Kaplan Launches Buyer Agency Professional Designation to Help Real Estate Agents Navigate Looming Major Changes to the Industry’s Business Model
March 21 2024 - 11:35AM
Business Wire
Kaplan has launched a Buyer Agency Professional (BAP)
designation to help buyer agents succeed as they face a drastically
different real estate business model on the horizon. A landmark
federal court ruling in October 2023 has resulted in the National
Association of Realtors announcing on March 15, 2024 a settlement
in the class action lawsuit, upending a system in place for
generations and shifting the burden of how buyer agents get paid to
buyer agents themselves. Now they’ll have to negotiate their
commission with their clients, who will have to pay them directly,
potentially causing significant early friction. For more than three
decades, in most states, the business has worked like this: Seller
agents and buyer agents split a commission based upon the final
price of the home sale, pre-decided on and paid for by the seller.
The home purchaser generally has never had to even think about this
part of the process…until now.
Among the skills that real estate professionals will learn in
the eight-hour, live online course:
- Buyer Agency and Responsibilities: Learn the
responsibilities of a buyer agent.
- Unique Value Proposition: Create a compelling buyer
agent value proposition that fits your style and demonstrates your
value to potential buyers.
- Professional Fees: Find out the steps to secure your
professional fees, including who can and can’t pay you.
- Service Menu Approach: Create a menu of services that
allow you to deliver the services the buyer needs.
- Professional Service Agreement: Learn what this is, how
to use it, and when to use this type of written agreement.
“On a scale of 1-10, the National Association of Realtors’
decision to change how commissions are secured is a 10. This is by
far the biggest change to hit the real estate industry in more than
30 years, and has added a new dimension of uncertainty among agents
on how they are going to secure their fees when representing
buyers. That’s not good for them, their clients, or the market. The
Buyer Agency Professional (BAP) designation not only educates
agents on the best processes and tactics to use when securing their
fees, but also teaches them how to compete and market their
services to get ahead on this significantly different landscape,”
said Toby Schifsky, vice president of real estate education,
Kaplan. “We also believe that potential buyers are going to look to
hire agents who have this designation, as it demonstrates both
their command of the new buyer representative/agency model and
commitment to excellence.”
Upon successful completion, agents will receive their BAP
designation and a digital badge to use in their marketing
efforts.
The course launch comes amid a potential rebound in the real
estate market, with sales of previously owned homes on the rise in
January and mortgage rates creeping down. The increase in sales
helped boost home prices compared with a year earlier for the
seventh consecutive month. And the national median sales price rose
5.1 percent from January last year to $379,100 — the highest median
sales price for January on records going back to 1999.
The Buyer Agency Professional (BAP) course is now open for
enrollment.
About Kaplan
Kaplan, Inc. is a global educational services company that helps
individuals and institutions advance their goals in an
ever-changing world. Our broad portfolio of solutions help students
and professionals further their education and careers, universities
and educational institutions attract and support students, and
businesses maximize employee recruitment, retainment, and
development. Stanley Kaplan founded our company in 1938 with a
mission to expand educational opportunities for students of all
backgrounds. Today, our thousands of employees working in 27
countries continue Stanley’s mission as they serve about 1.2
million students and professionals, 15,000 corporate clients, and
3,300 schools, school districts, colleges, and universities
worldwide. Kaplan is a subsidiary of the Graham Holdings Company
(NYSE: GHC). Learn more at kaplan.com.
Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings
Company (NYSE: GHC)
X: @KaplanEdNews
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240320127181/en/
Press Contact: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com
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