Historic Preservation-Oriented Realtor Training Programs

Focusing on a topic I discuss in my Economics of Historic Preservation course, Preservation Online's Story of the Week, A Growing Number of Preservation Groups Offer Courses for Real-Estate Agents, indicates that an increasing number of preservation groups are offering courses that help real-estate agents understand and market historic properties. Organizations featured in the story include the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, National Trust for Historic Preservation/ERA Realty, Maine Preservation, Landmark Society of Western New York, and the Atlanta Preservation Center. The story also indicates that Preservation Arkansas and Kansas Preservation Association conduct workshops at their annual conferences and additional groups such as the Tennessee Preservation Trust, APVA Preservation Virginia, and Preserve Nevada expect to offer courses in the future.

Much more information about this topic is available online, and I have therefore included information from, and expanded on, Preservation Online's article and provided links to related information available online. If you know of additional preservation-oriented realtor training programs (or similar programs), feel free to add information by commenting below, and I will include it in a future post.

The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation offers "Real Estate School," a full-day program given at several sites around the state. Taught by Rachel Carley, author of several books on architecture, including The Visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture, the course features a slide presentation on architectural styles, an explanation of preservation legislation, and workshops on topics like writing accurate ads (no "Colonial Victorians," Carley advises). According to the Trust's web site, the "Selling Historic Houses" course will next be offered in Greenwich, CT on March 28, 2007. Realtors completing the course receive continuing education credits; are listed in a special section of the Trust's web site, along with their towns and agencies, as a resource to homeowners; and receive discounts on advertising on the Trust's web site and in its print magazine Connecticut Preservation News. Participating realtors are asked to bring a photograph of a historic house they have successfully sold or have had problems selling. The Trust's excellent and highly informative web site also has a special historic real estate resources section, which includes a style guide, information about designating a building a landmark, protecting historic homes, a historic properties exchange, restoration services directory, and a listing of trained real estate agents.

While browsing at Farmington, Connecticut's charming Millrace Bookshop in the Gristmill in recent months, I've also encountered a wonderful publication that promotes historic real estate: Antique Homes - The Sales Directory of Antique and Historic Properties. Published by John Petraglia, the magazine serves Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. While the magazine is dominated by paid black-and-white and color photographs of a wide range of historic houses with detailed descriptions, it also includes informative and educational articles about architectural styles and preservation techniques, as well as advertisements for myriad restoration services.

According to Preservation Online's article Maine Preservation offers continuing education classes for realtors such as "Understanding Older Housing in Maine" several times a year in conjunction with the University of Southern Maine's Center for Real Estate Education. The seven-hour course is taught by Leslie T. Fossel, a vice president of Maine Preservation and owner of Restoration Resources, along with a realtor. The Center for Real Estate Education's web site indicates the course will next be offered on May 10th and May 30th in Portland, and June 13th in Bangor. The course provides an overview of the styles and construction of older housing and culminates in two house tours which provide visual examples of the characteristics described in the course.

Modeled on programs originally created by Preservation Dallas (see below), the Landmark Society of Western New York, in Rochester, New York, has collaborated with the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors to create The Home Room/Rochester City Living. Providing an accessible central location in LSWNY's headquarters for realtors to bring clients, the Home Room includes resource notebooks for each of 19 historic neighborhoods, and features a searchable online database kiosk where prospective buyers can search for properties based on price range, size, neighborhood, architectural style, and other criteria. Additional resources, such as an architectural glossary and information on each neighborhood, are included on Home Room/Rochester City Living web pages. Home Room staff work with realtors to develop appropriate advertisements for historic properties and regularly conduct a full-day realtor training program. LSWNY's realtor training program covers local history, the work of noted local architects, and preservation ordinances, but the highlight is always the narrated afternoon bus tour of the city's historic neighborhoods. Finally, LSWNY, GRAR and others also collaborate to conduct City Living Bus Tours and City Living Sundays. Upcoming events are scheduled for the weekends of March 3-4, March 10-11, and March 17-18. Each Saturday bus tour features a different historic neighborhood; Sunday programming is held in public schools around the city and features how to buy seminars, affordability counseling by lending experts, details on loans, city schools information and numerous open house events.

LSWNY and GRAR programs are also part of Rochester's comprehensive efforts to encourage city living. Other notable resources include an extensive Moving to Rochester web site (which offers information about the city, housing, the arts, exploring the area, communities, history and architecture, and education), and a web site devoted to Rochester's award winning Neighbors Building Neighborhoods program.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation/ERA Realty "Architecture in America: International Origins and Influence" course is offered to anyone interested in learning more about the history of architecture and the preservation of national landmarks. The eight-hour class offers a comprehensive look at the architectural styles of American design and provides information on historic preservation legislation, ordinances, and criteria for listing a property on the National Register of Historic Places. Five sessions are scheduled for 2006 at locations across the country. The course helps real estate professionals to strengthen their expertise and establish themselves as historic property specialists. Sales associates who complete the course receive certification and a six-month National Trust membership, as well as information and materials to help them succeed within this niche market.

Preservation Dallas' Preservation Center includes the Intown Living Center, Preservation Resource Library and Archives, and extensive information about Dallas neighborhoods. The Intown Living Center has interactive displays and extensive information on over 160 intown neighborhoods. The Preservation Resource Library houses a collection of more than 2,500 books, periodicals, and files that encourage the purchase and rehabilitation of historic houses. Preservation Dallas also offers beginning and advanced Historic House Specialist Certification programs for realtors (either on site or at agent offices), intensive one- and two-day courses completed by more than 350 realtors to date. The beginning course includes an orientation at the Intown Living Center and Library, presentations on local architectural styles, researching historic buildings, preservation regulations, tax credits and incentive programs, an overview of historic interiors, and extensive mobile workshops in historic neighborhoods. The advanced course delves into more recent architectural styles, additional historical research methods, and legal issues. Finally, PD also provides resources and training for neighborhood organizers and existing organizations.

The Providence Preservation Society offers a Historic House Specialist Certification course designed to help realtors market historic homes in Providence, Rhode Island. The intensive two day seminar runs from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and is structured around a series of informational forums on historic residential architecture led by local experts. Typical topics are the architectural styles of Providence houses, a discussion of historic interiors, the impact of historic districting on homeowners, tax credits available to homeowners, and how to research a house’s history. Activities include a trip to the City Archives, where participants learn how to research a property’s history, as well as a two-hour neighborhood bus tour featuring some of Providence’s up-and-coming historic areas as well as its better-known neighborhoods. This program has been granted Continuing Education credit by the Real Estate Division of the RI Department of Business Regulation and participants who complete the seminar can receive 10 hours of credit. Following the intensive training, realtors are certified as Historic House Specialists by the Providence Preservation Society and be authorized to use the PPS Historic House Specialist logo. The certification program is endorsed by the Greater Providence Board of Realtors® and is modeled after highly successful training programs in other cities.

In Knoxville, Tennessee, Knox Heritage (the web site is currently being updated and is unavailable) also offers an extensive realtor training program. The goal of the course is to promote historic real estate throughout Knoxville and Knox County by linking preservation initiatives with local real estate agents. It includes an introduction to historic preservation and why it is important to the character, charm, and economy of the Knoxville area; market trends for Knoxville's historic neighborhoods and why it is attractive to sell in these areas; historic architectural styles, history of Knoxville's older neighborhoods and architecture of the neighborhoods; zoning designations and neighborhood design guidelines; National and local registers of historic places listings; archeology and real estate; existing preservation tools and incentives; resources for restorations, repairs, building codes, and appraisals; and how to learn more and where to turn when you need help. (Many thanks to Kim Trent, executive director of Knox Heritage for sharing course materials with me last fall).

The Heritage Society of Austin, Texas, has developed "The Marketing and Selling of Historic Property." Offered approximately twice yearly, the course covers: the history of Austin's architecture and neighborhoods; the processes and practices of historic preservation; special techniques for marketing and selling historic properties; and the economics of preservation. The continuing education course provides 8 hours of continuting education credit to realtors.