New: Board Certified Professional Endorsement
It’s Florida Realtors’ highest professionalism honor, earned by top Realtors as demonstrated through their sales, volunteerism, advocacy and ethical conduct.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Realtors® unveiled a new program to identify Florida Realtors working at the peak of their profession.
“A Florida Realtors Board Certified Professional is a Realtor that has earned the distinction of high competence and professionalism through ongoing work in sales, volunteerism, advocacy, and ethical treatment of the public, consumers and other Realtors,” says Stacy Stahl, chair of the Florida Realtors Board Certified Professionalism Endorsement Trustee Group.
“How do you easily identify the top professionals in our field?” asks Florida Realtors President G. Mike McGraw, a broker-associate with RE/MAX Central Realty in Apopka. “Doctors and lawyers have distinctive board certification credentials that help the public identify and choose the provider they prefer. As one of the largest professions in our state, we need to promote Realtor members that work at the highest levels of real estate professionalism – and we accomplish this with our Florida Realtors Board Certified Professional endorsement.”
Stahl hopes buyers and sellers will find extra value and peace of mind knowing their Realtor is deemed one of the best agents in the state, an “agent that has gone above-and-beyond minimum requirements, is at the top of the field, and someone that will handle the transaction in an ethical and proficient manner.”
The program has been in the works for a few years, leading to an advisory group that started to discuss industry professionalism. With so many new licensees entering the profession each year, certification was deemed necessary, not only to honor those working at the peak of their profession, but also to create a benchmark for those new Realtors to work toward. It’s currently geared toward associates, with a broker option expected as a next step.
A complete overview including minimum qualifications, costs and applications can be found on the Florida Realtors Board Certified Professional website, but it involves a point system. Applicants must earn a minimum of 265 points for the endorsement out of a potential 425:
- Education: Applicant knowledge, skills and proficiency (60 points minimum/155 maximum)
- Involvement: Applicant character and advocacy efforts (20 points minimum/50 maximum)
- Exam: Applicant transactional knowledge (90 points minimum/100 maximum)
- Endorsements: Applicant competence and professionalism (30 points minimum/45 maximum)
- Personal interview: Verifies application details and correlates it to information submitted (65 points minimum/75 maximum)
“This endorsement will serve as our industry’s own “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval,” says Martha Pomares, managing broker of Douglas Elliman Florida in Miami.
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