Our students have asked, and now the Real Estate Negotiation Institute is answering. Tell us your real estate negotiation dilemmas, and we will try to provide as many answers as possible in this blog space.
Questions should include specific details but not any information that would compromise the privacy of your clients or the integrity of your negotiation.
Be sure to review the topics already posted. Your question might already be there, and you could be back into the negotiation even faster.
Certified Negotiation Expert
One of the top designation courses in real estate taught nationally by the Real Estate Negotiation Institute. This 2-day course offers professional negotiation and business building training.
Certified Short Sale Negotiator
This new popular 1-day course focuses on the short sale process and the different negotiations necessary to successfully close a short sale in the volatile housing market of today.
Master Certified Negotiation Expert
The newest designation will bring your negotiation skills to the highest professional level in real estate with over 5 days of thorough training in all aspects of negotiation.
How do I get a list of CNE, CSSN and MCNE agents or brokers in the San Diego area? I am very interested in working only with agents that have taken your courses.
Mark
Mark,
Thanks for your question and support of our programs. We are working on adding for sure the MCNE agents on our website later this year. We do not have any CSSN agents from San Diego yet, but we are just about to go live with our online version of the CSSN course as well as expand our live CSSN seminars into CA. While we keep a record of all CNE graduates, as of now we only have email addresses, names, and the location and dates when they took the CNE course. We are looking at adding a program for CNE agents to opt in on our website as well. I really appreciate your wanting to work only with agents who have been through our training and we’ll do our best to get this information on the website in the coming months. If you’d like to talk further just let me know.
Tom
Hello,
I owned a title company and have been in the title industry for 30 years where I negotiated many short sales. I recently moved to Oregon and am a real estate agent at this point. I was told that as an agent, I cannot negotiate short sales for profit. I was also told that I would have to use a licensed short sales expert to get the job done if I didn’t want to do it for no compensation. I would like to take your course but I need to know if it would allow me to negotiate short sales in Oregon for a fee. Do you know the answer to that???
Thank you very much,
Peggi
The regulations you reference are two fold:
1. The recent FTC MARS Regulations.
2. And your local real estate department’s specific interpretations of them.
In short, most states say that negotiating your own short sales (where you are the listing agent) is incidental to your real estate practice, and is therefore in the clear in terms of your licensing and how you get compensated. Where we start to get into gray area, is when you want to get compensated for negotiating short sales for other agents. Some states have opined that this is strictly prohibited, and that the only “third party” negotiators allowed are licensed attorneys. Some states have made a requirement of additional licensing, like mortgage loan originator’s license from NMLS. The logic here, is that additional compensation (beyond what is common in real estate practice), requires additional licensing.
Again, the specific interpretations and guidelines regarding this can be had from your department of real estate – so we would encourage you to inquire of them and of your real estate broker. As far as our training, since it doesn’t license you as an attorney, nor as mortgage loan originator, it doesn’t give you any answers that you are looking for. It will, however, give you the skills to be a better negotiator for when you get the licensing requirements sorted out and structure your practice accordingly.
Do online classes qualify for CEU in Minnesota?
No they do not.
Are loan negotiators has to be licensed real estate to be a negotiator for sellers. Is it against the law to negotiate if you are not a licensed real estate agent and no credentials or certificateto transact business as negotiators?
Question: Are loan negotiators has to be licensed real estate to be a negotiator for sellers. Is it against the law to negotiate if you are not a licensed real estate agent and no credentials or certificate to transact business as negotiators?
Are loan negotiators has to be licensed real estate to be a negotiator for sellers. Is it against the law to negotiate if you are not a licensed real estate agent and no credentials or certificateto transact business as negotiators?
Answer: Thank you for the question. The short answer is: It depends on who you ask. The real estate associations believe that you must be a licensed real estate agent to do any kind of short sale negotiations. The attorneys believe that nothing but a law practitioner’s license is good enough. And the mortgage industry has been recently lobbying to make everyone believe that they are the best party for the job, thus a MLO license is a pre-requisite. Just to round this list out, banks want to deal directly with the homeowner/borrower, but will settle to dealing with anyone who the borrower has explicitly authorized to speak with the bank on their behalf.
The long answer depends on where you live, and how your state regulators interpret and apply your local regulations to your daily practice. Whatever licensing you hold – we recommend that you approach the body that governs your licensure and ask them for specific guidance.
[...] popular question in our Ask the Expert section as well as from our students: Who can legally negotiate a short sale for profit? The answer [...]
Can I get the CNE course online ? Where I can see the real estate online courses?
The CNE course is not available online at this time. Our Certified Short Sale Negotiator (CSSN) class is available online (go to http://www.thereni.com and click on the CSSN Online button on the home page).
Question: Is the CNE cert “forever” or does one need to pay periodic fees and/or take periodic additional courses to maintain the designation?
Answer: There is no annual fee for the CNE designation or required additional courses.
I got my CNE designation last year in Arlington, TX. When is the next MCNE class scheduled for the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area.
I loved the class & it left me wanting more!!!!!
Can I enroll in the MCNE if I don’t have the CNE? When are the next classes being held in Austin, Texas. Thank you
Ana, yes you can enroll in the other MCNE classes if you have not taken the CNE class yet. The CNE class is scheduled for Austin on January 4 & 5, 2012 and February 9 & 10, 2012. The other MCNE classes will also be scheduled in Austin in 2012. Please keep checking our schedule at http://www.thereni.com. We will add the dates when finalized. Thanks for your interestin our training.
Hi! Do the courses for the MCNE offer continuing education credit? I received 15 credits for my CNE and would love to take the MCNE courses… Can I receive credits for these? Thanks so much, Naila
Naila,
Yes, the other MCNE courses are usually approved for CE credits when we offer them. We currently have the MCNE courses approved for CE credits in Texas, Arizona, and Utah. We’re working on other states.
Tom
Tom,
If we’ve previously taken the Negotiation class may we retake it again without paying the full $249 fee?
I need 15 MCE hours for the state of Texas, will the MCNE work for all these credits?
Our 6 MCNE courses are approved for a total of 33 MCE credit hours in Texas!
The MCNE and CNE programs are primarily designation programs and owned by the Real Estate Negotiation Institute (a division of Negotiation Expertise, LLC). NAR does not “recognize” any designation that they do not own (on their website they state it is a legal liability issue for them to recognize or recommend other courses). There are approximately 60 designations and certifications in real estate and NAR only owns about 20. Our courses have been approved in over 25 states and we have taught over 15,000 agents across the country. NAR does not have any designation or certification training that focuses on negotiation skills, yet clients expect and want agents to have negotiation skills. Our training takes the same negotiation material taught at the best schools in the country and applies it to real estate negotiation situations.
Does the MCNE certification require any annual dues?
No! There are no annual dues for any of our designations.
Once I am earn the CNE designation is the cost to retake the course the same price?
Yes.
Couple quick questions here. Will you eventually have the CNE certification on an online format? Also, do you ever plan events in Canada? If no, would you?
We do not have any plans at this time to have the CNE class online. We are working on a private CNE class in Canada and would welcome the opportunity to do more classes in Canada. I’ll be happy to contact you to discuss further if you email me your contact information at tom@thereni.com.
I am wondering whether you are planning to hold CSSN and MCNE designation classes in the Phily area. I noticed that a CNE class is coming up in March, but I have not seen any other course or designation classes being scheduled for the area. This really surprises me because this is an area where at least a tenth of the inventory last year were distressed properties. I understand that in comparison to NV this may not sound such a big number, but it is huge for the local area! I bet that the local REALTOR association would be open to such a collaboration. I am talking about the Suburban West REALTOR Association that covers the MLS area southwest of Philadelphia.
There are no courses in RI or online? We are in the year 2012 and would assume that online courses would be availabe or in state. Let me know when you consider RI as an area worth negotiating.
The CNE designation course was taught in RI in late 2011. We will likely return later in 2012. We do not currently have online versions of our courses for several reasons including the belief that negotiations skills are best learned in a live classroom environment where group discussions and role plays can be used to increase comprehension.
We are looking into bringing our MCNE and CSSN training to Philly! Stay tuned!
Hi, Tom or John;;
I’ve just signed up for the CNE course in Phoenix this month. In reading through your FAQs, I’m still unclear whether I will be able to put this designation on my business cards. Also, when is the next scheduled MCNE course in Arizona?
Thanks & I’m looking forward to meeting you on the 21st,
Ralph
NAR’s Code of Ethics, Standard of Practice 12-13 states you can use any designation or certification which you have earned in your advertising. Thus you are not limited to only using NAR designations and certifications. Some brokerages limit the designations you can use on your business card to only NAR designations so you’ll have to check with your broker. Your broker should NOT be preventing you from showing your clients that you have negotiation training that separates you from the crowd.
Our next MCNE courses in Phoenix are on March 7 (Advanced Negotiation Techniques for Listing Agents) and March 8 (Cultural Factors and Negotiating Across Generations).
I look forward to meeting you on February 21!
Tom
Hi Tom,
I took your CNE course several years ago. It was an exceptional course and negotiations are so important. Is there a way to subscribe to your blog so it comes into my email?
Linda,
We now have a RSS feed button on the right side of our Home Page (and other pages) on our website. Please visit our website again (www.thereni.com) and click on he RSS feed to sign up for our posts to be sent to you via email.
Tom
How do you compete with a contract to buy that has an Acceleration Clause?
Teresa,
I’m assuming that by “Acceleration Clause” you mean another buyer has submitted an offer with a clause that automatically increases that buyer’s offer by a certain amount above another buyer’s offer. For example, Buyer A submits an offer of $195,000 with an acceleration clause that increases Buyer A’s offer to $500 above a higher offer. Buyer B submits an offer of $200,000 so Buyer A’s offer is now adjusted upwards to $200,500. Often times there is a limit that the buyer will place with the acceleration clause.
Your question deals with how your buyer can compete more effectively without an acceleration clause against a buyer with an acceleration clause. You might consider the following:
– Try to find out what is most important to the seller. Price is obviously important but there may be other issues that are as important if not more important to the seller. Ask the listing agent “What is most important to your seller?” and see what he/she says. Then have your buyer’s offer satisfy as much of the seller’s desires as possible.
– Offer flexibility on the closing date if that is important to the seller.
– Make your buyer a sure bet to close (preapproved or already approved with the lender) and try to cast doubt on the other buyer’s ability to close on time.
– Raise the issue of the appraisal at an above market offer. If the home doesn’t appraise there will be more negotiations with the other buyer and perhaps a lower price. Or the deal might fall through.
– Try to present your buyer’s offer face-to-face with the seller and listing agent so you can make a positive, professional impression on the other side of the table. I have done this for my clients and emphasized that we are professionals and won’t let anything “fall through the cracks” to jeopardize the seller’s closing. If you are a full-time agent and the other agent is perhaps part-time, you should be able to raise issues in the seller’s mind about performance.
– Ask the listing agent the following question: “My buyer can only go to this price. What else could he/she do to make this work for your seller?”
– Focus on the other money issues in the transaction to make up the difference. For example, your buyer could purchase the home “as is” (still entitled to an inspection) thus eliminating any repair requests for the seller. The higher offer might come in with a list of repairs for the seller, thus making your buyer’s offer more competitive.
– Don’t ask for a lot of extras (e.g. decorating allowances, closing cost support, etc.).
– Have your buyer write a letter to the sellers and tell them why this home is important to the buyer. Many sellers really care about who buys their home.
– Try to find something that your buyer has in common with the seller. People like to deal with people who are like them or who they like.
Good luck!
Tom