American Real Estate University Surpasses 10,000 Agent Mark for its REO Specialist Designation
Atlanta, GA – July 31, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — American Real Estate University, the exclusive school for the Real Estate Owned Specialist (REOS) and Real Estate Short Sale Specialist (RESS) designations, has recently surpassed the 10,000-graduate mark for real estate professionals earning these designations. To date, AREU has had more than 25,000 real estate agents enrolled in its classes over the last two years. These courses are all designed to either teach a new area in which an agent can diversify and specialize or to keep agents up to speed on changes and developments in the industry.
“It is absolutely essential, with current market conditions, that real estate agents know the ins and outs of REOs and short sales. This two-day program is an intense course with the latest industry changes, new laws and regulations and creative solutions to be successfully in today’s homeownership environment,” explained certified instructor Cathy McDaniel, who was named 2008 Educator of the Year by the Georgia Real Estate Educators Association. “In both REO and short sale transactions, agents will be working with the lender. Policy, procedures and timeline varies among these lenders and their outsource management companies. Everything about this business is time20sensitive. Nothing is standard.”
According to AREU President Shane Mask, “Both types of transactions must be handled very differently from traditional real estate sales, require more paperwork, more time to complete and our courses teach agents specific and proven methods to succeed with these sales.”
In 2007 alone, Cathy McDaniel taught more than 10,000 real estate agents. She is the author and co-founder of the REOS and RESS designations and has been involved in the REO arena for some 16 years. Cathy is an industry expert on matters related to foreclosures, BPOs, short sales, foreclosure prevention and intervention, consumer advocacy and FHA financing. Cathy is a licensed instructor in seven states—Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, Nevada and Arizona—as a result, her programs count as continuing education program for real estate licensees in these states.
She holds her real estate broker’s license; a housing counseling and education certification from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority; is a master-level certified foreclosure agent instructor with foreclosure.com; serves as education and outreach director for the nonprofit organization American Homebuyers Foundation; is a Certified Mortgage Specialist, and a Certified Foreclosure Agent. In addition, Cathy is a big believer in community outreach, creating the GRACE (Great Real Estate Professionals Applying Care Everywhere) Initiative. To learn more, visit www.GRACEInitiative.com.
The two-day REO Specialist course, is broken into four classes, BPOs and REO Listings; Managing Your REO Listing; Working with a Buyer Purchasing an REO Property; and Financing Your REO Purchase plus Latest Technology. AREU provides continuing support, after course completion, with a members-only site, www.certifiedREO.com and a news release template to assist agents in announcing their new designation and specialized training.
AREU offers an array of courses for real estate agents who want to stay on top of the quickly changing industry. Many courses can be taken virtually with the help of 360training.com and programs exist for pre- and post-licensing, real estate exam preparation, professional development classes such as Appraisal Basics for Real Estate Agents, 1031 Exchanges, and Negotiations. AREU also offers numerous mortgage continuing education classes, arranged by state as requirements differ by state, with courses on ethics, real estate finance, fair housing, fundamentals of mortgage lending, etc. A complete list of courses for real estate, mortgage and insurance professionals is available at http://www.AmericanREU.com.
For more information about American Real Estate University, award-winning instructor Cathy McDaniel, to view video testimonials from real estate professionals who have taken the course, or to inquire about having AREU come on site to teach continuing education real estate courses, visit http://www.AmericanREU.com or call 770-602-4800. At the website, you will find course listin gs in a variety of areas from new to experienced agent as well as real estate designations and real estate technology classes.
