Durham Regional Association of REALTORS Preferred Courses

The four-hour Negotiation Fundamentals online course is designed to enhance the professional capabilities of real estate licensees, addressing a critical gap in formal negotiation training, a skill essential for ethical and effective real estate transactions. By improving licensees' negotiation skills, this course directly benefits consumers through enhanced transparency, fair representation, and effective conflict resolution. Licensees learn to communicate more clearly, represent their clients' interests ethically, and resolve disputes efficiently, reducing the likelihood of costly legal conflicts. The course emphasizes strategies for balanced negotiations, empowering clients to make well-informed decisions about their real estate transactions. It teaches licensees how to advocate for their clients' best interests while adhering to professional standards and regulations, leading to smoother transactions that benefit both buyers and sellers. The curriculum reinforces the importance of ethical conduct in negotiations, protecting consumers from unfair practices and helping licensees secure the best possible terms for their clients. Covering negotiation strategies applicable to all phases of real estate transactions, including brokerage agreements and compensation discussions, this course equips licensees to better serve the public, fostering trust in the real estate profession and contributing to a more transparent, efficient, and consumer-friendly real estate market. Based on proven strategies used by industry leaders, the course ensures that licensees are trained in best practices that prioritize consumer protection and ethical conduct, ultimately elevating professional standards and enhancing public confidence in real estate services.

Nearly everyone wants to know what’s coming; what the future holds. Real estate agents are no different…they want to know what the market will look like in the upcoming months. Will interest rates rise? Will it be a seller’s or a buyer’s market? Will affordable new homes come on the market? By studying the current indicators and trends economists and real estate analysts are able to provide relevant economic forecasts to navigate the maze of future uncertainty. However, regardless of how much and effort is put into forecast, at the end of the day a forecast is just a prediction and is basically the equivalent of an educated guess.
This course provides an overview of various forecasts and predictions made for the real estate market and describes adaptive reuse and accessory dwelling units. Additionally, it provides a review of economic cycles and the economic theory of supply and demand, which is the backbone of real estate markets. The economy affects the overall housing market and impacts your ability to make a living selling real estate. The economy is constantly changing and thus, it is useful to us personally, as well as in our jobs, to understand how things work. Instead of reacting to what takes place, it is important to understand the reasons things are happening and even plan for the different eventualities—economics helps us manage our lives and businesses.
It is intended to enhance the knowledge and effectiveness of real estate licensees and is approved for 4 hours of continuing education.

• How to use the Investment Property Worksheet to easily analyze a property. 
• How to determine a property's investment value quickly and effectively. 
• How to start with your desired rate of return, then work backwards to calculate the optimal price. 
• The ins and outs of the passive loss rules so that you can profit from the special exception for real estate professionals. 
• How to maximize the tax-savings benefits of depreciation by utilizing a strategy called bifurcation. 

• Mandatory classroom video lecture 

• Learn how wealth is built through residential real estate investments 
• Explore the basic principles of real estate investing 
• Gain confidence in working with residential investor clients

This course covers information to aid real estate licensees in better understanding the purpose of workforce housing and different processes for developing and financing workforce housing projects. Additionally, buyer home financing solutions are covered. This course is intended to enhance the knowledge and effectiveness of real estate licensees and is approved for 4 hours of continuing education.