RISMEDIA, July 27, 2010—Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the franchisor of one of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organizations announced an agreement with the Distressed Property Institute, LLC to bring the industry-leading Certified Distressed Property Expert® (CDPE) designation training to its sales professionals.
“In today’s market, home sellers need to talk to real estate professionals who understand the specifics of this challenging market,” said Rick Davidson, president and CEO, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “We are pleased to make the CDPE designation more widely available to our franchise system, enabling more of our sales professionals to provide effective and efficient service throughout the short sale process. The CDPE certification will enhance our agents’ abilities to help distressed homeowners.”
In a short sale transaction, homeowners avoid foreclosure by working with their lenders and selling their property for less than the mortgage amount owed.
Based in Austin, Texas, the Distressed Property Institute has trained more than 24,000 real estate professionals, making CDPE one of the fastest-growing, independent designations in real estate industry history. A survey of its membership revealed that CDPE-designated agents reported an average 49% decrease in short sale processing time since achieving the designation. In addition, these agents typically list seven-times, and close five-times as many properties as the average National Association of REALTORS® agent.
“Century 21 is one of the most recognizable brands in the real estate industry with a significant and admirable commitment to continued agent education,” said Alex Charfen, co-founder and CEO of the Institute. “The steps taken by Century 21 to provide the CDPE designation training reinforces that commitment, and will help their sales professionals thrive in this market.”
According to the 2010 First Quarter National Delinquency Survey put out by the Mortgage Bankers Association, more than one in seven homeowners are not making mortgage payments. In addition, the report showed mortgage delinquencies increasing among prime mortgages, previously the safest mortgage product on the market.
For more information, visit www.century21.com.
