Do We Need Separate Licenses?
November 19, 2007 | 3 Comments
My Utterz post about real estate licensing had some formatting issues. If you want to hear the entire audio, go here.
Zion Crossroads Providing Much Needed Commercial Development
July 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Anyone who lives east of the Charlottesville/Albemarle area, knows all too well the drive into Charlottesville. For decades, residents of Fluvanna and Louisa especially, have made the drive into Charlottesville for dining, shopping, recreation, etc. That may soon be changing.
Zion X Roads (the area where Rt. 250, Rt. 15 and I-64 intersect) is quickly developing into the next major regional commercial location. There have recently been a few news articles regarding the planned development, which I will be covering in a few upcoming posts. On the horizon for Zion X Roads is a new Best Western Hotel (opening August 1), a Super Wal-Mart, a Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, an upscale outlet mall, and plenty of other retail and office space. Combine all of this with what already exists in that area, including the growing community at Spring Creek, and Zion X Roads is sure to offer area residents a viable alternative to traveling into Charlottesville. It may also attract people out of Albemarle and away from the south side of Richmond, now wouldn’t that be a feat!
Time will tell how the development at Zion X Roads will affect the Charlottesville area, but one thing is for sure– it is an area whose time is long overdue.
[tags] Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Virginia, Realtor, commercial development, Zion Crossroads, [/tags]
1 Down, 3 To Go
May 3, 2007 | 2 Comments
I received an email from CCIM informing me that I passed my CI 101 test. I obtained a 92% on the final test. Not bad, I’ll take it. Now I need to plan and prepare for CI 102, and continue my journey to the dark side.
What I Learned In School. . .
April 23, 2007 | 11 Comments
Today is Monday. If you remember, my last post was a week ago. I told you then about beginning my journey through the gauntlet that is the CCIM education program. At that time, I was quite optimistic about being able to give you updates as to my progress through CI-101, the first class in the gauntlet. Prior to starting the class, I received a call from the BawldGuy, the only other blogger I know who went through the classes. He gave me some great advice, and was good enough to write a post about his experience on the BloodhoundBlog.
When Jeff noticed that I had not written a post all week, something he warned me would happen, he took the time to poke a little fun at me. To be quite honest with you, when I talked to Jeff before taking the class, I had no idea what “death on a cracker” meant when he used it to describe my probable condition during the class. By the end of class on Tuesday afternoon, however, I knew all to well what it means to be “death on a cracker.” Before I explain, I want to say for the record that every single piece of advice and experience that Jeff shared with me about the class was RIGHT ON THE MONEY. Even though he went through the CCIM gauntlet in 1980, everything he said was completely relevant to me today.
Continuing education is part of the career of every real estate licensee. Every state requires some form of continuing education. The reality is that much of this education is not even remotely difficult. It is far more difficult to find time to take the classes that it is to actually pass the classes. That will NEVER be said of the CCIM courses. The CCIM designation is perhaps the most difficult designation to achieve in the entire real estate profession. CCIM designees are few and far between, and they are not slouches by any stretch of the imagination. They are some of the top leaders in commercial real estate and investing.
As Jeff mentioned in his post, my class had two instructors. They claim this is done as a way of keeping the class from getting bored by hearing one voice all the time. The reality is that this is done to keep the instructors fresh. They get tired, too. My instructors were Byron Smith and Ryan Lorey. They were both incredible teachers, and nice guys, too. Both of them have experience and knowledge so vast that you can’t help but learn something just sitting in the room with them. From 8:30am to 5:30pm for 4 days they did their absolute best to share that knowledge and experience with the class in an attempt to train us to be more professional real estate consultants, and smarter real estate investors.
The best way to sum up the CI-101 class is to use the words of Ryan Lorey. The very first thing he said to the class when we began on 8:30am on Monday morning was, “for the next week, you are going to feel like you are trying to drink water from a fire hose.” He was exactly right. The amount of learning that occurs in the four days of class is completely astounding. On Monday, I could barely use the financial calculator I bought for the class. By the end of the test on Friday, I was able to work through real-life case studies of complex commercial real estate investments. Would I call myself an expert? Certainly not. But I can definitely say that I am a much more informed agent today than I was I week ago. I can can understand and explain important concepts that were completely foreign to me a week ago. It is truly an amazing thing.
The purpose of this post is not to share war stories about the class. Perhaps I will use some of them for later posts. I am sure some of the lessons I learned are going to be subjects of future posts. The purpose of this post is to share the most important thing that I learned after going through the class– anything worth doing is worth doing right; and anything worth doing right is going to be hard.
CI-101 was far and away the most difficult real estate class I have ever taken. Heck, I had a few college classes that weren’t that hard. As difficult and arduous as it was, however, I can’t wait to take CI-102. And as a bonus, “death on a cracker” is now part of my vocabulary.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, commercial real estate, real estate education, CCIM [/tags]
The Zebra Goes to Washington
April 16, 2007 | 2 Comments
I am in Washington, DC this week. I will be taking my first in a series of education classes through the CCIM institute. It should prove to be very interesting. I talked to the BawldGuy about what to expect, since he went through the classes a while back. He was very helpful and gave me some good advice, which is exactly what I expected. I told him that I would try to keep at least a daily blog of what I am learning in the class, at least the stuff that I think readers might find interesting. He told me to forget it; once I am finished with the daily classes, I should be pretty wiped out.
Is this real estate education, or boot camp? Hmmm, I guess I will find out on Monday morning. . .
[tags] real estate, realtor, real estate education, CCIM [/tags]
Should Commercial Agents Have a Separate License?
March 27, 2007 | 3 Comments
I spent much of my day today at the Virginia Association of REALTORS headquarters attending a meeting of the VAR Commercial Alliance. The Alliance is a committee comprised of commercial REALTORS from around the commonwealth who serve the function of addressing the unique needs of commercial REALTORS within the organization.
In case you are wondering what I am doing on the Alliance, I have been working towards gaining a knowledge and understanding of the practice of commercial real estate so that I may one day incorporate it into my personal practice. My geographical area is one that is relatively under-served when it comes to commercial real estate, and it is something that has always interested me. As a result of the commercial real estate education classes I have taken through CCIM, VAR contacted me and asked if I would like to be part of the Alliance. They thought that having a member of the Alliance who is just beginning a commercial real estate career would be valuable. I was flattered. Obviously, I agreed.
Much of the meeting today centered around the possibility of creating a separate Virginia license for commercial practitioners. Currently, there is no state in the country that has separate licenses for commercial and residential licensees. The idea is that because commercial real estate and residential real estate require very different skill sets, the licensing laws should reflect this. The other issue at play is Article 11 of the National Association of REALTORS Code of Ethics, which states that, “REALTORS shall not undertake to provide specialized professional services concerning a type of property or service that is outside their field of competence [. . .]“ Some interpret this to mean that a residential REALTOR who undertakes representing someone in a commercial real estate transaction (or vice-versa), may actually be violating the Code of Ethics. The argument is that creating two licenses would help rectify this issue by helping to ensure that everyone has at least a basic level of training in the field in which they practice, either residential or commercial.
There are obviously a lot of issues with creating a separate license for commercial practitioners. Without even getting to those issues, the first question that must be answered is, “is this really necessary?” Personally, I can understand the need for ensuring that the people practicing real estate, either commercial or residential, should know what they are doing. I still believe, however, that the impetus for change must come from the individual licensees, and not from the government. There are plenty of great ways for agents to learn about the practice of commercial real estate. I’m not convinced that government intervention is truly necessary. That doesn’t mean I couldn’t be convinced of the argument, but as of right now, I think that the creation of a separate commercial real estate license falls under the same category as increasing any licensing standards.
But, hey, that’s just my opinion. I want to know what you think, especially what other agents think. Is it really necessary to have separate licenses for commercial and residential practitioners? Let me know!
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, commercial real estate, ccim, var, [/tags]
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
