Alabama AREEA News

Walt Hennessee has achieved a Certified Home Measurement Specialist designation

Walt Hennessee — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 14:40:43 GMT

Walt Hennessee has been awarded the Home Measurement Specialist Certification (HMS) by the Insittute of Housing Technologies, LLC. He joins a select group of real estate professionals who hold this highly sought-after certification, the only advanced real estate program geared towards the power of size in the home comparison and valuation processes. Walt achieved this prestigious designation after completing nine hours of advanced course work and extensive examinations. These courses ensured the designees gain comprehensive knowledge of the ANSI measurement standard, the overall impact of square footage and "price-per-square-foot" on home prices, and its influence on market timing strategies. HMS designees are trained and committed to delivering buyers and sellers true "value added services," helping buyers and sellers obtain a fair value in today's competitive marketplace.

Thank you and congratulations to our 2023 AREEA President Terrelle Major!

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 22:09:39 GMT

Thank you and congratulations to our 2023 AREEA President Terrelle Major!

As the year draws to a close, we would like to thank and congratulate our 2023 AREEA President, Terrell Major, on her many accomplishments this year.

For AREEA, Terrelle was instrumental in organizing and presenting twelve monthly board meetings, ten free workshops for members, two free CE classes for members, and three IDWs including the first GSI workshop every offered outside of the REEA conference. Terrelle is always quick to say her success is a team effort, but we all know that a team only works well under exceptional leadership!

Aside from her tireless work to help AREEA grow as an organization, Terrell celebrated several professional achievements in 2023 as a commercial real estate agent.

Board Nominated and Elected to the Greater Alabama MLS Board of Directors (GALMLS)
2024 Chair-Birmingham Commercial Business Council (BCRC) Birmingham Association of REALTORS® (BAR).

The Birmingham Commercial Business Council (BCRC) is responsible for increasing the value of BAR's commercial offerings and membership. Helping plan and attain sponsors for any commercial events and commercial resources offered. Also, evaluating the Birmingham Commercial Exchange (BCX) and the value it brings to commercial practitioners.

Completing CCIM CI102: Market Analysis for Commercial Investment Real Estate

Thank you, again, Madam President Terrelle Major!

THANK YOU to PHILLIP HORTON at BAR!

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 18:03:56 GMT

Terrelle Major, 2023 President, and Kimberly Benefield, 2023 Vice-President, presented a lovely token of appreciation to Phillip Horton, Education Director, on behalf of AREEA at his reception at the Birmingham Association of REALTORS® on Monday, October 30, 2023.

AREEA would like to say, "THANK YOU" to Phillip Horton at Birmingham Association of REALTORS®, Inc.! We sincerely appreciate all of the support you have provided to AREEA over the years!

We are excited about your new role at the Alabama Real Estate Commission!!!

AREEA visits the New Instructor Training at AREC

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 01:09:24 GMT

Terrelle Major, AREEA President, and Janie Wood, AREEA Board Director, attended the new instructor class at AREC today, August 24.

It was a great opportunity to meet new instructors and spend time with AREC Exective Director, Vaughn Poe, Commissioner Cerita Tucker Smith (7th Congressional District), and Education Specialist Julie Norris!

Check out Julie as she implements the "Wheel of Names" technique that we learned in the August AREC IDW taught by Theresa Barnabei! Go, Julie!

Last Chances to Earn Instructor CE by Sept 30!

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 22:12:35 GMT

The instructor renewal deadline is September 30 and on-line renewal is now available on the Commission’s website via CMAP. All pre- and post-license instructors must complete 12-hours of approved instructor CE before the deadline.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Education Division at the Alabama Real Estate Commission.

Procrastinators can take advantage of three remaining opportunities to earn the required 12-hours of instructor credit:

Upcoming Training Opportunities:

August 9, 2019: CREI Session #3: Change and Connect
August 16, 2019: “Your Students and the Classroom Experience” Instructor Training with Theresa Barnabei. Registration must take place through Auburn University’s Office of Professional and Continuing Education
September 27, 2019: AREEA IDW with Juanita McDowell

AREEA Board Meeting Minutes

Mon, 04 Mar 2019 21:02:21 GMT

The monthly AREEA board meeting minutes are available to all members. To view the minutes, you'll need to log onto the website first, then click Members > Meeting Minutes.

It's Time to Renew Your AREEA Membership! Here's how!

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 16:13:13 GMT

Merry Christmas! It’s time to renew your AREEA Membership!

This year our members can easily renew their AREEA membership on-line via the AREEA website, http://alabamareea.org/. The deadline to renew is January 31, 2019. If you do not renew by that time, your membership will be suspended. Please note that we are no longer accepting checks and you are required to renew on-line.

For a printer-friendly version of these instructions, CLICK HERE!

Step 1: Go to http://alabamareea.org/ and log-in.

If you have forgotten your password, click on FORGOT PASSWORD. Since the AREEA webmaster does not have access to your password, it’s up to you to reset it using the FORGOT PASSWORD feature.

Step 2: Click on “View Profile”’

After you log in, the “View Profile” link will show next to your name. Click on that link.

Step 3: Follow the steps to renew

Once you have logged-in, look under MEMBERSHIP DETAILS and click on the grey renewal button labeled “Renew to Tuesday, January 1, 2020.”

Follow the steps to renew your membership. At this point you’ll also have a chance to update your membership profile if you wish to do so.

If you have any issues renewing your membership, please email the AREEA webmaster,
Amanda Adams at areeawebmaster@gmail.com or call (334) 777-9052.

Thanks for renewing your AREEA Membership and Merry Christmas!!!

Your AREEA Board

Note from the President, November 2018

Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:00:28 GMT

What a year! It has been a record setting year for many of us. I thank God for the increase in my business and I'm sure you do as well. I'm sure all instructors, especially those teaching continuing education, were happy to see September 30 which marked the deadline for meeting CE requirements. Hopefully we can now schedule some personal time for much needed rest.

As most of you know we were scheduled to have an AREEA general membership meeting on October 18 and then an IDW on the 19th. Ryan contacted me early in the morning, the day of our meeting, to say that our speaker for the IDW had an accident at the airport and was unable to attend. We quickly cancelled the events for both days. If you were inconvenienced in any way, I do apologize, but it was totally unavoidable and out of our control. AREEA had some very important business that we needed to take care of that will now be handled at our Spring meeting on Mar. 28, 2019.

The cancellation also created an issue for AREC. All schools and instructors must renew their license by Sept. 30, 2019. We must all have received a minimum of 12 hours instructor training. The problem created is that there are only a few Instructor Development Workshops (IDW) before the deadline and according to AREC records, there is not enough room in those classes to fulfill the needs. Ryan is working with AREEA to assist in getting more people their instructor training hours.

On Nov. 9, 2018, AREEA will have session one, of the three sessions, for those interested in obtaining their Certified Real Estate Instructor (CREI) certification. In order to receive certification credits you must take all three classes in the order they are given. We are making it possible for people to attend who only need to get their instructor training credits, as well as those seeking to get their CREI certification. I must caution you that seating is limited. If you are interested please register for this class on the AREEA website here.

Respectfully,

James Anderson
President, AREEA

Important Changes to the Sales Pre-License Outline

Tue, 23 Oct 2018 15:45:58 GMT

Good-bye, AMP! Hello, PSI!

We are all aware that Alabama’s examination provider, AMP, was acquired by another national examination provider known as PSI in 2016.

Below is the information that was provided by the Alabama Real Estate Commission. As soon as we learn more details about the changes, we will share it with our members.

According to the Alabama Real Estate Commission, "The same AMP examination items have been used on examinations since the acquisition, but a change is scheduled to take place. Effective January 1, 2019, all AMP and PSI examination items will be combined into one pool of examination items from which examinations will be developed.

Therefore, while we are looking at some upcoming changes to the examination, many things will not change. Please read the following to identify upcoming examination changes:

The following will not be changed:

State content items for both the salesperson and broker examinations

Simulation items on the broker examination
The number of items on an examination.
The salesperson examination will still have 100 national items and 40 state items that are graded. There are also five ungraded items being pretested.
The broker simulation examination will still have 10 simulation problems. Nine of the items will be graded and the remaining item will be pretested for future examinations.
Current locations of examination sites.
The passing score will remain at 70.

The following identifies all changes:

The current AMP content outline will be replaced by the new PSI content specifications. The PSI content specifications are attached to this email.
The PSI and AMP national item pools will be combined into one national item pool.
The national items on a salesperson examination will consist of two cognitive levels: 41% Recall/Recognition items and 59% Application/Analysis items. Therefore, the two levels of Application and Analysis on the current AMP examination will be combined into one level.
Recall/Recognition requires the ability to identify, recall or recognize terms, facts, methods, procedures, basic concepts principles and processes.
Application/Analysis requires the ability to apply concepts and principles to situation to identify solutions; calculate solutions to mathematical problems; interpret charts and graphic data; classify items; and interpret information.

NOTE: The new outline WILL NOT require a major change in prelicense course instruction."

The PSI Sales Pre-License Outline

Education Division, Alabama Real Estate Commission

Check out the latest edition of The Educator

Tue, 23 Oct 2018 15:26:44 GMT

The September 2018 edition of The Educator is packed full of valuable information:

Attention Qualifying Brokers And Prelicense Instructors...Are You Giving Out Bad
Information?
Post License Course Requirement
When Is CE Credit Used And Archived For An Education Renewal?
License Examination Changes
When Do I Enter Course Credit?
Q&A
PSI Candidate Handbooks
Why Become a Member of AREEA?

The Educator, Sept 2018

More than Fun in the Sun! Attendee Report form the 2018 REEA Conference

Mon, 01 Oct 2018 23:13:49 GMT

The 2018 Annual REEA Conference was held in San Diego, California from June 21 to June 25. AREEA Secretary and Treasurer Alicia White and former president Chuck Robertson both attended and shared their thoughts on the annual event.

Aside from the 2018 event, Chuck has attended the Annual REA Conference in Denver in 2016 and in Miami in 2017. Alicia could be best-described as a REEA veteran. She’s been attending conferences since 2006 and has visited San Diego, Miami, Portland, San Antonio, TX, Los Vegas, NV, Lexington, KY, Ames, IA, and the UCONN Campus in Connecticut.

The conference included five general sessions that was attended by everyone: “Memory Improvement” with Ron White, “The Power of Your Voice” with Karel Murray, “Collaboratively Being Your Authentic Self” with Jared James, “Tame Your Brain Game” with Jessica Rector, “REAA Talks” and the Real Estate Commissioner’s Update Panel Session, which was chaired by Alabama’s own Ryan Adair. In this session, several regulators from different states answered questions from attendees about the state of education, testing and schools.

There were also several panels and breakout sessions.

“School Owners Panel” with various panelists. This panel discussed the process of creating, running and selling a real estate school.

“T-3 Tech Tools for Trainers” with Jman Maneiro. Jman is a tech guru that covers tech at every conference. Chuck believes he has some of the best and most up-to-date tech for the classroom and instructional prep.

“Social Media Story-Telling” with Joe Sinnona. This session covered using Youtube, Pinterest, Twitter and other forms of social media to illustrate your points in your classroom lectures.

“Creating Synergy in the Classroom” with Evan Fuchs. This session explained how to motivate students to engage and learn from each other.

“Four Reasons Why Live Online Education Will Finally Change the Marketplace” with Toby Schifsky and Melissa Kleeman-Moy. This session covered the challenges of combining live instruction with live instruction online and how to make it effective for all attendees.

“ARELLO compliant webinar” with Mike Matoush and Jill Malloy. This session discussed strategies to make webinars ARELLO compliant and what types of webinars do not require ARELLO approval.

Alicia and Chuck were asked to share their top three takeaways from the conference. What did they learn that they felt could be used immediately in the classroom?

Chuck reported that he feels tech is always helpful, but not just for tech’s sake. He says, “The tech we learned was to help make the presentation more interesting and MEMORABLE… to make an impression on the student so that they will remember and assimilate the information.”

The idea of classroom synergy also made an impression on Chuck. “Classroom synergy, although it wasn’t entirely new, they went into much greater depth and showed how getting the students to interact with each other could improve the learning experience.”

Chuck also picked up some “Words of Wisdom” that were sprinkled throughout the presentations: “Money is scalable, time is not.” “Real is better than perfect.” “Make yourself vulnerable to put students at ease” and others.

Alica was most impressed the networking opportunities. She spent time meeting the education directors, regulators, school owners, publishers and other instructors. “Everyone in attendance is related to real estate education,” Alicia shared.

When asked what was her favorite part of attending the conference, Alicia wrote, “I liked the location. San Diego is always a good conference venue. This year I looked forward to the keynote speakers and some specific topics. As always the networking was good as well.” Chuck shared that “The best part is interacting with other instructors during the sessions and during breaks and social events. We would talk about what we learned, what was going on in our respective state and what is going on in the industry in general. I learned a lot and I have contacts all over the US, even in Hawaii now.”

Both were asked if he or she felt it was important for other instructors to attend the Annual REEA Conference. Chuck commented, “I would encourage any instructor who can, to go to the conference. It will change the way you look at your instructing and give you new tools to learn to be a better teacher.” Alicia added, “There are some pluses to attending the conference. You get to meet an understand what other instructors are doing and what works for them. If you wish to travel and train, you get to meet education directors and regulators who can hire you for training. You also get to meet the major book publishers for real estate education and get to take home free books and training tools.”

The 2019 REEA Conference will held in Austin, Texas from June 29 – July 1, 2019 at the Hilton in Austin at 500 East 4^th Street. The rate is $179 a night at the time of this report.

In conclusion, Chuck and Alicia both feel that every Alabama instructor should attend in possible. Chuck went on the elaborate, “I have attended three conferences so far and have gained much and they were worth every penny. If several people want to go, we may be able to do some things to cut the costs. I would like for us to have a large group to represent AREEA next year.”

September 2018 President's Note

Mon, 10 Sep 2018 18:21:44 GMT

It's time to celebrate. Football starts this month and there's only a few weeks remaining in this license renewal period. I'm sure we will all be happy to have the CE classes behind us. We can now catch up on some of the work we had to let slide due to an overload in class schedules.

October is a good time to start thinking about the courses we want to get approved before next October. I can only speak for myself, but my workload is heavy and I have a tendency to put things off until the last minute. It doesn't hurt me to procrastinate because I always seem to meet my deadlines in plenty time. It does, however, hurt my students. Let's look at some things we should do.

Selecting a CE class title doesn't seem that difficult but we should devote ample time to naming our courses as to create interest and cause a prospective student to take the class. A good way to begin the process is to ask your students during a current class, what subject matter they would you to teach during the next license renewal period. The subject matter will help determine a name in many cases.

Now we can put pen to paper. We should begin by writing an outline of the course material we want to cover and select three most important topics we need to get across to the student. Next we should select three sub-topics for each major topic. This will allow us to teach all major points of interest and be able to adjust our class time based on student participation. In DREI training we learn from the top national speakers that most instructors include three times more material than they can possibly cover. They stress the importance of having fewer topics while making use of examples, stories; video clips and work sessions to engage the student.

The real work begins here with selecting the best possible material to get all major points across to the student. Searching for supportive material is most time consuming. Finding that right example or story that perfectly illustrates a point. I have found that searching for the perfect video clip is most difficult. I get to watching videos on YouTube and lose track of which one is best. Video clips that relate to the topic can be the most valuable teaching aid. It will create interest and the student will remember it for a longer period of time.

The important lesson for us to learn is that time spent in research and course creation just might make us look smarter than we really are. It will definitely make our classes more interesting to the student.

Respectfully,

James Anderson
2018 AREEA President

August 2018 President's Note

Sat, 28 Jul 2018 15:23:27 GMT

This article will be quite different than previous messages due to its content. There seems to be a lot of discord and uncertainty across the state about the future of the real estate profession. When changes are first initiated in the way real estate is practiced, it creates a fear in people, a fear of the unknown. Since we are licensed by the State of Alabama to teach real estate, agents think we have or should have the answer to any given topic of concern. Therefore it is our duty and our responsibility to educate ourselves on political, global, and local affairs affecting our industry. We will never have all the answers to all questions, but our awareness of major situations can position us so that we can provide our students with a direction for them to take to get quality answers to their specific question. One of the things I have learned through the years is that generally things are not nearly as bad as were originally thought.

When approached about something we are not familiar with, we should think it through carefully before responding. If we can't answer their question factually, we should point them to someone who can provide them with factual information. Remember it is acceptable and proper for us to say, "I don't know the answer to your question, but I suggest you contact “fill in the blank” about this situation. Maybe they can help you." The worse thing we can do is provide them with incorrect information.

I get calls every day from agents wanting to know how to handle various situations in a real estate transactions. To manage my own risk, I only tell them what the law says, or I direct them to someone else. Much of the time they have already been searching the internet for an answer. While I read newsletters and special reports every day via the internet, I unfortunately can't honestly determine what is factual and what is gossip. For example, I have read that Zillow is eventually going to eliminate the need for a broker/agent to close a real estate transaction. I personally don't believe that state laws will permit that to happen but that is only my opinion. There is a lot of concern about it nationally so I continue to read so I can stay abreast of arguments on both sides of the issue.

Another major concern that has been developing over the last few years is virtual real estate offices. As I understand, they have already become a reality in Alabama. To educate myself I looked up the definition of virtual, which is defined as almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition. "The virtual absence of border controls." It also means, "not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so."

Due to the sudden growth of virtual offices in Alabama, I contacted the legal department at the Alabama Real Estate Commission and asked Mandy Lynn for an opinion on virtual offices. She said, "More detailed information would be released in the near future."

This message is not intended to sway your position on any situation, for or against. I do encourage you to make yourself aware of all possible changes that could come about so you'll be prepared when called upon for an answer to a specific question. We need to only disclose factual information.

Respectfully,

James Anderson
2017 President, AREEA

July 2018 President's Note

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 19:22:34 GMT

There is only three months left in this license renewal CE season. Many of us that teach continuing education classes will probably have more students during these 90-days than any other time during this license renewal period. If we apply the new teaching techniques we learned in the CREI classes over the past 18-months, we have plenty time to impress some students and insure that they will take classes from us during the 2020 license renewal period. If students enjoy our classes, if they find us interesting and easy to listen to, and they leave class with new information they can use in their business, they will return for another class in the future. They will also tell their fellow agents about their learning experiences and will encourage them to attend one of our classes. Becoming a proficient instructor is the best way to grow your class attendance. Becoming complacent and not implementing better teaching skills is a sure way to destroy the business you once had.

Let's focus on instructors that teach continuing education because they are the majority of all instructors. Even though there isn’t that many instructors that teach prelicense, when compare to the total number of instructors, they can and should apply the same techniques to their classes.

A good way to begin improving our teaching techniques is to honestly evaluate our current teaching skills. To do this we should grade our own classes, just like we were sitting in the classroom ourselves. When an auditor sits in on one of our classes, they are checking to see if we covered all the material in the course outline. They are also watching to see if we follow all the commission rules. For the purpose of our evaluation, let's ask ourselves if we are making use of specific teaching tools.

What images are we using to stress importance of a specific point we are trying to get across to our students? A picture is worth a thousand words; especially for visual learners. I imagine there are more visual learners attending our class than other learning styles. Generally we retain 10% of the information we read. We retain 30% of the information we see. Images are seen. Images sell product. Look at the corporate world. Almost all advertising makes use of images and we remember them.

What type of multi-media (videos) do we incorporate into our PowerPoint presentations? Videos aid the both the visual and auditory learners. We retain 50% of the information that we read, hear, and see. Videos also assist in recapturing the attention of a student that has lost interest in the class material or we possibly haven't used teaching techniques to reach their particular learning style. Many times a short video clip will bring the point we're trying to make to full circle and make a lasting impression on us. The key of a successful video presentation is it must relate to the point we're trying to get across.

Are we incorporating stories into our classes? Story telling helps the student relate material to a real life situation. People retain 20% of what they only hear. A good story also produces images on the human mind. Stories should confirm what we are telling them in an interesting way. Some people have the ability to incorporate humor into their stories, which makes the story more interesting. Story telling really takes practice. If we use humor in our stories, we must make sure it is funny. If not it may backfire on us and cause our students to loose respect for our teaching style.

I just finished grading my last class and I admit that I have plenty room for improvement. It really brought home to me that I need to spend much more time in course writing and developing presentation skills.

Respectfully,

James Anderson
2018 AREEA President

June 2018 President's Note

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 16:21:05 GMT

I have been associated with a lot of industry-related associations, but none has given me more pride than AREEA. Our membership is not nearly as large as some of our neighboring states, but our members demonstrate their love, respect and willingness to help a fellow member when called upon. It seems that disasters come in groups. I've always heard that thing happen in three's. Boy it does seem that way.

First, Donnis Palmer was hospitalized with a severe number of blood clots. We immediately sent out a request for all members to pray for her recovery. Shortly thereafter, we learned the sad news of Harriett Isaacson’s passing as witness by the attendance of her funeral service. I’m sure we were all touched by Harriet in some way during her lifetime. We’ll be posting more about her life and career soon to help the new members learn more about this pioneer in real estate education.

Soon we learned that Clarence "Bo" Evans had suffered a heart attack while attending the ABR Instructor Training in Washington, DC. I’m so proud of how our organization pulled together to help raise over $4,300 to help the Evans family through this difficult time. Currently Bo has returned to Alabama and is recovering at home with his wife Pumpkin and son Bryant.

We also learned that Ginny Willis' daughter, Tricia Lacey Hyde passed on Saturday, May 12, 2018. Her services were held on Tuesday, May 15, 2018.

Why am I mentioning these sad events? Because even though we are all in competition with each other on one hand, we are still a family of instructors. How does that old song by Bill Wither’s go?

“You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on”

We ask that our members notify us any time one of our members experience a tragedy. We want to help any way we can. Lean on us!

James Anderson
2018 AREEA President

Next AREEA CREI Designation training series begins November 9, 2018

Wed, 30 May 2018 20:28:24 GMT

AREEA has developed a three-part certification program in conjunction with Karel Murray, DREI, entitled Certified Real Estate Instructor (CREI). All three classes must be taken in sequential order to receive proper credit for the CREI designation and the next training cycle is scheduled to begin November 9, 2018.

Click here to register for Part 1: Content Creation

The 2018 Annual REEA Conference is coming soon! June 21-25 in San Diego!

Wed, 30 May 2018 20:13:17 GMT

Wyndham San Diego Bayside | San Diego, CA

THE REAL ESTATE EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION – providing resources and opportunities for professional development to individuals and organizations involved in real estate education.

CONNECT FOR RESULTS, OPPORTUNITIES AND IDEAS! Expand your curriculum and learn new classroom presentation techniques - Increase your business by learning new marketing techniques - Exchange and share competitive strategies with peers in other markets - Discover new books and literature - Learn new updates that will help you in front of the classroom.

For more information, visit the REEA website here.

2017 Annual REEA Conference in Miami, FL

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 21:21:09 GMT

The 2017 Annual Conference of the Real Estate Educators Association (REEA) was held June 23-26 in Miami, Florida.

We had several attendees from AL at the REEA Conference in Miami:
Debbie Coe from Aronov - Montgomery, AL
Alicia White from JMA Realty - Birmingham, AL
Chuck Robertson from Southern Institute of Real Estate - Birmingham, AL
Susan Hawkins from the Real Estate Education Center - Fort Payne, AL
Ryan Adair and Pam Oates from AREC

Next year the conference will be in sunny San Diego. June 22-25, 2018.