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Follow these steps:

1. Be a member in good standing with the National Association of REALTORS®
2. Take and pass the one-day Short Sales and Foreclosures course offered by either REBAC or CRS
3. View three one-hour Webinars on related short sale and foreclosure topics
4. Complete the certification on this Web site

Note: You may not promote yourself as SFR® certified until NAR awards the certification to you.

• Education in classroom and online formats that fit your schedule and wallet
• Access to an electronic toolkit with practical forms and worksheets
• Free Webinars that you can download anytime and anywhere
• SFR logo and marketing materials to promote your certification
• Differentiation as an SFR at REALTOR.org and REALTOR.com®
• Access to an exclusive online networking environment to share ideas and resources with fellow SFR certificate holders.

Bonus! The one-day Short Sales and Foreclosures courses available from REBAC and CRS are approved electives for the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) designations, respectively.

With qualifying courses available from REBAC and CRS in online and classroom formats and with many classroom locations, there are many options from which to choose. To help you in your decision making process, answer the following:

• Which learning format do you prefer?
  • Classroom: To find classes in your area, visit:
    • Training4RE.com for the REBAC Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know course
    • CRS.com for the CRS Short Sales and Foreclosures course
  • Online: To learn more about the online learning experiences available to you, visit:
    • Register at REALTOR University for the online version of the REBAC course, "Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know."
    • Register at CRS.com for the online version of the CRS Short Sales and Foreclosures course.
• Are you working toward or interested in pursuing the following?
  • ABR® designation
    • Choose the REBAC course, "Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know," which is an approved elective for the ABR® designation, and visit training4RE.com to get started
  • CRS designation
    • Choose the CRS Short Sales and Foreclosures course, which counts as 1 credit toward the CRS designation, and go to CRS.com to get started

• Classroom:
  • The price of classroom courses varies, as prices are established by approved REBAC and CRS providers. Many providers offer price incentives, including early-bird registration discounts. To make sure you receive the maximum value for your education dollars, be sure to check all of your available options at training4RE.com and CRS.com.
• Online:
  • The online price of Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know course is $115. Visit REALTOR® University to register.
  • The price of CRS Short Sales and Foreclosures is $99 for CRS Designees, CRS General Members pay $125, and all other students pay $149.

Please visit the Webinars page of this site to view the available options. If you are interested in the certification, you will need to complete three free Webinars on supplemental short sale and foreclosure topics.

No. You may watch the Webinars at any time.

No, there are no recurring dues in order to maintain the SFR® certification, as long as you maintain membership in NAR.

The application to receive the SFR certification is located on this Web site.  All requirements must be completed prior to submitting the application.

• For the REBAC course, "Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know," CE credit varies depending on the course provider.  The course provider is the company that is hosting or making the course available. You may choose a course near you, then contact the course provider directly regarding registration for the course and CE credit availability. To find a course location near you please log on to training4RE.com or register online at REALTOR® University.
  
• For the CRS Short Sales and Foreclosures course, go to CRS.com, select Education, then Catalog, then “Check CE Credit Availability” for CRS 111.

Those who have completed either “Foreclosure: Prevention and Opportunities for Buyer-Clients” or “Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Buyer’s Representatives Need to Know” are well on their way to meeting the education requirements of this certification. In addition, students only need to complete the three Webinars and submit the application and fee to earn the SFR® certification.

Contact REBAC; our Member Service Team will be happy to help you. You can reach REBAC by phone at 1-800-648-6224. Member Service Representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST. You may also contact REBAC via e-mail at REBAC@realtors.org.

While we are encouraged that individuals bring considerable education and experience as prospective students to NAR’s SFR® certification program, it is not possible to test out of the program’s requirements. We need to ensure that everyone who earns NAR’s SFR® certification has the same core or baseline education. NAR's SFR® certification is the only short sale and foreclosures training program for real estate professionals recognized and endorsed by NAR. It is therefore essential that all students complete course training from NAR.

Those interested in becoming instructors for the REBAC Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know course should contact Dawn Headtke at 312-329-8488 or visit the REBAC instructor section for more information.

Those interested in becoming a course provider for the REBAC Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know course or co-sponsoring with a licensed provider should contact Dawn Headtke at 312-329-8488 or visit the REBAC course provider section for more information.

No. However, you must be a member in good standing with the National Association of REALTORS®.

You may begin using NAR’s SFR® certification when you have been informed by NAR that your application has been approved and you have been awarded NAR's Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource certification.