Real estate is one of the most solid investments you can make, and that is why you need an education provider that is with you every step of the way. Kaplan’s salesperson license renewal courses offer a wide variety of topics to keep you at the forefront of your career. Not only will our courses fulfill your Iowa real estate continuing education requirements, but they will also help you stay ahead of the competition. And since all courses are state approved for continuing education credit in Iowa, you can count on Kaplan for all of your required education needs!
Kaplan is known for providing the real estate profession with innovative education solutions. Our internet-based CE courses are now offered in two formats- high-quality OnDemand video, and our traditional Online click-through, text-based format. The decision is yours! Select the course and delivery format that best fits your needs and learning style.
One Package for All of Your Distance Learning CE Needs
The Iowa Real Estate Commission requires real estate licensees to complete 36 hours of continuing education for each 3-year licensing renewal. You may complete 24 of the 36 hours via home study. This package consists of 24 hours of online education and will fulfill 4 hours of mandatory ethics, 8 hours of mandatory legal update, and 12 hours of electives.
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Continue your education with this Iowa state law update course.
This 8-hour, online, continuing education course covers key Iowa laws relevant to the practice of real estate. The course includes topics such as licensing, fraud and misrepresentation, agency, licensee responsibilities, disclosures, and fair housing laws. Stay up-to-date on state and federal laws while satisfying your continuing education requirements.
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Establish smart business practices that comply with fair housing laws.
As a real estate professional, you must contend with ever-increasing regulations. Although the Federal Fair Housing Act has been in force for more than 50 years, the way it is applied to everyday real estate continues to evolve. Learn what you need to know to make sure you are following the law. This book applies the law to today’s marketplace, including fair housing issues commonly found in property management and advertising. From cultural diversity to fair housing enforcement actions, this comprehensive book provides a new look at prohibited conduct and offers some practical applications to help keep you in compliance.
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Learn necessary information to be a successful real estate professional.
In this course, you will review both the judicial and non-judicial foreclosure processes along with rights of redemption and foreclosure timelines. You will learn the pertinent forms used in short sale and REO proceedings, including key terms and definitions of the foreclosure business.
This course can guide you to success by helping you identify and market a short sale property and teaching you the right person to connect with at the lender. Whether you just need to sharpen your distressed property skills or are jumping in for the first time, this course is made for you.
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Learn About the Most Common Environmental Hazards You May Encounter in a Transaction
Environmental Issues in Your Real Estate Practice is an online, general real estate CE course designed to provide information about the most common potential environmental hazards today. Updated with new information about flooding, each unit provides relevant information and examples to prepare you for the environmental issues you may face in your transactions, including air and water quality issues as well as onsite and offsite environmental hazards. Each unit also contains interactive activities, quick quizzes to test your knowledge, and a unit exam. The course is intended to help you do your due diligence when evaluating properties as well as avoid legal liability.
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Learn necessary information to be a successful real estate professional.
In this course, you will learn how to effectively guide your clients in making appropriate decisions concerning buying, selling, and assessing properties in which water is involved. By the end of this course, you will be able to answer the following questions and more: “What are the risks of a pond on the property?” “Does a rain garden increase the value of a property?” “Can those cattails be cleared for a better view of the lake?”
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Learn about this growing real estate trend!
Explore many untapped property opportunities for you and your buyers and sellers and the enormous impact of successful repurposing projects on your neighborhoods and communities. This course will help you master concepts necessary to develop and act as an agent in repurposing housing and commercial space. You will discover new ideas, programs, and opportunities that apply throughout the country, whether in urban, suburban, or rural areas, and for projects big and small. In addition to providing resources for further research, this course gives you strategies for bringing the right people together to make these projects possible and for obtaining community support that will result in successful projects that benefit all.
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Reach your creative potential with this innovative course. Incorporating real-life case studies, from open houses to social media, this course teaches you to think bigger while still following the laws that regulate in-person and digital advertising. From the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) policy on deceptive advertisements to applications of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), this course covers the latest legal guidelines. Other helpful topics include brand marketing, testimonials, native advertising, and “25 Creative Event Ideas for Real Estate Licensees.”
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Ever wonder what the difference is between mediation, litigation, and arbitration, and when each is best suited for the situation?
Learn the features, advantages, benefits, and limitations of each of these three dispute resolution types in order to help you educate your clients concerning their choices at critical and often tense decision making junctures. Each of the three dispute resolution types are examined and explained in simple yet comprehensive terms to enable your understanding and increase your confidence. Explore the difference between binding and non-binding arbitration, the defining elements and consequences of both, as well as the potential for an arbitration appeal. Real-life situations illustrate each dispute resolution option to help you gain relevant and applicable knowledge to use in future situations, limit your chances of being sued, and prepare you for the real estate world of today.
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Designed for students who prefer self-paced interactive online content, these courses allow you to follow your path to success in a convenient online format.
This course examines the factors driving today’s real estate market. The instructor takes you beyond the newspaper headlines to illustrate how the former driving factors of real estate no longer apply as millennial buyers outpace baby boomers (previously the largest real estate buyer group).
You will explore essential expectations and patterns so you can refine and re-tool your knowledge and practices, as well as your branding and image, to reflect an understanding of the new real estate model. This course focuses on increasing your ability to work effectively and productively with millennials to achieve their real estate goals, as well as yours.
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Protect your client and safeguard your real estate business and career!
Can you name three of the top ten legal issues real estate professionals face today? This course enlightens you to all top ten issues, plus helps you navigate through the murky waters that can prevail when a clear understanding of real estate laws, statutes, and rulings is loosely or vaguely interpreted.
This course illuminates the issues that create problems in real estate transactions. You will learn to identify what constitutes negligence, and when it is the “F-word”, fraud. You’ll sharpen your understanding of what happens when a client makes a Breach of Contract claim, and how to avoid misleading statements that can have disastrous ramifications for you, your client, and your business. Your expert instructor will lead you through case studies to identify critical issues, determine what happened, how a situation could have been handled appropriately, and how to
resolve legally and within the scope of the law. This engaging course will prepare you for real life real estate, in today’s world, and help you avoid risky and costly business
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Strategies and tips for working with Millennials.
This course examines the factors driving today’s real estate market. The instructor will take you beyond the newspaper headlines to illustrate how the former driving factors of real estate no longer apply, as millennial buyers outpace baby boomers (previously the largest real estate buyer group). You will learn how millennials—today’s largest real estate market—buy, sell, rent, strategize, and communicate. Learn how you can better serve this new leading population of clients.
This course will challenge past approaches to working with clients and illustrate successful approaches to working with today’s buyers and sellers. Get insight into how to educate yourself about millennials’ specific preferences and how builders and the real estate industry are responding to them.
You will explore essential expectations and patterns so you can refine and re-tool and your knowledge and practices, as well as your branding and image to reflect an understanding of the new real estate model. This course focuses on increasing your ability to work effectively and productively with millennials to achieve their real estate goals, as well as yours!
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Today’s Homebuyers Demand That Agents Understand the Basics of Houses
There are many challenges to helping others find suitable housing. One of the biggest is to effectively answer simple questions about housing structure and condition. That’s why we’ve put together this special online video course. In it, you’ll learn the language of houses and how they are built—plain and simple. Our dynamic instructors take you from the classroom right into the structural workings of a house. This highly visual instruction helps you gain the answers to the questions about the product you sell. From the foundation to the rooftop you will explore everything in-between.
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Some houses are lumps of coal and others are diamonds in the rough.
Can you tell the difference? Learn how to evaluate renovation options to determine if a house will be a money maker or a money taker.
This course is delivered in our stunning OnDemand video lecture format. With our OnDemand video lectures, you have the ability to access professional instruction anytime and anywhere you have an Internet connection! Filled with studio and “onsite” video learning objectives, this OnDemand course engages, enlightens, and entertains!
Learn the process of buying a distressed property, fixing it up, and selling it for profit. You’ll first look at ways to structure the acquisition. Next, you’ll determine how to analyze the property’s needs and costs. Comparing the costs and returns from renovating bedrooms to baths to kitchens and more will help you put your money in the right place. Also learn how to put together pricing models, accurate construction timelines, and a profitable exit strategy. With a solid plan in place, you’ll lessen your risks and realize a greater profit by avoiding coal and discovering diamonds in the rough.
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Black, green, and all over—what now?
Mold is an important topic in the real estate industry today, and you need to understand what it is and what to do when it is found in one of your properties.
This course discusses the impact of mold on the real estate industry, and you will learn important information on topics such as remediation, reducing liability, sampling and test kits, health effects of mold, and the differences between mold and other environmental red flags. Learn more about this widely misunderstood topic with updated information on issues relating to mold, as well as how these issues impact the real estate profession.
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Learn How to Uphold the Code of Ethics With This Course, and Fulfill Iowa’s Ethics CE Requirement.
This title provides you with a solid foundation for ethical behavior in real estate by discussing the basics of ethics, its application to real estate, and current ethical issues you might face in your real estate practice. It also discusses at length the epitome of ethical behavior in the real estate industry—the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Code of Ethics. While only members of NAR are required to uphold the standards of the Code of Ethics, it sets the bar for the whole real estate industry. Following its principles ensures that you will hold yourself to a high standard of professionalism.
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Become an invaluable resource to your client by learning how to spot scammers at the first hint of trouble.
Real Estate-related scams have come a long way and are far-reaching. Learn about the newest schemes, like flopping, and how today’s high- and low-tech scammers prey on the unsuspecting. You’ll learn how scams hurt your reputation and the liability that comes with being associated with a real estate scam.
This course takes you one crime at a time, on the journey of sleuthing the facts, recognizing who is liable, assessing the consequences, and revealing the resources that will help you avoid the dark side of the industry today. Whether it’s a vague seller disclosure or a suspicious short sale practice, you have come to the right place to solve the mystery. Learn how you can sting-proof your reputation while keeping your clients out of harm’s way and protecting their interests.
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Lots of sellers never sell, but most buyers are buying… go where the money is!
Buyer agents are busier than ever with today’s opportunity-rich environment, and understanding the ins and outs of buyer representation may never be more important to your business. With so many homes on the market that never sell, savvy agents are finding that representing buyers is where the money is.
For your business, understanding the requirements and obligations of buyer representation can mean the difference between floundering and flourishing. In this course you will learn the legal and technical aspects of buyer representation, including such things as due diligence and fiduciary duties. You will explore the exposure you have when representing buyers and how a good risk management plan can help protect you and your clients.
As most professional buyer reps will tell you, gaining informed consent from a buyer can be the hardest skill of all to attain, and we teach how you do just that. With real-world examples and interactive exercises, you are certain to retain this information for implementation directly into your business. From purchase and sale agreement to closing the property, this course will expose you to some of the best practices employed in the industry of buyer representation.
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Real estate professionals are held to a standard of reporting if they find something that is a “red flag” (a visual sign or indication of a defect), yet many are inadequately informed of what qualifies as a red flag and what their responsibility is when they find one. You are not responsible for a full inspection – a home inspector is – but since you have exposure to the home, there is an obligation to disclose what you see. Red flags always cause negotiations and can threaten sales, but they can be especially troublesome in a buyer’s market, when buyers can afford to be picky about many issues. And with as much inventory as we currently have, the individuals who are looking to buy these properties are more likely to be investors who are generally more familiar with these issues.
Recent legislation has directed you with the responsibility of inspecting properties for “red flags” – especially an extreme issue such as asbestos or mold. Brokers and agents who understand and comply with their state’s disclosure laws stand a better chance of avoiding legal liability or a sale falling through.
Limit your personal risk by being better informed of what to look for and how to correctly respond to the finding.
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Don’t let financing be your blind spot!
In a changing financial landscape with new real estate reporting requirements, Real Estate Finance Today is an invaluable resource for your real estate career. You will learn about new developments in collateralized mortgage obligations, new flood insurance requirements, and TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures. This course takes the pulse of the current financial environment and explains it in clear language.
You will learn about new and recently available loan products and how an active government influences the real estate finance world. This course will leave you with a clear understanding of what loans are available, as well as what it takes to qualify with today’s lending regulations and guidelines. Stop guessing and start knowing about today’s financing. Enroll today!
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Tax laws that help you and your clients
Learn how to demystify tax laws to help your clients make smarter housing decisions. You’ll obtain a thorough background on basic tax issues, calculations, and formulas in order to gain the knowledge and practice to better assist clients on tax-related questions and issues. You’ll learn the general requirements for deductions and explore how gains or losses are computed. Discover what’s included in the selling price and what may be included as selling expenses.
Filled with pertinent and thought-provoking case studies, this course will leave you with a clear understanding of available deductions and what it takes to qualify within existing tax laws. Stop guessing and start knowing about tax deductions that can help you and your clients. Enroll today!
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A High-Level View of the Fastest-Growing Segment in Real Estate Today
Real estate property management is the fastest-growing segment of today’s real estate marketplace as more and more people are displaced from their homes through foreclosure and need to find shelter in a rental. In this introductory course, you will receive a comprehensive overview of what major duties and responsibilities are assigned to a property manager, explore the economics of the rental business, and learn the biggest risks and liabilities associated with managing rental properties.
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Why do perfectly good houses sometimes go bad?
This course is delivered in our stunning OnDemand video lecture format. With OnDemand video lectures, you have the ability to access professional instruction anytime and anywhere you have an internet connection! Filled with studio and “onsite” video learning objectives, this OnDemand course engages, enlightens, and entertains!
We will take you on a building physics adventure; explaining in easy to understand terms how houses work and, more importantly, why perfectly good houses sometimes go bad. You will learn the critical role new construction materials play in reduced building tolerances and why that creates huge problems. Find out, for example, what types of insulation materials are effective and what are not. Older homes will be explored as well. Helpful tips will enable you to communicate more intelligently and effectively with increasingly sophisticated homeowners.
No more dealing with individualized parts of the house, this class provides the whole picture. Taught by a respected instructor through OnDemand video lectures, this is a class not to be overlooked. Get the answers to help your clients make decisions and the information to help you compete in the current market.
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Real estate is still one of the best investments available anywhere. Agents who understand the numbers are on their way to earning extra commissions.
This course is delivered in our stunning OnDemand video lecture format. With our OnDemand video lectures, you have the ability to access professional instruction anytime and anywhere you have an Internet connection! Filled with studio and “onsite” video learning objectives, this OnDemand course engages, enlightens, and entertains!
Investors are discovering that tax, cash flow, principal reduction and appreciation benefits of single-and multi-family properties outweigh other investment opportunities, including the wildly vacillating stock market. This course can open the door for you to the lucrative investment real estate market. If you are unfamiliar with selling residential real estate as an investment, you’ll get a step-by-step understanding of the fundamentals you’ll need to get started.
You’ll learn how real estate compares to non-real estate investments. You’ll discover how to package hard-to-sell listings to your existing customer base. You’ll learn to identify additional sources of financing, and you’ll learn new techniques for using commission dollars to build your own investment portfolio.
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The more business you do, the greater the chance of making an error. Stay sharp and avoid legal problems!
This course provides the essentials on risk management that every sales professional must know to avoid legal problems and provides an action plan for minimizing liability. What’s the difference between active fraud and negligence? What’s the nitty-gritty on dual agency? What are reasonable accommodations, and who determines when they’re required? Risk Management provides in-depth, detailed answers to these questions and many more, backed up with real-word examples and end-of-unit case studies. Online access to course materials allows you to meet your continuing education requirements when and where you please.
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Learn the language and techniques of how to accurately classify and measure residential property from a pro!
This course is delivered in our stunning OnDemand video lecture format. With our OnDemand video lectures, you have the ability to access professional instruction anytime and anywhere you have an Internet connection! Filled with studio and “onsite” video learning objectives, this OnDemand course engages, enlightens, and entertains!
Real estate licensees, appraisers, assessors, builders and contractors have specific methods used to measure and describe residential real property. In this engaging course, we’ll clarify the standards and pinpoint common mistakes made in measuring property. You’ll also learn the proper terminology and definitions that even the playing field between agents, appraisers and lenders who use this value-laden information for many of the decisions made concerning a property. Learn to talk the same talk while more accurately representing the home, as well as enhancing the value you bring to your client with this knowledge.
It begins with the proper way to measure a house--where to start and what to include. You will learn the distinctions between above-grade and below-grade floor areas and other often misunderstood and miscalculated areas. The challenges of calculating attics, lofts and low ceilings will be addressed. You’ll also learn how to deal with detached rooms, sunrooms, and other hard to classify and measure rooms. The course will also explain the industry standards for qualifying room counts, bedrooms and bathrooms.
Come learn what you need to know to ensure you capture every square foot that translates to value for your clients and protects the biggest investment of their life!
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What’s all the hype about?
Witness this emerging market segment as you learn about the new world of tiny house living. In The Tiny House: Is it a Phase or Craze?, you’ll learn the origin of the tiny house, different types of tiny houses, the structural elements, costs and considerations, valuation of property, and when a tiny house is considered real property. We’ll also identify financing options specific to the tiny house and introduce you to tiny house communities developing across the country. The tiny house is a reflection of expressed values by a growing number of buyers today: simple living in natural surroundings and smaller more-efficient living spaces.
This course will reveal a client group whose needs may be unclear, until now. This course will prepare you to be knowledgeable of the construction and informed about market needs as well as provide you with options to discuss with your clients who are seeking this type of real estate.
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Discover the Most Valuable Improvements Homeowners Can Make to Increase the Value of Their Homes
Presented in an entertaining and informative countdown format, this online video course employs the latest national data to calculate the 20 home upgrades that provide the greatest return on investment. Including internal improvements like kitchen remodels and outdoor improvements like deck additions, this course explores the home improvement process from all angles to reach some surprising conclusions about cost and value. This course will help you advise your clients on how to make wise choices that positively impact the resale value of their homes.
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Learn what does and does not have monetary value in an appraiser’s eyes with a snapshot of the essential tools and assessment methods used to estab¬lish the ultimate value of a property. Also, learn where value lies from a cost approach, so you can help your clients identify poor quality in spite of accept¬able appearance. Find out what the six surprising low-cost, high-value materi¬als are, what type of siding lasts the longest, and which foundation type will save you the most money in the long run.
Learn about the real differences in construction quality, and what has monetary value in addition to aesthetic value. Your instructor will help you translate otherwise confusing terms and definitions into useful information you can communicate to your clients. Whether your interest is in existing property, new construction, or proposed renovations, you’ll pick up essential information to increase your professional competence—evident in your next client conversation.
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Help your clients avoid financing pitfalls!
From initial contact through the closing, real estate agents must move with the market. You’ll learn how economic conditions, such as rising interest rates and employment indicators, along with many other factors, affect every client decision. This course will guide you step-by-step so you can help buyers choose the right type of funding. In addition, you’ll be able to ensure buyers and sellers are getting the best possible price, all while providing a smooth transaction.
Experience pre-recorded, instructor-led video courses that allow you to review each lesson or segment when your schedule allows...and as often as you like. All you need is a reliable internet connection and a comfortable chair!
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Learn to protect some of America's most vulnerable citizens with this immersive video course.
The law recognizes that elders are susceptible to financial abuse and fraud. Real estate licensees are uniquely positioned to help protect these vulnerable individuals from being preyed upon. This online video course gives you the knowledge of the most common types of elder scams and how you can help elders to take steps to prevent abuse. Video instructors describe how and to whom to report suspected elder financial abuse. Through education, knowledge, and awareness, you can contribute to safeguarding the interests of your clients and other consumers in the marketplace.
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Gain the knowledge you need to represent clients skillfully in common interest community (CIC) transactions!
Learn about the required documents you need to secure for your buyer’s time-sensitive review. Many potential real estate buyers are intrigued about owning a property with shared amenities and services they would not be able to afford on their own, but they should be knowledgeable about the fees and limitations associated with these properties. You’ll also learn what to spot in those documents to help your clients determine whether the properties they are considering are sound investments.
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Learn how to overcome one of the biggest home buying hurdles!
How can you help more people realize the dream of owning a home? By solving the down payment dilemma. In this course, you will explore the concepts and innovative programs that make that dream come true. This course explores how to crowdfund a down payment, how to qualify for state and federal low down payment programs, as well as how to find and reach customers—whether millennials with high student loan debt or newlyweds looking to improve their credit scores—who need down payment assistance.
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Avoid common pitfalls of real estate contracts with this course.
Designed for students who prefer self-paced interactive online content, this course allows you to follow your path to success in a convenient online format. This continuing education course covers the essential elements of a contract and lease. Explore the fundamentals of preparing a sales contract, including financing and contingencies, as well as amendments, addenda, and defaults. This course also concludes with common contract mistakes and examples of what to look for to avoid common pitfalls.
What you don't know CAN hurt you…and your customers, too!
This course examines unconscious biases and helps you to address it in your life and in your real estate practice. Eliminating both conscious and unconscious bias is not only the right thing to do for your clients and customers, but it also can open a new world of opportunity. In this video course, you will look at how you can create a bias-proof process that will lead to numerous benefits
Center Your Real Estate Career Around Upholding Ethical Principles
This online video real estate course will teach you how to cultivate success in real estate transactions by upholding ethical principles. It will help you better connect with, communicate to, and create loyal, long-term clients. The presenter, a national speaker and author, brings a one-of-a-kind, passionate delivery of this course through engaging stories and the practical application of course topics. This video course will keep you on the edge of your seat while learning techniques that you can put to use immediately and throughout your career.
Stay Up-to-Date on Real Estate Law with This Course
Many real estate professionals believe they understand real estate laws and think they’re in compliance, but the truth is that professionals across the United States continue to be disciplined for violating some of the most fundamental laws. This online real estate course takes a fresh look at old laws by reviewing the latest violations and provides real-life examples of what not to do. The topics are short and interesting, presenting content in text and video from a variety of real estate experts.
