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Well, here's my "2-cents worth" about E-Pro pros and cons. Hiring a realtor with that designation would give you the assurance that that agent is probably Internet saavy. However, there are a lot of agents that are very Internet saavy who have not taken the E-Pro classes. There's also a lot of agents out there that do things "the old fashioned way" and use only a fax machine, if that. Those agents would not be E-Pro's, that's for sure. In your situation it would be to your advantage to hire an agent that uses the current online tools available to help your long-distance purchase go smoothly, provided you're comfortable with online technology yourself.
My personal situation: I don't have my E-Pro designation, but I consider myself very Internet saavy and I utilize many Internet tools. From what I hear, the E-Pro is a great course, and I plan on probably taking the course. There are so many R.E. classes and designations out there, it's hard to know which ones will really "UP" your knowledge and customer service and which ones will be redundant information.
I agree Gretchen. IMO it's not a necessary designation. There are plenty of good agents out there who do not have the designation and see it as spending money just to get the name because of the hype around it. Many of the agents that aren't internet savvy are perfectly capable of conducting a long distance transaction. And there are more agents who are internet savvy than epro designated. It's a marketing tool and money maker for NAR.
Would I take the course? Sure. Because the NAR has excellent marketing and a heck of a lot of money to put in to it.
In all honesty I think being a REALTOR vs real estate agent is very important because of the adherence to the Code of Ethics. I know the level of enforcement is going to vary from state to state, but the Ethics are great standards for all realtors to follow. Unfortunately not all agents are very familiar with those.
I also think the GRI is wonderful. I personally think every agent should be required to take those classes, and manager brokers especially. The education is much more extensive than other classes (at least here in AZ, the classes were superb). Of course, those classes don't deal much with marketing but more with contract law, etc. My next set of classes will probably be the CRS classes or the E-Pro. I hear good things about both of those. I just want to make sure that the classes I take have real value so that I can better serve the needs of my clients.
Learning about the internet and how to market yourself is a good thing. Especially for a lot of agents who did not have the experience of the internet through their life. But. For people who have been utilizing computers and have a great deal of online experience or who have taken the initiative to learn all those things on their own, the e-pro course would be redundant. You know and I know that the younger agents already have all that experience. Heck, kids these days are learning computers in kindergarten.
But, I apologize to the OP. We've taken this thread way off course.
Obviously you and I disagree about e-pro. You have a reason for pushing it.
We'll just agree to disagree and leave it at that.
What disagreement? I must have missed something.
Are you wanting to say there are no designations needed or necessary?
Then say it.
Can you get by in your career w/o any designations/certification....sure.
My question is about value. Which designations are most valuable to your career as a licensee?
Do I have an agenda for pushing e-Pro on the Realtors - absolutely. Make it easier to do business with me, with my clients, and I will love you for it.
I am also a huge WCR fan. My being a member of that community makes me a better Realtor. These things provide value.
Most CRS's/e-PRO's/ABR's/PMN's/GRI's will tell you that their designation (if they only hold one) is the most important. Same with college grads, or MBA's or ...
2 cents worth here Professionalism isn't about designations. However, I think an agent that takes classes that increase their level of customer service show that they may be more professional and service oriented than agents that don't.
Depending on the class and/or designation it could be a waste of time if the agent already has that level of expertise. It could also be a waste of time if the agent is just wanting the designation to put behind their name to attract more customers.
However, just as a general "rule of thumb", if I'm Plain Jane Homebuyer/Homeseller and I'm looking for a professional, service oriented agent, I think I'd start by interviewing the agents that had a designation behind their name. For me personally, if I was looking for an agent to refer a client to, I'd look for agents with the designations that involved the more intensive and extensive education.
There is such an extreme difference in levels of education, expertise, and committment in our industry. I really think it's too bad that the public has no way to easily differientiate one agent from another when hiring an agent to represent them.
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Professionalism isn't about designations. However, I think an agent that takes classes that increase their level of customer service show that they may be more professional and service oriented than agents that don't.
