2006 Education Report

CBR Offers over 500 credit Hours in 2006

Lucy Hadley
Director of Professional Development

It was another good year for the Education Department at the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. CBR continued to offer MLS Tempo classes, which featured three hours of continuing education credit for each level -- Tempo I (Solo), Tempo II (duet), and Tempo III (Symphony). Instructed by CBR's Matt Warren, these courses have proven to be a valuable tool for our members. The Tempo classes are available each month throughout the year and are usually sold out. Matt also instructs our Realist and Tarasoft Titan training classes.

In 2006, CBR offered 169 classes (over 500 credit hours) and issued 3,104 certificates for continuing education credit. Many students chose to take the Tempo classes without the continuing education, but 331 CE certificates were issued for the Tempo classes. In addition to Tempo, we also offered other computerrelated classes including Realist and Tarasoft Titan, as well as Word: Creating Newsletters and Flyers, and we offered the Top Producer Series (7i) quarterly.

The Residential Education Committee, chaired by Ted Oatts, was diligent in offering all of the state required courses several times in 2006; Civil Rights, Core Law, and Ethics were each offered quarterly.

There were many special interest courses including: Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Sell Condominiums, At Home with Diversity (NAR certification program) (in conjunction with the Equal Opportunity committee), Success with HUD (in conjunction with Women's Council of REALTORS®), Loss Mitigation: The Short Sale (in conjunction with the Affordable Housing Roundtable), Train the Trainer "Consumer Education for the Affordable Housing Market," Safety Seminar and Feng Shui I & II (in conjunction with the Communication Committee), Real Estate Ads that Sell, and The Art of Selling Investment Real Estate.

In addition, the Residential Purchase Contract course was offered quarterly as a comprehensive review to clarify the contract and to review the common issues that surface.

Also offered was the Foreclosure Intervention Specialist designation course, an intense 5-day course that is such a timely topic. In early March, in co-sponsorship with the CRS Ohio Chapter, a CRS designation course was offered for the first time in quite a few years. It proved to be very successful attracting over 100 REALTORS®.

The annual Brokers & Managers Day featured OAR Vice President and Legal Counsel, Peg Ritenour, and the Sales Associates Day course offering was National Speaker, Terry Watson, whose course, Avoiding Roadkill -- The 10 Stupid Things that REALTORS® do to Mess up their Lives" broke attendance, knowledge and laughter records!

Basic Training for new agents coming in 2007
The 2006 Residential Education Committee spent many hours developing the Basic Training Course for New Agents (ABC Course) that is slated for its debut in February. It is a 3-day course to help new agents with the practical aspects of the real estate business. New agents will learn to plan their business as well as their personal life. The plan is to offer this course on a quarterly basis. The course should generate a lot of excitement and fill an area that has been missing from the curriculum. 

Commercial
The C/I Education Committee, ably chaired by Matthew McConnell, also had a fulfilling year providing 3-hour courses for our members, as well as 12 C/I Luncheons, which provided 1-hour and 2-hours of continuing education credit. Altogether, 106 credit hours of education focused on commercial real estate this year. That is a new record.

The C/I Education Committee worked hard to bring the following topics to their fellow agents- Commercial Core Law (in conjunction with the State SIOR Chapter), Commercial Ethics, ADA for the Commercial Practitioner, Using Tenants in Common, Green Building Design (in conjunction with CCIIR and CREW), Commercial Real Estate and Bankruptcy, and Understanding the Commercial Real Estate Appraisal.

In addition, the C/I Luncheon topics included commercial development updates in Grove City, Dublin, Hilliard, and Union County, as well as the following topics: Government Financial Incentives, Sustainable Architecture Design, "Paving the Way" --  ODOT, Commercial Purchase Contract, Development of the Intermodal Facility at Rickenbacker, Delaware County Auditor's Website, and Environmental Issues. Under the auspices of the C/I Education Committee, the Central Ohio Commercial Data Exchange (COCIE) offered two 3-hour courses for continuing education each month. In December, an advanced COCIE course was added to the curriculum.

Online Classes
Last year in January, the link from CBR's website to online classes through Hondros College, was launched. CBR members are able to receive a discount in pricing when linked to Hondros through our website. Members also took advantage of the Ohio Association's online course offerings, and CBR gets a monetary incentive from OAR for each registrant.

As you can see, it was another exciting year in the Education Department. More members than ever are using online registration at CBR's website. It is easy to do, and so if you haven't looked at the course listings, be sure to log on to www.ColumbusRealtors.com. Just click on the "Classes" box. You are able to view a course description, register and pay the tuition (if applicable) online, as well.

Thank you to all the committee members, the instructors and the students for making the CBR course offerings valuable learning opportunities.