REBNY offers new course, title

The Real Estate Board of New York is looking to give brokers another
notch on their belt with a new REBNY-designated course and title — New
York Residential Specialist.

On Monday, 30 brokers from different firms will become the course’s
first graduates. They will receive REBNY’s honorary NYRS degree and
gain the right to use the NYRS logo on marketing materials.

“We want people to know that we have been additionally educated to
truly deliver the standard in the industry,” said Nikki Field, a
Sotheby’s International Realty senior vice president and a volunteer
teacher in the program. “They become better qualified, better versed,
more proficient brokers doing a better job.”

The course will put brokers on more equal footing with brokers in other
states that have more rigorous continuing education requirements, said
Alan Pfeifer, a Halstead Property senior vice president and the
program’s criteria committee president.

Of the 30 course hours, 18 serve double-duty by satisfying 18 of the
22.5 approved continuing education hours the state requires of brokers
for each two-year license cycle.

Some participants said brokers aren’t spending $375 out of their own pockets just to fulfill requirements.

Rena Goldstein, a Halstead senior vice president, said she took the
course to study up and only found out later about the requirement.

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Eileen Spinola, senior vice president of REBNY’s brokerage services and
educational programs, wrote in an e-mail: “Most of those attending are
senior brokers and no longer need the credit but are doing the
designation course to stimulate their creative juices, expand their
knowledge base and to stay competitive.”

Classes range from psychology and real estate to the art of negotiation
and professional ethics. Teachers included Barbara Corcoran, the
Corcoran Group’s founder; Frederick Peters, Warburg Realty
Partnership’s president; and Jacky Teplitzky, a Prudential Douglas
Elliman executive vice president.

The course, which took about two and a half years to develop, is open
only to associate brokers who have done at least 30 deals in New York
City, totaling at least $30 million in sales or $12 million in rentals.

Course books included “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More
Than IQ,” by David Goleman; “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement
without Giving in,” by Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton; and
“The Handbook of Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: Inspiring Others
to Achieve Results,” by Daniel Feldman.

Brokers will receive a certificate of completion following submission
of an evaluative final project, such as a book review or essay.

The spring semester begins Jan. 21 and was already close to full about
a week after the application period opened, Pfeifer said.

Meanwhile, Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business has introduced a
Master of Science degree in real estate, at a fraction of the cost of a
similar degree offered at New York University. Applications for the
30-credit program began at the beginning of the month and classes
commence next fall.