There are 1000s of great Realtors that work everyday in this very tough profession without designations and no added training. It's not to imply that they are not great agents or that they provide less of a service for their customers, but the consumer should really be acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages of certain designations.

Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI)
Obtaining this designation is an achievement of an extended base of knowledge in most fields of real-estate, typically about 90 hours worth. They must be a member of the National Association of Realtors and they have to adhere to the Code of Ethics.

Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR)
Now, if you're an initial time buyer, or it has been a long time because you bought a property, dealing with a Realtor who has achieved the ABR may be in your best interest. They have additional training in negotiating and other buyers issues, and are the benchmark in of excellence in buyer representation.

Certified Residential Specialist (CRS)
This certification requires additional classroom training but can be tied intimately to production requirements and licensed years. This certification is only offered to advanced Realtors.

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES)
This certification provides training to enable Realtors to profitably and ethically serve the requirements of buyers and sellers over the age of 55. The additional training includes such items as transitioning, relocating, and downsizing.

Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS).
There are over 1500 real-estate professionals that deal with all kinds of real-estate transactions--the common element here's that they are employed in the international marketplace. They could travel abroad to create transactions happen, they may work a "niche" area in their property community, or they may have expertise in the area market by marketing to foreign investors.

I want to add that you'll find so many more designations that I have not detailed here. The above are the most frequent in the marketplace. When you have a real-estate need and you imagine that the Realtor with a specific designation will help you, each one of these designations have a website and you have the ability to locate an agent in your town with that designation.

In conclusion, designations are one approach to maintaining professional excellence in a profession that consistently gets a negative rap by media, past clients, and is categorized with less desirable salespeople. If you want to perform a random kindness today, call your Realtor and thank them for the effort they do every single day to greatly help friends and family and neighbors to attain the American Dream.

Thank them for the $1,000,000 donation made the day after 9/11 to cover mortgages for involved families; thank them for the over $12million they've contributed to Katrina victims; and over $1million in donations for rebuilding homes for tsunami victims, not to mention the ongoing relationship that Realtors have with Habitat for Humanity, where Realtors not merely donate dollars, but blood, sweat and tears. Realtors are a great cohesive segment of the national population, thank them!!!

Dianne Mattiace. Full time Licensed best realtors in Dallas since 1995. Specializes in waterfront properties, TX relocation specialist, new construction, condominiums. Any and all real-estate needs.