Real estate "listing" professionals are awakening to find that today's real estate sellers are demanding a higher level of professionalism and specialized services than ever before. With the surging number of licensed real estate agents during the last couple of years, together with the prospect of a declining number of real estate transactions over the next few years, securing an increased portion of market share is going to be very difficult for most agents.

As a result, the seller side of the real estate transaction is going to experience increased competition driving agents to gain increased knowledge of seller agency and listing homes for sale.

In the late ‘80s and ‘90s, the real estate industry was forced to rethink the transaction and remold it to provide for a needed change—buyer agency. With that change, a larger emphasis in real estate training over the last decade has been placed on educating real estate professionals to meet the challenges and demands of the new home buyer. While a very positive change for the real estate industry, this has resulted in an unbalanced transaction knowledge base.

Today, through the development and implementation of the Accredited Seller Representative (ASR) designation, the industry has a way for agents to gain increased specialized knowledge and demonstrate a higher level of "value added" professional listing and representation services than ever before.

Increased interest is already evidenced by the growing number of agents that have taken the ASR designation course in 2005. RealtyU, a national network of real estate schools, unanimously decided to adopt the ASR Designation program for implementation nationwide in 2006.

Home sellers are already demanding a higher level of professional service from their agents by placing an agent’s professional integrity and knowledge of the community as the two most important factors considered when choosing their agent. To meet this call from consumers, the new seller agency designation seeks to empower agents to deliver higher levels of expected services while gaining a competitive edge over other agents.

With that as the foundation, the two-day ASR designation program provides in-depth training in:

• Differentiating between general and specialized marketing techniques
• Effectively choosing a market for specialization
• Employing personal branding strategies for the chosen market
• Point, click and print market analysis versus the in-depth comparative market analysis
• Preparing the seller for encountering the buyer’s agent
• Creating relationships with buyer agents in the market area to gain more favorable exposure of the seller’s property
• Negotiating strategies to more effectively position the seller in the negotiation process
• Effective use of pre-printed purchase and sale agreements to provide adequate protection for the seller
• Effectively managing the transaction from listing to closing
• Compensation differences of the "generalist" versus the specialist

One of the more revolutionizing topics covered in the program is understanding the importance of "demonstrating" versus "presenting" in the listing process. Simply stated, sellers are demanding agents effectively demonstrate how they will employ specific, specialized listing services for their property that result in a closed transaction. Of course, without in-depth knowledge of the seller’s property and the specific market area, this cannot be done efficiently and effectively.

The real estate industry is experiencing a boom in new business models, causing more and more sellers to question the value of the services being delivered by agents. Clearly, a new day is dawning for the real estate industry. Professional listing agents are equipping themselves with the principles and educational merit of the ASR designation, meeting buyer agents head-on and exceeding the expectations of delivering effective professional services to today’s seller.