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GCAAR

Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors®

Real Estate Certifications and Designations 

Look to GCAAR Education in 2025 to start on your path to success in real estate. Designations and certifications are an excellent way to enhance your professionalism and increase your skills, proficiency and knowledge in the field of real estate.

Congratulations to the following individuals who completed an NAR-family certificate, certification and/or designation course with GCAAR during the following years:

2021
2022
2023

GCAAR is proud to offer the following professional development opportunities, presented by NAR through its Center for REALTOR® Development (CRD), Real Estate Business Institute (REBI) and the Residential Real Estate Council (RRC).

 

Residential Real Estate Council Designations & Certifications

 

The CRS designation is the highest credential awarded to residential sales agents, managers, and brokers. On average, CRS designees earn nearly three times more in income, transactions, and gross sales than non-designee REALTORS®.

Smart Home Certification is for the real estate professional who wants to develop expertise in the technology, privacy issues and best transitions practices involved in selling and buying smart homes. Earn this certification while working towards your CRS designation. 

The Digital Marketing: Social Media certification is for real estate professionals who want to develop expertise with social media resources and sites that are an essential part of today's digital marketing mix, whether you are promoting your business or the properties you represent. Earn this certification while working toward your CRS designation.

 

NAR Family Designations

 

The Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR®) designation is designed for real estate buyer agents who focus on working directly with buyer-clients at every stage of the home-buying process.

Instantly align yourself with the best in international real estate by earning the CIPS designation. The designation requires completion of five full-day courses focusing on the critical aspects of international real estate transactions. CIPS designees are connected to an influential network of more than 3,500 professionals who turn to each other first when looking for referral partners.

The Seller Representative Specialist (SRS®) designation is the premier credential in seller representation. It is designed to elevate professional standards and enhance personal performance. This course delivers a comprehensive foundation of skill development, training, and resources to help real estate professionals represent the interests of sellers in today’s marketplace. The SRS designation is owned & conferred by The Real Estate Business Institute (REBI), an affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS®. 

GCAAR is offering The Seller Representative Specialist (SRS®) designation course virtually on May 7, 8 & 9, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. each day. Members may register for $230 before April 23/$260 after.

NAR Family Certifications

REALTORS® know the importance of adapting to remain relevant in today's multicultural marketplace. AHWD covers how to work effectively with diverse populations by developing business practices rooted in inclusion and equality to help buyers of all cultural backgrounds achieve the dream of homeownership.

GCAAR is hosting our next virtual At Home with Diversity® certification courses on August 20 & 21, 2025 from 2-5 p.m. daily, and again October 22 & 23, 2025 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. daily. This is offered at no cost to GCAAR members and earns MD and D.C. licensees 6.0 elective hours.

Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing is an NAR certificate course that helps real estate professionals interrupt stereotypical thinking so they can avoid fair housing pitfalls and provide equal professional service to every customer or client. Participants will learn about the mind science of identity, study how implicit bias can result in fair housing violations and engage in interactive exercises to enhance communication skills and business relationships with clients of all backgrounds.

GCAAR is hosting a virtual Bias Override certificate course on April 28, 2025 from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., and an in-person course on September 11, 2025 from 2-5 p.m. This course is offered for free to all GCAAR members and $30 for non-members. The course is 3.0 required hours for MD licensees and 3.0 elective hours for D.C. licensees.

NAR's Home Finance Resource certification course is designed to teach REALTORS® how to explain key pieces of the loan origination process to clients and confidently answer questions about mortgage options.

NAR's Military Relocation Professional certification focuses on educating real estate professionals about working with current and former military service members to find housing solutions that best suit their needs and take full advantage of military benefits and support.

Enhance your skills in pricing properties, creating CMAs, working with appraisers, and guiding clients through the anxieties and misperceptions they often have about home values with NAR's Pricing Strategy Advisor certification.

The National Association of REALTORS®' RENE certification provides REALTORS® with negotiation skills so you have the tips and tools you need to be a skillful advocate for your clients. Bonus? This course is also an elective for both the Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) and Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR®) designations. The RENE certification is owned & conferred by The Real Estate Business Institute (REBI), an affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS®.

The Real Estate Negotiation Expert Certification (RENE) course is held over three days. GCAAR's next virtual offering is November 19, 20 & 21, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. daily. The course is offered at a discounted rate of $185 before Nov. 5/$215 after for GCAAR members. Non-members are also invited to attend. 

The Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource (SFR®) certification is for REALTORS® who want to hone the skills that will allow them to help buyers and sellers of distressed properties.

NAR Family Certifications

 

This comprehensive program is designed for those vital members of the office who are currently working with a real estate professional or for those aspiring to work along a real estate agent or team in an administrative capacity. The REPA certificate course will sharpen current, and create new, skills to further make the professional assistant an irreplaceable part of the team. Every administrative employee in the brokerage office, from listing secretary to the personal assistant, will benefit greatly from this program. The Real Estate Professional Assistant certificate course was developed by REBI in partnership with the National Association of REALTORS® / Center for REALTOR® Development.

 

The National Association of REALTORS® and its affiliated Institutes, Societies and Councils offer many other designations and certifications. If you would like to learn about other NAR Family Designations & Certifications, please visit nar.realtor/education/designations-and-certifications.