By Don Kottick
The real estate industry is being inundated by organizations, groups and individuals promoting or announcing new certifications, accreditations or designations. Do these acronyms at the end of your name accomplish or mean anything? Does the consumer really care if you are ABR, SRES or e-PRO? Are these acronyms helping us or hurting our credibility in the big picture?
In Ontario, the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) recently eliminated our continuing education credits (CEU) delivered by third parties. The move disrupted many entrepreneurs’ businesses, causing them to get creative and look for new revenue sources.
The recent trend towards marketing acronyms has generated titles for going “green”; for servicing the senior market segment (SRES); for focusing on buyers (ABR); for being a resort and second home property specialist (RSPS); for being tech savvy (e-Pro); and the list goes on. We are being bombarded with acronyms and it is difficult to keep up with the volume. In some cases you can get accredited by auditing a short three-hour course, which speaks to the credibility of the initiative. Increased training and knowledge accumulation is always a good thing, but all these acronyms are creating consumer confusion and hurting our credibility.
In the real estate industry in Ontario, we have the legislated three levels of registration: the salesperson, the broker and the broker of record. It is a safe assumption that the public understands that a broker is an elevated title over a salesperson. If you want to differentiate yourself from other brokers, but are not interested in becoming a broker of record, what are your options? You can always add more acronyms to the end of your name, but the best route is to find that one designation that serves as a differentiator.
In my last article, Distinguishing yourself in the marketplace, I wrote that the Fellow of the Real Estate Institute (FRI), administered by the Real Estate Institute of Canada (REIC), is a designation that has been relatively quiet since its inception in 1995, but it is now the “Phoenix rising from the ashes”. The FRI is focused purely on delivering professionalism, ethics and exceptional service; while being monitored and governed by the REIC. In order to attain your FRI designation, you must submit your resume for review by REIC, be interviewed personally by the local chapter president, have three recommendation letters from industry peers and have been active in the real estate business for five years minimum.
You must also complete the required course curriculum, which entails completing courses about Legal Issues in Real Estate (two days); Ethics and Business Practice (three days); Consumer Behaviour & Negotiating (three days); and three university or college level electives. And you must uphold the REIC Code of Professional Standards at all times.
As an industry, if we focus and deliver on professionalism, ethics and service quality, we will attain consumer acceptance as a true “profession”. The good news is that the number of prominent and successful salespeople who have received their FRI designation is increasing. REIC is currently undertaking initiatives to increase public awareness, while also increasing their industry profile.
To be successful in real estate, training and continuing education are paramount as legislation, regulations and local nuances change on a regular basis. Without education, either stagnation sets in or an individual’s competence starts to erode. This current phenomenon of linking education to abbreviated accreditation titles creates acronym confusion for a consumer. We have been struggling for years to be recognized as a profession and earn credibility with the consumer. What is a consumer to think when they see a salesperson’s name followed with a string of acronyms that they don’t understand?
If you want to differentiate yourself by exhibiting a higher level of professional and ethics, the first step is attaining your FRI.
Let’s all work together to improve the consumer perception of this industry, which has suffered by some negative media attention and unfortunately, a few bad apples. The real estate industry is one of the key economic drivers in Canada. We need to all work together to improve the level of ethics and professionalism across this country and for our profession.
Don Kottick, FRI, is the president and broker of record of Right At Home Realty, with six office locations and more than 2,600 salespeople and brokers. He is also a director at large for the Toronto Real Estate Board, vice-chair of the TREB Government Relations Committee and chair of TREB’s Condominium Committee.
