Washington Real Estate Continuing Education Courses

About

For property owners, sale of stigmatized property may become difficult, or result in loss of property value. Future owners can be adversely affected in a number of ways as well, from suffering physiological ill effects or having their personal belongings become contaminated, to facing foreclosure when forced by state regulations to comply with costly newly-imposed clean-up standards.

Citizens need to know not only about the physical effects of the drug, but the other drastically dire and distressing consequences to their communities and possibly their own personal safety, as well. It is of utmost importance for everyone to learn to recognize the signs of meth usage, the indicators of a meth lab or waste disposal site, and know what to do in the event they are encountered.

The Meth Lab problem creates issues all around the country. As we begin to discuss this issue we can listen to one particular problem in Indiana that was presented on NPR.

Topics Covered

Lesson 1: Meth Overview

Lesson 2: Meth Abuse

Lesson 3: Meth & Real Estate

Lesson 4: Staying Safe

Lesson 5: What is Being Done

Lesson 6: Public Awareness

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify key indications of Meth and Meth production
• Realize the multitude of dangers posed by meth use and meth labs
• Empathize with the dismal effect meth abuse has on potentially everyone
• Recognize the signs and indicators in detecting meth usage and meth labs
• Gain awareness of the cleanup and disclosure responsibilities required of property owners
• Locate additional resources and information

About

Welcome to Ethics & Professional Practice!

A new member who has completed the New Member Code of Ethics Orientation shall not be required to complete additional ethics training until the next three-year cycle.

• Click to view the NAR COVID-19 Resources.

Topics Covered

Lesson 1: The Princess Story

Lesson 2: Definitions

Lesson 3: The Code of Ethics

Lesson 4: Antitrust

Lesson 5: Enforcement

Lesson 6: Case Studies

Lesson 7: Arbitration

Lesson 8: Scenario Exercises

Lesson 9: Pathways to Professionalism

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Discuss the ethical and moral obligations of acting as a real estate broker
• Explain the difference between the law and ethics
• Identify commonly used real estate terms
• Summarize the obligations that Articles 1- 17 of the Code of Ethics create
• Recognize the various state and federal acts that have been created to prohibit agreements among competitors to fix prices, rig bids, or to engage in any anti-competitive activities
• Recognize the responsibilities of both the Grievance Committee and Professional Standards Committee as part of the professional standards enforcement system
• Define the sanctions used for enforcing the Code of Ethics
• Discuss the outcome of the various scenarios provided in the course which illustrate possible ethics violations
• Explain the purpose of an arbitration hearing and the factors are taken into consideration by Arbitration Hearing Panels
• Summarize the meaning of procuring cause and it’s relevance in broker to broker disputes
• Identify correct answers to all case study exercises
• Recognize the duties and challenges imposed by The Code of Ethics and Pathways to Professionalism
  
   

About

As a professional real estate agent, one of the most important duties of your job is to properly price your listings for market. Getting listings is one thing, selling them is another. Sure, it’s fun to see your name on a sign in a yard, but yard signs don’t pay the bills. There is a right way to price a home, which involves a thorough review of the market - the active competition, the recent sales and the expired listings. The wrong way is to allow your seller to dictate the price. While you do want and need seller input, you need to know in your heart what the right price range is and be able to defend it.

As a licensed professional real estate agent, it is your duty to be honest and straightforward with the sellers about market value. Our job as real estate agents is not to make friends because we are the highest bidder. Sellers are depending on us and our recommendations in order to make important decisions. This course will help you learn and understand the nuances of this specific market.

Topics Covered

Lesson 1: Basic Pricing Strategies

Lesson 2: Creative Pricing Strategies

Lesson 3: Pricing for Flaws

Lesson 4: Solve the Problem

Lesson 5: Effectively Communicating with the Seller

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Discuss basic pricing strategies
• Explain creative pricing strategies
• Identify pricing for flaws
• Understand solve the problem, don’t reduce the price
• Demonstrate effectively communicating with the seller

About

Buying real estate as an investment can be a sound practice, but it requires research, understanding the marketplace, and enough financial stability to accept the illiquidity of real estate.

Topics Covered

Lesson 1: Real Estate Investment

Lesson 2: Risk/Profit

Lesson 3: Analysis

Lesson 4: Exercises

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• The basics of investing in residential real estate which include the profit and risk potentials
• The overall characteristics of real estate investments
• The basics of comparing investment properties which includes a detailed approach to property analysis

About

There is so much we as listing agents can do to serve our sellers, regardless of the state of the local real estate market and the economy. We aren't helpless. We aren’t powerless when it comes to selling houses. Even in a difficult market, we have far more power and control over whether our listings sell than we give ourselves credit for.

This course is about how to sell those listings you work so hard to get, so that you actually see a paycheck for your efforts and, of course, get yourself a delighted seller who will be happy to refer business to you for years to come. Because it doesn’t matter if you’re the best FSBO converter on the planet—or have an expired campaign to die for—if you can’t sell those listings you’re so good at getting, then what’s the point?

Topics Covered

Lesson 01:Preparation and Pricing 1-10
Lesson 02: Pricing, Condition and Accessibility 11-22
Lesson 03:Challenges, Checklists and Marketing 23-45
Lesson 04:Advertising, Inspection & Appraisal 46-64
Lesson 05:Evaluating Your Listings 65-74

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand why the first 30 days are critical in any listing
• Explain what motivates us during the initial listing period
• Understand what information we should be gathering during this time
• Explain what happens after the first 30 days - i.e. What is at risk
• Relate the value of accessibility
• Recognize the impact of price reductions and underpricing
• Describe the importance of property condition
• Explain how to reduce the potential for hurt feelings during a transaction
• Recognize the importance for real estate professionals to do only what they are hired to do. Do not exceed your responsibilities during a transaction (i.e. acting like a home inspector)
• Discuss the need for good correspondence. Anything observed or overheard which may be of importance should be recorded.
• Identify the need to stage properties.
• Recognize the need for having the appropriate checklists to help identify areas of concern.
• Define the need for the real estate professional to ask questions about any "red flags" that they may find, see, or smell
• Define advertising, offers, inspection, appraisal and elaborate on how to handle each
  Take simple steps you can take that will ease the transaction for the most important people - your clients and customers.

About

Welcome!

This guide was created to help you SELL expired listings. Not GET expired listings (although it may help do that, too), but actually SELL them…

“You have no idea how thrilled I am that you are reading these words. I’m serious about that. The fact that you are taking time and energy away from your busy life to figure out how to SELL expired listings makes me smile.

Most real estate training products that focus on expired listings teach you how to GET those listings, as if all that seems to matter is putting a For Sale sign in another yard, with hardly any fanfare devoted to what happens next.”

-- Jennifer Hagedorn, Author/Instructor

...Well, except for asking for that price reduction six weeks later.

Topics Covered

This course focuses on the following topics:

• Introduction
• Phases of the Expired Listing Analysis Process
• Phase One – Uncover the Data
• Phase Two – Analyze the Data
• Interlude: Can You Sell This Listing?
• Phase Three – Recommend and Make Adjustments Based on Your Findings
• Conclusion

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the phases of the expired listing analysis process
• Examine data and restate value concerns
• Analyze listing information and market analysis data
• Recommend and make adjustments to listing prices based on the evaluation process
  
   

About

This course is intended to introduce or expand participants' awareness of the many factors that must be taken into consideration when serving the real estate needs of international homebuyers or investors in the United States.

This session covers the elements of a typical international transaction, as well as ensuring that the activities of the real estate practitioner and of the international citizen are in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, this course will review diversity trends in the United States population, examine the areas of fastest growth, and identify potentially sensitive subjects of communication.

Topics Covered

This course focuses on the following topics:

• Lesson 1: International Opportunity
• Lesson 2: The International Transaction
• Lesson 3: Foreign Laws and Government Regulations
• Lesson 4: Taxation

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Calculate the effect currency fluctuation has on a real estate transaction.
• Illustrate the essential elements of international transactions.
• Relate the expectations of international clients, including the importance of cultural sensitivity.
• Employ skills necessary to enhance effectiveness in building cross cultural relationships.
• Apply the regulations and taxes that must be adhered to by foreign parties participating in a real estate transaction.

About

The United States has a credit oriented economy. The ability to finance large purchases from automobiles to houses weighs heavily on the buying decision. The price of a house is largely a function of the cash needed to purchase (the down payment) and the monthly cost to own (the house payment). Unfortunately, many buyers make poor buying decisions because they fail to consider the entire cost of the loan including interest rate adjustments and prepayment penalties.

This is a comprehensive course that covers all aspects of real estate financing that the real estate professional must know to provide the best service for their clients.

Topics Covered

Lesson 1: The Monetary System

Lesson 2: Sources of Money

Lesson 3: Transactions and the Lending Process

Lesson 4: Insurance

Lesson 5: Other Loan Programs

Lesson 6: The Credit Score Process

Lesson 7: The Mortgage Loan Process

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Define Monetary System.
• Identify sources of money and insurance system.
• Relate to the transaction and lending process.
• Interpret the credit score and mortgage loan process.

About

This fair housing course focuses on discrimination in the new millennium. Topics include a review of discriminatory trends, federal and state fair housing laws, mortgage lending, diversity, testing and working with public attitudes.

"If we are going to grow, we have to learn how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable."

-- Zeke Morris, Chair, National Association of REALTORS® Fair Housing Act Anniversary Working Group

This course will take you on a journey to help understand the foundation of fair housing laws and to provide information to help avoid violation of the laws by reviewing questions and concerns licensees and their customers might have.

Topics Covered

Lesson 1: Fair Housing History

Lesson 2: Current Fair Housing

Lesson 3: Cases & Supplemental Material

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Discuss Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VIII of the 1968 Act, and Fair Housing Amendments
• Define the protection that these acts give and to whom
• List the exemptions to the Civil Rights Act of 1968
• Discuss the differences between state and federal law with regard to Fair Housing
• Recognize the terms that may, in the context of an advertisement, be considered in violation of federal, state, or local laws
• Discuss the positive and negative aspects of sub-prime lending
• Recognize the signs of predatory lending
• Identify discriminatory acts
• Summarize how to avoid acting in a discriminating manner.

About

Since 2001, EcoBroker Certified professionals have become the best sustainability advocates the fiduciary service professional industries have ever known. EcoBrokers protect the interests of property owners and buyers by focusing on quality due diligence, property disclosure, ethics, advocacy, and the energy and environmental opportunities available to ensure real property performs at its optimal operational and financial efficiency, as sustainably as possible. Each year EcoBrokers return to learn about the current trends and opportunities in real estate and sustainability.

The intent of this Trends Course is to help EcoBrokers stay out-in-front, as the best of the best in sustainability advocacy and the ethics of service. This course is all about the core principals, kindness, professionalism, and ethics that have distinguished EcoBrokers over the course of their service to property owners, buyers, and anyone else interested in learning about and taking advantage of sustainability technologies and services.

It's also about differentiating.

Topics Covered

Lesson 1: Ethics, Advocacy, and Values

Lesson 2: Green Financing Solutions

Lesson 3: Solar Due Diligence and Solutions

Lesson 4: Water Due Diligence and Solutions

EcoBroker Background

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the interest of owners and buyers, and ethics involved, regarding property.
• Understand the role of sustainable environment while dealing with real estate property.
• Identify potential advantages of sustainable technologies and services for real estate property.