Furthermore, the real estate industry spans many different professions and occupations such as brokerage, appraisal, construction, inspection etc., as well as various functions such as sales, management, administration, etc., and over numerous types of real estate such as residential, commercial, agriculture, resorts, etc. Adding to that is the fact that the majority of designations are awarded by a large selection of national and regional Associations, Institutes, Councils and Societies.

Although there are a few Societies that manage multiple real estate designations, the National Association of REALTORS® clearly being the dominant player in this arena, various other organizations such as the Appraisal Institute, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and the Real Estate Professionals Society (REPS) also manage a handful of designations each. With no one coordinating all the designations RealtyU® has decided to step in and try and help sort the confusion.

RealtyU®, the nations largest network of real estate schools and colleges and trainer of a good number of the courses that lead to accreditation, has undertaken the task of compiling and maintain for all real estate professionals, sales associates and REALTORS® a current and objective list of all real estate designations available.

According to Stefan Swanepoel, CEO of RealtyU®, "the purpose is to be inclusive rather than exclusive and we therefore list all of the designations which we are aware of. It is not our intention to promote one designation or group of designations above others and therefore the list is in alphabetical order and includes hotlinks to each organization offering a designation course." The final tally is an impressive list of over 120 different real estate designations, certifications, associations, institutes, councils and societies, each with a short description, logo and web site address. The list of designations can be viewed at www.realtyu.com/html/designations.htm and the list of Societies at www.realtyu.com/html/associations.

Real estate designations are nowhere more popular than among residential real estate agents. Identifying exactly how many of them hold a designation is a complex task. According to Thomas Mitchell, COO of RealtyU®, "current best estimates indicate that about 300,000 real estate agents hold one or more of the top 30 real estate designations focusing on residential real estate. It is further estimated that these 300,000 professionals account for the lion's share of the 6+ million residential real estate transactions that take place every year. No accurate statistics are available but many believe that the 80/20 rule applies … 80% of the business is done by 20% of the agents and brokers. It is very likely the 20% is comprised largely by the same 300,000 holding a real estate designation."

To ensure that the list is accurate and remains a valuable resource to the industry RealtyU® is also extending an open invitation to everyone to email them at Mitchell@RealtyU.com with any additions, corrections, changes and updates.