FAQs
What is a Women’s Real Estate and Lifestyle Design Advisor?
A Women’s RE & LD Advisor is a professional who is called upon to give real estate, mortgage or home design advice to women real estate consumers in the course of their work. We believe that these decisions are not just about real estate; rather, we believe that real estate is ultimately a tool that smart women can use to consciously and intentionally design every element of their lives.
Women’s Real Estate and Lifestyle Design Advisors have made a bold statement in the marketplace that they aim to be more than just a salesperson – they seek to earn and honor their clients’ trust as an advisor and coach as they make sometimes stressful, sometimes difficult real estate decisions. Women’s RE & LD Advisors have invested time, money and energy in understanding the unique ways women think about, shop for, buy/sell, build and finance their homes, and possess a unique level of skill and tools to serve this demographic.
Who is eligible to complete the certification?
- Licensed real estate salespersons and mortgage professionals
- Licensed contractors/builders and their sales and design staffers
- Licensed/certified home design professionals
- Licensed financial planners, advisors, CPAs and attorneys
Do you have to be a woman to get certified?
Absolutely not. Men and women professionals seeking to serve smart women consumers are welcome.
Why become a Women’s Real Estate and Lifstyle Design Advisor?
Our Founder, Tara-Nicholle Nelson, was once asked by the New York Daily News why women were an important niche demographic. She replied, “Women make 91 percent of the real estate decisions in America. That’s not a niche – that is the market!”
Women’s wants and needs are greater, in number and nature, than men’s. Professionals who tailor their practices to meet women’s needs will encompass and serve men’s, too – but the reverse is not true.
Women’s RE & LD Advisors differentiate themselves in the marketplace by highlighting themselves as client-centered professionals, and are also better equipped than average professionals to serve and retain women consumers, activate procrastinating women, overcome the fears and unique mindset *issues* of women consumers, close deals with women consumers more easily, market to women more profitably (keeping more of the money they make), and generate referrals from their female clientele with ease.
How do I earn the Women’s Real Estate & Lifestyle Design Advisor Certification?
All the requirements for earning the certification are available here. The certification coursework is delivered on-demand, through Digital Chalk, an online multimedia learning system. Each course is 60-90 minutes long, and is followed by an exam approximately 30 questions in length.
More questions? Email info at REThinkRealEstate.com, or click the floating Contact button on the right hand side of your screen to submit your questions.
If I sign-up for the Certification, how long do I have to complete the classes?
Six months from the time you begin completing the coursework.
What does it take to keeping my Women’s RE & LD Advisor designation current, and how much does it cost after year 1?
Currently, the requirement is that you must take four hours’ worth of the monthly webinar coursework (continuing education coursework) offered at WRELDA.com per year, and pay $99 annually, to keep your Membership current. The $99 includes the cost of unlimited registration in as many of the the continuing education courses as you’d like to take.
The requirements and costs that are in place at the time you join will be locked-in for the duration of your continuous Membership, even if they go up for incoming Members.
How do I get referrals? How much does it cost to join the referral program?
Referrals are requested by consumers who visit REThink Real Estate. You do not have to be a WRELDA Member to receive referrals, though we do prioritize WRELDA Members when looking to assign referral clients.
Joining the referral program is free, but we do request a 25% broker-to-broker referral fee on closed transactions. To join, download the referral form here, have your managing broker sign, and submit via email to Referral Coordinator Kristen Murakoshi: Kristen at REThinkRealEstate.com.
What’s up with the $29 webinar series?
Our mission is to raise the level of smart property ownership for all women in America. We’ll get there, in part, by educating as many professionals as possible – WRELDA Members or not. Get a taste of the insider knowledge you can glean by becoming a Women’s RE and LD Advisor by attending as many of the $29 webinars as you’d like.
But keep in mind that WRELDA Members attend an unlimited number of the $29 webinars – plus the deeper WRELDA coursework – included in the cost of their $299 Membership (first year) and $99 continuing annual fee.
If you’re a Women’s RE & LD Advisor Member, you will receive the webinar url/link in your email prior to each of the $29 webinars – no need to register.
How long have you been around?
Our Founder, Tara-Nicholle Nelson, has been a real estate attorney and/or broker, serving primarily women real estate consumers, for over a decade. She started REThink Real Estate, the smart women real estate consumer’s resource, in 2006, and published The Savvy Woman’s Homebuying Handbook in 2007 – to overwhelmingly positive response of consumers and industry insiders. Her second book, Trillion Dollar Women, was published by the National Association of Homebuilders in 2008, and her collaboration with HGTV’s FrontDoor.com began the same year.
The Certification itself is brand new – you are getting in on the ground floor! It was soft-launched at the Inman Connect 2009 real estate conference in San Francisco, and is being released to the public in October 2009.
