What are your thoughts about the CRS (Certified Residential Specialist)? Is it worth having? Do you believe it really increases your income and validity of expertise?

I've often thought about taking the course, but, I have the same fear of it as I did with the ABR designation...that my money (yearly dues) will just be a waste. I've been in the business 10 years.

Has it improved your real estate income?

My personal though on these extra designations is that they are primarily of benefit to the person who creates the designation and collects the annual membership dues.

Do clients in your area even know what a CRS is? Do they care?

Most people don't know the difference between a real estate agent and REALTOR. To expect John Q. Public to understand the alphabet soup that follows is more of a stretch.

I agree. It seems to me that the designations serve as great things to put in the property magazine to "intimidate" other Realtors, but not much else. If you actually have to pay a yearly fee just to keep the designation, I would be very disinclined. Keep in mind that I have two Bachelor's degrees (History and Political Science) that I consider to be pretty worthless as well, so my opinion may be biased, but honestly, I think success in real estate depends more on your own actions and how you treat people rather than a designation. I remember several agents in my area who became "e-Pro's" several years ago. I still don't know what that means, other than they know how to search the internet and upload photos.

Even if you're just trying to impress other "Agents". these designations don't seem to cut the mustard. I also have a few degrees, but someone would really have to know what they mean to be impressed. I have an MBA which is the only thing that I do have on Business Cards, because it can help a little with my Commercial activity . . . . I thought that at least it had some recognition outside our industry.

If anyone has to ask "What's it stand for?" then I think it fails. And most people would be intimidated from asking for fear of the counter-question "What, you don't know?", so they don't ask.

I have several of NAR's Designations that could dangle on the end of my name . . . . but in the end, it's my name that I want people to remember - my name and its association with a high level of service that makes me unforgettable; not some initials garbaging up my identity.

And I certainly WOULD NOT continue to pay NAR for the priviledge of using a designation once I've earned it.

That's like these classes that result in your being "certified" . . . . seldom is there an exam, so it can only "certified" that you sat through the class(es) !

I'd say it depends. When working at C-21 the first 11 years and then ERA and other independent companies, the relo customers sometimes were assigned to agents with CRS and GRI designations. My wife and I got the designations because of that asap, and it helped our business.
Over the next 10 years it did not seem as important, since the relo dept. was non existent and we made it on our SOI. Now I still have the CRS and my wife is retired, but the company I work for pays for everything since I'm a consultant in the right-of-way business.
The cost for a CRS is $150 a year, if an agents can't afford that, they should get out of the business. It also shows a certain production level and experience.
Here some other real estate related credentials in my current field:

http://www.irwaonline.org/eweb/dynamicpage.aspx?site=IRWA2010&webcode=generalist

I noticed no one mentioned that they actually might learn something from CRS or CRB or ABR courses. Everyone seems to have done some kind of mental cost-benefit analysis and concluded that the return isn't there. And quite frankly, the consumer doesn't know a CRS from a CAT.

But if you decide to take the courses, the best way is via classroon, you get so much more insight then online and you'll find the instructors will add more and answer every question you night want. Now that's not always easy unless you live in a big metro area or belong to a large board. I remember when I took CRS courses in south Florida ten years ago, about a third of the class was people from up north that combined a week Florida vacation with the two day course.

I second that.

With Adult Education of all kinds, I find that I always learn more from the experiences of the other student participants . . . . NOT the Instructor or Moderator (or Proctor).

More often than not, the students bring far more experience to the Class than does the Instructor. You miss that in an On-Line Class. But that's just my opinion.

I once had a colleague who was convinced that the more letters that came after your name, the less you really knew...

I've found that having a broker's license is more of a trump card than alphabet soup designations...that is, once I've explained the difference between a broker and a salesperson to prospects. Still, even that is of minimal benefit at best. What prospective clients really want to know is how well you know their target market, not whether you're a CRS or ABR or WTF.

I think PA Roadkill is right on, though: the letters may not hold much, but you're certainly bound to learn a few things that you didn't know before, and that alone may be worth the money to go through the certification.

In our state everyone is a broker, we are a one license state. I got the GRI first, since no production requirements exist and learned alot being new in the business. When getting my CRS in year 4 and 5 after getting my license, the education was a good step up from the GRI and paid for itself within a couple of months.