I got an email tonight that alerted me to the Seattle Times article that I was recently interviewed for and which you can find at this link. The interview was last week and the article was covering the topic of specialized designations that agents get throughout their careers. I enjoyed the photo that Dean Rutz put in for me for the article too but you can only see it when you look at the print version of the article.
It’s been strange how much press we’ve received recently. The article I was interviewed for regarding Seattle investments was released just this month as well on Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine. I’m one of several agents quoted.
I have a couple of designations (Accredited Buyer’s Representative [ABR], Senior Real Estate Specialist [SRES]) besides memberships with the REALTOR(R) Association (National, State, & local), Commercial Broker’s Association (CBA), and I am currently beginning in December a commercial designation outside of the other specialty classwork I’ve already completed. I’d have been further along with the Commercial designation if I hadn’t been waylaid by the horrible accident my parents were involved in this past March. But, I’m still continuing with it and my partner, Michael, has already completed the first portion.
For the Senior designation, it has come in handy on several occasions. Besides taking the class I have also become well acquainted with an estate attorney, Tim Burkart, of Garvey Schubert Barer and he has become a tremendous asset to my team in terms of getting advice in working with estate sales and such. Not only is he great as a “go to” with questions in this area but he also helps with many of our younger clientele in determining how title may be held when there are complicated relationship issues to address. We have relationships with several attorneys at this firm for business, estate, tax and real estate issues.
What doesn’t get covered in the article is that it is very common for agents to have more than one designation. You don’t have to limit yourself to only one but you certainly can, if you want. Personally, it doesn’t make sense to me for an agent to do so but there may be those that do. I’m surprised that agents in the business longer than me don’t have more behind their names, although I guess it is possible that after a time it doesn’t make sense to have every single designation posted on your business card as it might take up all the room available.
