What is SRES all about?

The SRES Council trains REALTORS® to meet the special needs of maturing Americans when selling, buying, relocating, or refinancing residential or investment properties. The Council tracks senior-specific lifestyle and housing issues and educates REALTORS® who are making clients age 50-plus a part of their overall business plan. By earning the SRES® designation, REALTORS® are prepared to approach mature clientele with the best options and information for them to make life-changing decisions.

Here's why REALTORS® want to belong to the SRES Council:

Education

Our two-day training program, held nationwide throughout the year, offers the agent the unique opportunity to learn and build key skills in counseling seniors through selling their family home, buying rental property, or moving to a senior community, among many other issues.

Seniors Real Estate Specialists® learn how to:

• Identify the power of generational demographics
• Develop and maintain relationship marketing skills
• Counsel rather than sell to seniors
• Use team-building skills with other seniors professionals
• Understand the implications of tax laws, probate and estate planning
• Create a point of difference from the competition

Knowledge

In addition to guiding clients to the right experts on tax laws, probate, estate planning, and a variety of equity conversion strategies, Seniors Real Estate Specialists® can offer clients relevant information on current trends in senior real estate transactions.

How Can a Seniors Real Estate Specialist® Help Me?

An SRES® designee can help you make wise decisions about selling the family home, financing, buying rental property, or managing the capital gains and tax implications of owning real estate, among many other issues. In addition to guiding clients to the right experts on tax laws, probate, estate planning, and a variety of equity conversion strategies, Seniors Real Estate Specialists® can offer clients relevant information on current trends in senior real estate transactions.

The SRES® Designation course seeks to instill each student with the knowledge and understanding of, and empathy for, 50+ real estate clients and customers, while educating students on developing the business building skills and resources needed for specialization in the 50-plus real estate market.

Your SRES Designee has:

• learned the application of federal laws for Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA).
• adopted methods for counseling the 50+ buyer and sellers
• committed his/herself to focus on the transaction and avoid inappropriate involvement in family matters
• developed sensitivities to 50+ issues on priorities when counseling buyers and sellers, showing properties, and managing transactions
• established reputable services that win and sustain client and customer relationships and position his/herself as a trusted real estate advisor
• assembled a team of experts to help serve 50+ clients and customers
• been educated on the uses, benefits, procedures, and issues involved in reverse mortgages
• learned about the uses of pensions, 401k accounts, and IRAs in real estate transactions
• gained an understanding of how Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security impact 50+ real estate decisions
• the ability to help clients integrate disposition of real property into estate plans
• the knowledge to recognize mortgage finance and loan schemes and scams that victimize 50+ borrower

A national program since 1998, the council now has Seniors Real Estate Specialists® in all 50 states and Canada and adds hundreds of new members every month.

SRES members are not qualified to give legal or tax advice and the SRES Council does not guarantee the accuracy of its members' information. All clients are strongly urged to contact a real estate attorney or certified public accountant to obtain legal or tax advice.