24-Hr. SD CE Package

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.

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

Tactics that work with motivated, excited sellers don't always translate well when working with short sale sellers and short sale buyers. Add lender approvals, junior lien holders, and inflexible timelines into the mix, and you end up with a whole new ball game.

In a short sale transaction, the motivation for each party is different than the standard transaction, and as the professional in the scene, you need to adjust accordingly. This course speaks to your interaction with short sale sellers, and how you can help them through a tough process while diligently advocating on their behalf.  We cover how to figure out an appropriate listing price, negotiate with the lender's representative, sort through debt settlement terminology, and carry the deal through to closing. We also look at the process from a buyer's agent perspective. Additional cautions, considerations, and fraud prevention tactics are required when advocating on behalf of these deal-seeking buyers.  

Attacks on real estate professionals have made headlines at an alarmingly more frequent rate in recent years. After an incident where a licensee is harmed, everyone vows to do better, and the topic of safety is pushed to the front of training schedules. Then complacency sets in.

Criminals count on complacency.

This course reviews studies and statistics of safety issues in the real estate industry, and best practices for personal safety.       

Course highlights include:

• Crime statistics and studies that challenge preconceived notions
• Risk factors and vulnerabilities that unique to real estate professionals
• Case studies to illustrate how criminals target their victims
• How to develop a personal warning system and trust your instincts when something feels “off”
• Activities and scenarios to provide real-world context for course content

Whether for a buyer or seller, the comparative market analysis, properly done, can mean several thousands extra dollars in their pockets, and can determine whether a deal can be struck at all. But because it’s such a well-worn tool, it’s tempting for a licensee to get complacent with the CMA, and “phone it in.”

Don’t be that licensee!

This course covers the how-tos of a professionally researched  comparative market analysis.          

Course Highlights:

• The three-step approach to market analyses: the market, the property, the numbers
• Sources for subject property data and market data
• Using expired and active listings to inform pricing strategy
• How to prioritize criteria when selecting comparables
• How to adjust and homogenize selected comparables 
• How to weight selected comparables when selecting a list price range

Real estate professionals wear many hats: expert communicator, attentive listener, trustworthy confidant, obedient servant, loyal advocate, and knowledgeable educator, to name just a few. To juggle these roles effectively—and within the lines of the law—licensees must remain informed. Real estate professionals are in a position to provide an invaluable level of consumer protection as they support consumers through their real estate transactions.

This course explores licensees' role as advocate and educator, and how they can protect consumers and their business from the threats of antitrust and fair housing violations and predatory lending. We'll start by looking at what federal protections are in place to combat these unfair practices. We'll also provide the steps you can proactively take to protect the consumers you work with day in and day out and the business you've worked so hard to create.

Course highlights include:

• Federal antitrust laws and violations
• Avoiding antitrust violations and protecting consumers from them
• Antitrust complaint process and penalties
• Federal fair housing laws and violations
• Redlining, blockbusting, and steering
• Buyer love letters
• Fair housing complaint process and penalties
• Predatory lending
• Truth in Lending Act
• Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act
• Protecting consumers from predatory lending
• Reporting predatory lending

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
• Interactive activities and scenarios to seal in the new information and frame it in everyday context

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