Professional and ethical real estate professionals who adhere to a high set of standards are the foundation for restoring confidence and stability in an uncertain marketplace. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) relies on its Code of Ethics to ensure that all REALTORS® conduct business in an honest manner and with the highest degree of integrity. In addition, the California Business and Professions Code guides ethical business practices within California. As part of your real estate continuing education, this course, which is aligned to the requirements of the current NAR cycle, will provide you state licensing continuing education credits as well as fulfill the requirement for Ethics training mandated by the National Association of REALTORS®.

Course highlights include:

• The ethical responsibilities and standards of conduct of REALTORS® to their clients and customers, other REALTORS®, and to the general public as required by the NAR Code of Ethics
• The ethical responsibilities of REALTORS® to their clients and customers
• How to adhere to the principles of fair housing and non-discrimination
• The requirements of real estate professionals to avoid false and misleading statements and to conduct business with competitors in a fair and honest manner
• The dispute resolution process, including arbitration and mediation, and the disciplinary process for REALTORS®
• The California Business and Professions Code and how it relates to the NAR Code of Ethics

*This course was designed by The CE Shop 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.

Course highlights:

• Parsing the NAR Code of Ethics
• Material and latent defects
• Broker cooperation and compensation
• Disclosure of personal interest
• Avoiding discrimination
• Responsible advertising
• Keeping to your area of expertise
• Mediation and arbitration
• California Business and Professions Code

Agency refers to the type of relationship between a buyer or seller and a real estate licensee. Buyers and sellers enlist the assistance of a real estate professional to represent their interests and direct transactions on their behalf. As a knowledgeable expert, you can guide clients through the process and help them resolve problems and challenges along the way.

Course highlights include:

• The types of agency relationships that can exist in the state of California
• Duties you must provide under each type of agency and your authority as an agent within a real estate transaction
• How agency relationships are created in California, including those relationships that are presumed or implied
• How to disclose and confirm agency relationships to all parties in a real estate transaction
• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts

California was a pioneer in establishing fair housing protections for its citizens. Fair housing law at the state and national continue to evolve as new forms of discrimination reach legislative awareness. Licensees have a responsibility to stay informed to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local fair housing laws. 

On the heels of the 50-year anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, we review the evolution of fair housing law and look at new and proposed fair housing protections.  

Real estate professionals who understand and strictly comply with California fair housing laws serve clients and customers with confidence and integrity and ensure that every person is treated fairly. This course will help you to identify important concepts to improve your service and help you to avoid common legal and cultural pitfalls. 

Course Highlights

• The benefits of fair housing compliance
• California laws that help to ensure fair housing protections
• How to ensure fair housing compliance in advertising
• Two proposed additions to the list of seven federally protected classes
• A glimpse into the future of fair housing law
• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts

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.

Real estate professionals act as intermediaries in the transfer of funds entrusted by consumers in real estate transactions.

This course covers processes and requirements involved in managing and accounting for trust funds, what you are required to do with funds entrusted to you, and how to ensure the funds are handled properly.

Course highlights:

• Account requirements for California trust funds
• Recording deposits and withdrawals
• Mismanagement of trust funds, liability and penalties
• Hands-on practice recording trust fund transactions
• Reconciliation process
• Preparing for an audit
• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts

Real estate and risk go hand in hand, and the more you know about potential risks, the better able you'll be to effectively manage those risks and minimize exposure. For yourself, for your clients, for your brokerage.

Course highlights:

• An overview of risk and risk management as it relates to the real estate industry
• A discussion of property disclosure requirements, the Transfer Disclosure Statement, and related potential risks
• A review of the proper procedures for both disclosing agency relationships and confirming that clients and customers understand their representation options
• An explanation of the potential risks involved with executing real estate contracts and earning compensation
• An examination of antitrust laws, fair housing laws, and associated risks that lead to common violations
• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts

Implicit bias—the unconscious attitudes and stereotypes that impact our actions and decisions—can be a controversial and confusing subject. However, as a 2019 Newsday Long Island real estate exposé revealed, implicit bias can have a significant impact on real estate professionals’ interactions with consumers. With this in mind, the California Department of Real Estate mandated this two-hour course to make licensees aware of what implicit bias is, explain how to recognize it in themselves, and understand the illegal and immoral impact it has on the public. It also examines explicit and systemic biases and their impact on Californians.

This course explores the roots of implicit bias in government-sanctioned practices such as redlining and blockbusting, then shows licensees how to recognize their own biases.

The course meets California’s mandatory requirement for two hours of Implicit Bias Training.

Course highlights include:

• Implicit bias and its various forms
• Explicit bias and systemic bias
• Societal impacts of biases
• Historical and social impacts of bias
• Fair housing prohibited actions and enforcement
• California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act
• Role play: recognizing and combating implicit bias

Financing is integral to real estate transactions, and the more you know about how buyers qualify, the better you'll be able to help both buyers and sellers in your practice. 

Course highlights include:

• Roles and regulations of FNMA, GNMA, FHLMC, FHA, and VA
• Affordability Worksheet, to assist clients in calculating their maximum affordable purchase price
• Homebuyer Do's and Don'ts 
• Calculating LTV, front-end and back-end ratios, and monthly mortgage payments
• Details and qualification requirements for several popular financing options

The Fundamentals of Commercial Real Estate covers the need-to-know information on a broad range of commercial topics.

If you're an experienced residential licensee, a few of the fundamentals of commercial real estate will be familiar to you—the importance of location, for example. In other regards, commercial differs sharply from residential real estate. Executives, investors, and business owners in commercial real estate focus squarely on the bottom line.

This course will provide a foundation for the more complex aspects of commercial real estate as you gain more experience in the industry.

Course highlights include:

• Key terms and concepts of commercial real estate
• How to identify and meet the needs of commercial real estate clients
• How commercial and residential sales differ
• Valuation methods for real estate and businesses
• Tips on gathering the demographic and location-related details that clients need to make well-informed decisions

Whether you're representing a seller who's listing a high-efficiency home or working with a buyer to find one, it's important to be able to recognize a home's green features and the value they bring to the property. This means understanding the benefit of big-ticket green items such as solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal heating and cooling systems, solar water heaters, or even energy-efficient windows, as well as knowing the value in quick-and-easy updates like low-flow faucets, LED lighting, and smart thermostats. It also means knowing the difference between HERS and HES and SEER and LEED. Of course, greening up a home isn't cheap. Letting your clients know about available federal and state programs and incentives is another way you can ensure your clients are getting the best service around.

Course highlights include:

• An overview of the green home movement
• Green terminology, certifications, and ratings
• A review of energy-efficient upgrades, including solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal heating and cooling systems, solar water heaters, and more
• Tips for assisting green homebuyers and sellers
• A review of the FHA's Energy Efficient Mortgage and the 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage programs
• Qualifications for the DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program
• California laws related to home energy-efficiency requirements
• Interactive activities and scenarios to seal in the new information and frame it in everyday context

Thanks in part to movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up, sexual harassment and discrimination have moved to the forefront of the national conversation. Responsible agents not only reject sexually predatory behavior but also actively dismantle toxic workplace environments to ensure a safe place for all. It’s up to agents to reject behaviors or ideologies that could damage neighbors, clients, and each other.

In this course, we’ll take a closer look at how sexual harassment is defined and the impact such behavior can have on your clients, your brokerage, and your reputation. Additionally, we’ll discuss actions you can take to ensure that your office is inclusive and welcoming to all, and that your clients’ best interests are always protected. This includes tips for putting together a comprehensive office policy that thoroughly addresses sexual harassment and discrimination.

Course highlights:

• How sexual harassment is defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR)
• Protections offered through Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the federal Fair Housing Act
• Ramifications of sexual harassment within a brokerage, including how it affects clients and customers
• Federal Sexual Harassment Housing Initiative
• Federal and state laws protecting sexual orientation and gender identity in housing
• Landmark legal cases relating to sexual harassment and gender discrimination
• Tips for putting together a comprehensive office policy that addresses sexual harassment and the complaint process
• Activities and scenarios to reinforce key concepts

Must a property manager accept a tenant's emotional support animal, and under what conditions? What proof can a property manager or landlord require of a tenant who claims a need for an emotional support animal? What about homeowners associations—must accommodation be made in these communities?

This course explores the issues and options for landlords and property managers surrounding assistance animals, helping real estate professionals who represent them to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to housing in compliance with the law.

Course highlights include:

• The evolving fair housing law
• How the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act intersect--and don't
• Types of assistance animals
• How to handle reasonable requests for accommodation
• Case studies and legal trends 
• Examples and scenarios to help apply course content to real life

Note: This course does not meet NAR Fair Housing requirements.

The internet is full of promotional opportunities. Whether it’s a post on Facebook or a tweet linking to your new listing, a status update on LinkedIn, a virtual home tour on YouTube, or photo collage on Pinterest, you can easily promote your professionalism, highlight your expertise, increase your connections, and showcase your listings. Or you can fall flat on your face.

This course shows how to use the unique advertising and marketing opportunities available online to better serve your clients and customers, and further promote your own brand.

Course highlights include:

• How consumers—and agents and agencies—are using social media and how this is impacting the real estate industry
• How to use various social media platforms—including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest—to promote your business and better serve your clients and customers
• How various social media platforms differ and how to select the ones that are best for you and your needs
• Tips for creating an online marketing strategy
• Legal and ethical issues surrounding online marketing
• Copyright law, trademarks, and public domain content
• Tips for avoiding common social media missteps.
• Activities and scenarios to provide real-world context for course content

More than 80% of real estate licensees leave the business within the first two years, and this is primarily due to a lack of understanding of what it takes to succeed. Of those who stay, very few earn a lucrative living at it.

Don't be that licensee.

Whether you're just launching your business or you think it's time to level up, this course will give you the tools to launch your career from a solid foundation, one that lets you know what you need to do today, this week, this month, this quarter, and this year to execute your well-considered business plan.

This course will show you how to take stock, create a vision, and gather the tools necessary to achieve that vision so you can create a professional, exemplary, referral-driven business that serves clients needs and exceeds client expectations.

Course highlights include:

• Helpful ideas for defining your real estate business, vision statement and mission statement
• A Business Plan Worksheet that will help you determine goals and execute your plan
• Details about identifying strengths and weaknesses, and setting realistic, attainable goals
• An editable, customizable Business Plan Template
• How to calculate the action steps needed to achieve success as you define it

Unlike most owner-occupied homebuyers, real estate investors enter the market to make money. By learning about investor motivators and criteria, you’ll be in a better position to help your clients navigate this asset strategy.

Working with Real Estate Investors examines investor goals and strategies, different investment property types, key financial considerations, and your role in locating, negotiating for, and marketing investment properties.

Course Highlights:

• An overview of residential and commercial investment property types
• Short- and long-term investment property acquisition strategies 
• Financial factors that influence investor decisions, including depreciation, 1031 tax exchanges, and cash flow
• Financing options available to real estate investors, including conventional loans, commercial loans, and private money lenders
• Tips for locating and marketing investment properties
• Pros and cons of working with investor clients
• Ethical duties when working with investor clients
• Activities and scenarios to provide real-world context for course content