Navigating real estate can be confusing and overwhelming for customers and clients. Licensees can help clients understand the process and available services by providing valuable information and support. As a licensee, they can provide reliable and knowledgeable resources to those needing assistance. Counseling consumers involves communicating and building a solid rapport with clients, understanding their needs and preferences, and providing accurate information and advice. An effective licensee provides clients with sound advice and guidance at every transaction stage while keeping their best interests as a top priority.

Ultimately, a licensee’s success depends on building trust and establishing strong client relationships. By providing expert guidance and assistance throughout the real estate process, licensees can help clients achieve their real estate goals.

This two-hour mandatory course fulfills Alaska’s 2024-2026 DCE requirement for the topic of Counseling Consumers.

Course highlights include:

• Client vs. customer services review
• Best practices with customers and clients
• Credit and housing counseling
• Counseling clients after an unsuccessful negotiation
• Property disclosure review
• Required disclosures
• Residential Real Property Transfer Disclosure Statement
• Purpose of the home inspection

Understanding the significance of energy conservation is important, especially in Alaska, where unique challenges arise due to extreme weather conditions and remote locations. This course explores the impact and benefits of energy conservation practices for homeowners in Alaska and examines how adopting energy-efficient practices can reduce utility bills, mitigate environmental impacts, and enhance economic and environmental sustainability.

Alaska has vast and diverse landscapes, which calls for comprehensive regulations and procedures for land use, planning, zoning, and building codes. A review of Alaska's regulatory framework helps licensees understand the state's land use laws and procedures. Examining zoning laws, planning regulations, and building codes gives licensees insight into the mechanisms shaping land development and conservation efforts in Alaska.

This two-hour mandatory course fulfills Alaska's 2024-2026 DCE requirement for the topic of Environmental Issues and Land Use.

Course highlights include:

• Energy efficiency and conservation in Alaska
• Alaska's Energy Independence Fund
• Energy-saving tips
• Energy-efficient improvement options
• Impact of energy efficiency on resale value
• Land use and development in Alaska
• Municipal land use
• Zoning land
• Building codes and standards

Licensees have likely encountered situations regarding housing discrimination, tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities, or misrepresentation in advertising. Beyond sales, a licensee's role as a real estate professional is to guide clients through a fair real estate landscape. Armed with the essential tools and knowledge from this content, they can not only facilitate informed decision-making for their clients but also contribute to maintaining fairness and equity within the professional community.

After completing this course, licensees will recognize federal and state laws related to advertising and fair housing, be able to recall crucial components of the Alaska Landlord-Tenant Act, and recognize legal requirements for property management.

This two-hour mandatory course fulfills Alaska's 2024-2026 DCE requirement for the topic of Fair Housing and Property Management.

Course highlights include:

• Federal and Alaska fair housing law and protected classes
• Alaska advertising requirements
• Puffery vs. misrepresentation
• The NAR Code of Ethics and advertising
• The Alaska Landlord and Tenant Act
• Landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities
• Security deposit handling and timelines
• Property management
• Reasonable accommodations and modifications
• Property management agreements

One of the most important aspects of real estate is the relationships between the parties involved and the corresponding obligations that come with those relationships. Real estate professionals must clearly understand the different types of relationships between them and consumers. The Alaska Real Estate Commission Consumer Disclosure includes guidelines to help licensees understand their obligations and protect them and the consumers they work with.

In Alaska, real estate professionals are expected to uphold high ethical standards and maintain a professional demeanor. One of the areas where ethics and professionalism come into play is through disclosure. Licensees must be transparent and forthcoming in their dealings with clients, customers, and other brokers. Licensees can build trust and credibility by maintaining high ethical standards and conducting themselves professionally, leading to long-term career success.

This two-hour mandatory course fulfills Alaska's 2024-2026 DCE requirement for the topic of Required Licensee Disclosures.

Course highlights include:

• Specific assistance
• Representation review
• Designated licensee relationships
• Neutral licensees
• Alaska Real Estate Commission Consumer Disclosure
• Handling ethical negotiations
• Disclosing conflict of interest
• Compensation disclosure
• Advertising prohibitions and required disclosures
• Loyalty and self-dealing

There’s a reason real estate agents often rank among the least trusted professionals in the U.S. But what can you do to improve the public’s perception? And what should you do when you run into an ethical dilemma or into a licensee who’s not behaving ethically? As a real estate professional, you can help raise the bar and improve the reputation of the industry. You can lead by example.

Aligned to the requirements of the current NAR cycle, this course will empower you to recognize and respond to ethical dilemmas, inspiring consumer confidence. For answers to ethical dilemmas, we’ll look to several articles of the National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics, and draw from real-life ethical scenarios. In three short hours, you’ll be better prepared to exemplify the professionalism and cooperation that’s the true foundation of the real estate industry.

Course highlights include:

• Meets both regular ethics renewal requirements and new licensee ethics course requirements
• The importance of ethical behavior in NAR members and non-members alike, fostering a spirit of cooperation
• History and evolution of the Code, the preamble, and the Code’s influence on state licensing laws
• Structure of the Code
• Review and application of articles 1, 2, 3, 9, 12, 15, and 16 of the NAR Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice
• Case studies of real-life ethical challenges
• Mediation and arbitration, with arbitration as the monetary dispute resolution process between REALTORS®
• Application of Article 17 of the NAR Code of Ethics to the complaints and hearing process
• Grievance committee vs. professional standards committee
• Best practices for demonstrating ethical behavior every day

*This course was designed by us to meet the REALTOR® Code of Ethics Training Requirement. Please confirm that your local association, who administers the Code of Ethics training, will accept this course.

In this course, you’ll learn about the history of housing discrimination and its lasting impact in order to better understand why fair housing laws are necessary. You’ll review the federal laws that provide protection against housing discrimination and what actions are prohibited and required by these laws in the business of real estate. This will include reviewing the personal characteristics—race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability--that federal law protects from discrimination in housing. Besides these federal protections, there are state and local government fair housing laws that protect additional personal characteristics from discrimination in housing and you’ll find out where to get more fair housing information for your clients.

You’ll also learn some best practices for fair housing marketing and some strategies to avoid steering and making assumptions based on stereotypes. You’ll role play some scenarios to practice interrupting any implicit biases so that consumers are treated with equal concern, respect, and fairness. By allowing consumers to choose which communities/neighborhoods they want to live in, you can do your part to uphold fair housing laws and end housing discrimination.

This course was designed to meet the REALTOR® Fair Housing Training Requirement. Please confirm that your local association, who administers the Fair Housing training, will accept this course.

The inspection period is a big hurdle to jump over on the way to closing. The inspector’s job is to call out defects. The buyer agent’s job is to negotiate repairs. The seller agent’s job is to mitigate damage. It can sometimes be hard to hold a deal together.

Protecting your buyer as a buyer’s agent means understanding the importance of the home inspection contingency and its deadlines, and identifying the need for specialized inspections.

Protecting your seller as the listing agent means helping the seller understand disclosure obligations, prepare for the inspection, and respond to a buyer’s reasonable repair requests.

Course highlights:

• The importance of the inspection contingency
• The licensee’s role in the inspection process
• Licensee and seller disclosure obligations
• Red flags related to common structural, plumbing, and electrical issues
• Specialized inspection types addressing radon, asbestos, sewer lines, septic tanks, mold, lead, and wells
• Interactive activities and scenarios

Proper document management provides proof that a licensee did what was required, when it was required. It serves to protect the consumer and it reduces the licensee's risk of litigation.

Get ready to become more comfortable with selecting and using transactional documents. 

Course highlights include:

• Common documents used in real estate transactions
• Common contract clauses, addenda, and contingencies
• Avoiding the unauthorized practice of law
• Multiple offer management
• Document signatures, notarizations, and identification
• Transaction management methods and best practices
• Document management and retention methods and best practices
• Technology and security for document management
• Legalities of electronic communication
• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts