance of the home inspection contingency and its deadlines, and identifying the need for specialized inspections.

Protecting your seller as the listing agent means helping the seller understand disclosure obligations, prepare for the inspection, and respond to a buyer’s reasonable repair requests.

Course highlights:

• The importance of the inspection contingency

• The licensee’s role in the inspection process

• Licensee and seller disclosure obligations

• Red flags related to common structural, plumbing, and electrical issues

• Specialized inspection types addressing radon, asbestos, sewer lines, septic tanks, mold, lead, and wells

• Interactive activities and scenarios

More than 80% of real estate licensees leave the business within the first two years, and this is primarily due to a lack of understanding of what it takes to succeed. Of those who stay, very few earn a lucrative living at it.

Don't be that licensee.

Whether you're just launching your business or you think it's time to level up, this course will give you the tools to launch your career from a solid foundation, one that lets you know what you need to do today, this week, this month, this quarter, and this year to execute your well-considered business plan.

This course will show you how to take stock, create a vision, and gather the tools necessary to achieve that vision so you can create a professional, exemplary, referral-driven business that serves clients needs and exceeds client expectations.

Course highlights include:

• Helpful ideas for defining your real estate business, vision statement and mission statement

• A Business Plan Worksheet that will help you determine goals and execute your plan

• Details about identifying strengths and weaknesses, and setting realistic, attainable goals

• An editable, customizable Business Plan Template

• How to calculate the action steps needed to achieve success as you define it

Chances are good that, if it hasn't happened yet, you will one day work on a transaction involves a property that’s part of a tax-deferred exchange. When this happens, will you be ready to guide your client through the process and ensure they meet the critical deadlines?

With an appropriately formed exchange, an investor can defer paying taxes on the profit from one investment and instead use all of the profits to fund another investment. 

This course helps licensees become more comfortable with guiding clients through a 1031 tax-deferred exchange transaction and ensuring critical deadlines are understood and met.  

Course highlights include:

• Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange definitions

• Starker’s Exchange background and application

• U.S. Internal Revenue Code requirements

• IRS Safe Harbor Guidelines

• Investor taxes advantages

• Setting up an exchange

• Selecting a Qualified Intermediary

• Licensee role in a Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange

• The non-exchanger's role in a Section 1031 transaction

• “Delaware” Statutory Trusts

• Reverse exchanges

• Rare exemptions to exchange deadlines

Did you know that a report issued by Census.gov, An Aging Nation: The Older Population in the United States, notes that “In 2050, the population aged 65 and over is projected to be 83.7 million”? That’s almost double what that population numbered in 2012. This population group’s numbers are rising fast, and that adds up to opportunities for licensees.

The senior market needs the services of real estate professionals who understand its unique real estate needs. Working with seniors comes with some of its own challenges, concerns, and rewards. A comprehensive understanding of the particulars and practicalities of this market segment will equip licensees to serve older adult clients with the respect and honor they deserve.

In this course we’ll explore best practices in addressing the distinctive considerations in the senior marketplace. Course highlights include:

• Senior market stats in the U.S.

• Important financial and lifestyle considerations for older clients

• Seniors and legal competence

• Senior seller and property preparation for listing

• Four significant considerations for older adult buyers

• Potential snags and how to overcome them

• Options in senior adult communities, both traditional and noteworthy

• Housing programs for low-income seniors in Arizona

• The senior market as a niche

Thanks in part to movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up, sexual harassment and discrimination have moved to the forefront of the national conversation. Responsible agents not only reject sexually predatory behavior but also actively dismantle toxic workplace environments to ensure a safe place for all. It’s up to agents to reject behaviors or ideologies that could damage neighbors, clients, and each other.

In this course, we’ll take a closer look at how sexual harassment is defined and the impact such behavior can have on your clients, your brokerage, and your reputation. Additionally, we’ll discuss actions you can take to ensure that your office is inclusive and welcoming to all, and that your clients’ best interests are always protected. This includes tips for putting together a comprehensive office policy that thoroughly addresses sexual harassment and discrimination.

Course highlights:

• How sexual harassment is defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR)

• Protections offered through Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the federal Fair Housing Act

• Ramifications of sexual harassment within a brokerage, including how it affects clients and customers

• Federal Sexual Harassment Housing Initiative

• Federal and state laws protecting sexual orientation and gender identity in housing

• Landmark legal cases relating to sexual harassment and gender discrimination

• Tips for putting together a comprehensive office policy that addresses sexual harassment and the complaint process

• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts

You aren't a tax advisor for your clients or customers, but having a solid understanding of property tax-related issues helps you provide a better quality of service. The U.S. tax code is ever evolving and recent changes to mortgage interest deductions, SALT caps, and tax brackets impact every level of the industry.

This course provides an overview of property-related tax issues and tax implications of buying, owning, and selling property.

Course Highlights:

• Recent tax changes

• General tax sources and taxable income

• Taxes as they apply to principal and secondary residences

• Tax bracket changes and affordability

• Point and fee deductions, interest deductions, and refinancing deductions

• SALT caps

• Transfer taxes and recording fees

• Capital gains and losses, property repairs and capital improvements, and capital gain taxation rates and rules

• Activities and scenarios to provide real-world context for course content

Technology is a tool. Used wisely, it can free up time usually spent on mundane tasks to allow licensees to work at a higher (and higher touch) level of client service. Used poorly, it can waste a lot of time better spent elsewhere and worse—alienate clients, and even put them and the licensee’s reputation at risk.

Clients and prospective clients want their real estate professional to be accessible and tech-savvy on their behalf.  According to a National Association of REALTORS® real estate report, staying up to date on new platforms and systems will remain one of the biggest challenges for brokerages in the coming years. The industry is constantly changing, and technology is a big driver of that change.  

This course helps real estate professionals work with technology and reinforces putting client relationships first in the push to provide cutting edge tools and services.

Course Highlights:

• Technology tools to enhance service to sellers, including drones, live streaming, single-property sites, and speaking photos; ways to minimize risks involved in their use

• How to use technology to secure buyer representation agreements, assist buyers with financing qualifications, and pre-showing data to help them make informed purchasing and financing decisions  

• Technological advances in transaction management, including document sharing, electronic signatures, cloud storage, and photo, document, and email organization software, and identify risk management safeguards for online data storage and transaction management

• Technology tools you can use now to provide enhanced client service, and emerging trends to watch for

The Fundamentals of Commercial Real Estate covers the need-to-know information on a broad range of commercial topics.

If you're an experienced residential licensee, a few of the fundamentals of commercial real estate will be familiar to you—the importance of location, for example. In other regards, commercial differs sharply from residential real estate. Executives, investors, and business owners in commercial real estate focus squarely on the bottom line.

This course will provide a foundation for the more complex aspects of commercial real estate as you gain more experience in the industry.

Course highlights include:

• Key terms and concepts of commercial real estate

• How to identify and meet the needs of commercial real estate clients

• How commercial and residential sales differ

• Valuation methods for real estate and businesses

• Tips on gathering the demographic and location-related details that clients need to make well-informed decisions

Unlike most owner-occupied homebuyers, real estate investors enter the market to make money. By learning about investor motivators and criteria, you’ll be in a better position to help your clients navigate this asset strategy.

Working with Real Estate Investors examines investor goals and strategies, different investment property types, key financial considerations, and your role in locating, negotiating for, and marketing investment properties.

Course Highlights:

• An overview of residential and commercial investment property types

• Short- and long-term investment property acquisition strategies 

• Financial factors that influence investor decisions, including depreciation, 1031 tax exchanges, and cash flow

• Financing options available to real estate investors, including conventional loans, commercial loans, and private money lenders

• Tips for locating and marketing investment properties

• Pros and cons of working with investor clients

• Ethical duties when working with investor clients

• Activities and scenarios to provide real-world context for course content