Educators Conference Draws

Participants from Across State

 

By Pamela R. Rorie

Continuing Education Officer

An eager crowd of real estate instructors, school officials and publisher representatives attended the 2009 Real Estate Educators Conference held in Raleigh on April 14, 2009.  The Commission-sponsored meeting drew 216 participants from across the state for this year’s one-day event. Director of Education and Licensing Larry Outlaw kicked-off the conference with a discussion of the state of real estate education and licensing and invited educators to offer suggestions as to the optimal means of delivering needed instruction to licensees in specialty areas of real estate brokerage.

Lisa McQuillen, Education and Licensing Officer, followed with a Prelicensing and Postlicensing Education “update” session in which she explained proposed rule revisions and recognized prelicensing schools and instructors who had exhibited outstanding performance.

The highlight of the morning’s program was a “tag-team” presentation by Thomas Miller, Special Deputy Attorney General/Director of Legal Services, and Miriam Baer, Assistant Director of Legal Services of the NC Real Estate Commission.

They addressed such matters as misrepresentation – which is the cause of most consumer complaints, required disclosure of agent bonuses, real estate lotteries/drawings, embezzlement, and other topics as requested by the attentive crowd.

During the luncheon, the North Carolina Real Estate Educators Association (NCREEA) held its spring meeting and annual awardS presentations led by President John Carroll.

The Association presented its “Program of the Year” award to Sheila Lowery for her Continuing Education elective course,  Alternative 2 – Made Easy, and its “Educator of the Year” award to Dana Rhodes, DREI, of the Mingle School of Real Estate.

Also during the luncheon, Commission Chairperson Melvin “Skip” Alston presented the Commission’s Billie J. Mercer Excellence in Education Award to NCREEA’s Educator of the Year, Dana Rhodes. This award is presented annually in memory of  former Commission member and chairperson, Billie Mercer, who was especially dedicated to the cause of real estate education. The name of each year’s award winner is engraved on the Mercer Award cup that is displayed in the Commission’s lobby.  Commission Vice Chairperson Marsha Jordan was also in attendance for the presentation.

Following the luncheon, a brief Continuing Education “update” session was conducted by Continuing Education Officer, Pamela Rorie, after which participants were treated to a lively presentation by Steve Richman of Genworth Mortgage Insurance which focused on the positives of the current economy and the best sources of information regarding new loan programs and guidelines.

The conference finale was presented by Deborah Carpenter, DREI, and Brian Pate who provided useful and creative techniques for motivating and engaging real estate students.