For real estate professionals who work in areas with a strong military presence—either active duty, retired, reserve or National Guard—the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Military Relocation Professional (MRP) certification can give them a leg up on the competition.
Having honorably served our country from 1999-2008 in the United States Marine Corps, Andrew Finney—a real estate consultant for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties—became curious about the real estate market during his time serving and wanted to get his license. After transferring from Okinawa, Japan, to San Diego, Calif., he worked at his goal and finally succeeded in 2013 once his school and military commitments were done.
“I first learned about NAR’s MRP certification in 2015, and decided to get it since the majority of the families I work with are active duty or veterans,” says Finney, who has helped roughly 90 families buy or sell homes since beginning his real estate career. “The main reason I earned the MRP is because my goal is to always provide my clients with the highest level of service while safeguarding their best interests. Even though being active duty for just shy of nine years taught me much about what’s contained within the MRP, I found great value in taking the online course at my own pace, and the insights that were offered have been invaluable.”
In addition to helping Finney stay increasingly cognizant of how active duty PCS (permanent change of station) orders work for families, the certification has been instrumental when it comes to helping clients understand their door-to-door move priority.
“A major benefit is the MRP Facebook page,” adds Finney. “The community of MRP real estate professionals across the country is amazing. In fact, in several cases, I utilized the MRP Facebook page to find agents in other locales for the active duty and/or veterans that contacted me. The MRP community is a tight-knit bunch that’s always ready to help our nation’s brave active duty and veterans succeed in buying and/or selling their homes.”
Recently, Finney was contacted by an active duty USAF Airman about buying a home in his home state of Las Vegas, Nev., but his PCS orders came through, so Finney was able to connect the man and his family with a fellow MRP agent through the Facebook page in just minutes.
“I make a point to listen carefully and attentively as they share with me what’s most important in their home-buying/-selling experience,” says Finney. “Then, we devise a winning strategy for them to successfully buy and/or sell their home within the timeframe they need with the terms they’re seeking.
“They deserve all of our respect, compassion, professionalism and dedication in providing exemplary real estate service to them,” adds Finney, who believes that anyone with a passion to help active duty and veterans through the real estate process should earn the MRP certification so they can best help these individuals understand what’s most important to them.
“From my experience, most agents don’t really know how the VA loan process works, or the active duty or veteran …read more
From:: Real Estate News