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Leading Real Estate Brokerage Teams Up with CDPE to Offer More Agents Education in Distressed Properties and Short Sales
AUSTIN, TEXAS – January 27, 2010 – Keller Williams® Realty Inc., the third-largest real estate company in the United States, announced today an agreement with the Distressed Property Institute, LLC, to bring the industry-leading CDPE designation training to its agents. In accordance with Keller Williams Realty’s high service standards, the company partnered with the Institute to offer its CDPE training courses to its sales associates nationwide as a part of its Mega Achievement Productivity Systems (MAPS) Coaching program.
“Being the real estate company of choice for a new generation of real estate professionals means adapting quickly and effectively to market changes,” said Dianna Kokoszka, president of MAPS Coaching, a division of Keller Williams Realty. “Short sales are an ever-expanding part of today’s real estate market, and the CDPE designation will provide our associates across the country with the ability to better assist distressed homeowners, help stabilize communities and remain a vital part of their markets.”
In a short sale transaction, homeowners sell their property for less than the mortgage amount in order to avoid the foreclosure process.
The Institute, based in Austin, Texas, has trained more than 18,000 real estate professionals since its January 2008 inception, making CDPE the fastest-growing designation in real estate industry history. Through a survey of its membership, CDPE-designated agents reported an average 49 percent decrease in short sale processing time. In addition, these agents typically list seven-times, and close five-times as many properties as the average National Association of REALTORS® agent.
“It’s a privilege to receive the endorsement from a prestigious real estate institution such as Keller Williams Realty’s MAPS Coaching program,” Alex Charfen, co-founder and CEO of the Institute, said. “With a strong agent-base across the country, Keller Williams Realty associates are in an incredible position to positively affect the lives of millions of distressed homeowners. The CDPE designation will help these agents provide solutions to homeowners facing foreclosure, and help communities recover from the current housing crisis.”
The administration’s Making Home Affordable (MHA) program recently released details of its Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) initiative that would incentivize lienholders, investors and homeowners to pursue foreclosure-avoidance options—including short sales—should a mortgage modification prove unsuccessful. A key element of this initiative is the involvement of real estate agents in the process. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) 2009 3rd Quarter National Delinquency Survey, one in seven homeowners is not making mortgage payments. The delinquency rate for that quarter was also the highest ever recorded, based on MBA data since 1972.
About Keller Williams Realty, Inc.
Founded in 1983, Keller Williams Realty Inc. is the third-largest real estate franchise operation in the United States, with 686 offices and 73,000 associates in the United States and Canada. The company, which began franchising in 1990, has an agent-centric culture that emphasizes access to leading-edge education and promotes an economic model that rewards associates as stakeholders and partners. The company also provides specialized agents in luxury homes and commercial real estate properties. For more information, or to search for homes for sale visit Keller Williams Realty online at (www.kw.com).
About the Distressed Property Institute, LLC
The Distressed Property Institute trains real estate professionals to engage with and assist homeowners facing hardships. The Institute has developed a curriculum to provide the tools and knowledge to handle distressed properties, including short sales, deeds-in-lieu, mortgage modifications, forbearance, refinances, reinstatements and, if that fails, how to help homeowners through the foreclosure process. After completing a comprehensive on-site or online course, graduates are awarded the Certified Distressed Property Expert® Designation.
About the CDPE Designation
The CDPE Designation provides real estate industry professionals with detailed information on how to engage with and assist homeowners in distress. The CDPE designation has been endorsed by RE/MAX International and other major U.S. brokerages and industry icons, including: Brian Buffini, founder of Buffini & Company; Howard Brinton, founder of STAR POWER® Systems; Joe Stumpf, founder and national spokesperson of By Referral Only®; Allen Chiang, Chairman of the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA); and Tino Diaz, Chairman and President of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).
For more information about The Distressed Property Institute and the CDPE Designation, visit www.cdpe.com.
Contact: Keller Williams
Amber Presley
Marketing & Communications
512-439-8708
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Contact: The Distressed Property Institute, LLC
Adam Pedowitz
Media Relations
512-501-2588
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