Alphabet Soup – Those Letters After My Name…and the Two Letters You Don’t See

When you read all those letters after a Realtor®’s name, do you have any idea what they mean? I certainly didn’t before I got into the business. But they are important because they can tell you a lot about the person’s training and proven ability. That alphabet soup after my name can be confusing, and we’ll get to sorting the letters in a moment.

But first, there are two letters you do not see that refer to part of my life that has an enormous influence on who I am today and how I work with my clients. Those letters are…R.N. That’s right, in an “earlier life” I was a registered nurse; a pediatric nurse, in fact, and the youngest Head Nurse of Pediatrics at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. The people skills I learned through formal training, and on the job, are at the core of who I am today. I learned to understand what people needed even if they didn’t or couldn’t tell me. I learned that a small gesture of caring can be just what someone needs to get through a difficult time. And I learned that kind deeds circle around and come back to you tenfold.

Listing and selling houses is a different world from the life-and-death reality of a metropolitan hospital. But people still need expert help, assurance, and kindness. You won’t find R.N. in my alphabet soup, but it’s there in everything I do.

Now to decode some real estate designations for you as we go through my list:

• ABR – Accredited Buyer Representative
• CRS – Certified Residential Specialist
• e-PRO – Internet Certification by the National Association of Realtors®
• GRI – Graduate, REALTOR® Institute of the National Association of Realtors®
• LTG – Leadership Training Graduate of the Women’s Council of Realtors®
• PMN – Performance Management Network designation by the Women’s Council of Realtors®
• RECS – Real Estate CyberSpace Specialist designation of the Real Estate CyberSpace Society. I am also the Chair of the Baltimore Chapter.
• RRC – Referral and Relocation Certification from the Women’s Council of Realtors®
• CyberStars® - Allen F. Hainge CyberStars® meet high standards of professionalism, technology use, and client service. There are 1.5 million real estate agents but only 200 CyberStars. Each CyberStar is a proven leader in their market.

You probably won’t recall what these all stand for. All you really need to remember is that they mean the Realtor® who bears these credentials is trained, experienced, and dedicated to standards of excellence.