Friday, July 18, 2008

e-PRO for REALTORS--Hip or Hype?



I just came back from a 90 minute presentation that was suppose to be all about e-PRO, a certification endorsed by the National Association of REALTORS. I actually went to an e-PRO course when it first came about about 5 or 6 years ago at our National Convention.

First understand that I am all about technology and want to absorb everything web 2.0 that is out there. When I first went to the presentation 5 years ago, I was not impressed. They could not explain what it was or what you would really learn for that matter. What I was told was, it will give you more certifications behind your name and that will impress people with your knowledge. I could not believe my ears.

Today however, I was going to give it another chance. I am an education junkie who can't get enough about this real estate business. But what I got was about 10 minutes explanation of e-PRO which still did not explain anything other than it does not to appear to have been updated in the last 5 Years and once you are certified you are certified for life! Please! That means those who have an email account are on top of technology? If this is the image we are giving to our customers, I think I will pass. For almost $400, I would expect the latest information out there, not how to do social networking....oops! Social networking is not covered in e-PRO; but may be one day in e-PRO 2 according to today's presenter.

One very telling thing about this program is that for a intense online course, no one can seem to explain how it will benefit me and make me more productive as a REALTOR. I would think that for such an "intense" course, one could easily talk about the benefits for 90 minutes or longer. Instead, I heard about things that are not even offered in the course (which was good information, just not relevant).

I would love to tell you that e-PRO would be great for beginner's and expert users alike as was stated, but since I am still unsure of what the darn thing is I think I will use the $400 to buy more great books on CS3, fill my SUV full of gas, and continue learning about web 2.0 & 3.0 via the old fashioned way....