As more and more consumers begin their search for real estate-related information on the Internet, it is critical that real estate professionals are well-educated in the use of technology to benefit both the consumer and the agent or broker.

Realizing the importance of technology training, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) now offers its members the e-PRO certification course---the only technology certification program offered by NAR. The program is designed to prepare real estate professionals to make the most Internet technology and to identify, evaluate and implement new Internet business models. The elite group of course graduates represents only one percent of all REALTORS in the country including, most recently, Tom Shell of Prudential Georgia Realty.

“The real estate industry has undergone a fundamental change over the past five years,” said Tom Shell. “Today, more than 70 percent of all buyers and sellers begin their search online. As an e-PRO certified agent, I have knowledge and tools needed to provide my clients with the information they need and the customer service they demand. It’s both hi-tech and hi-touch.”

The REALTOR e-PRO certification course is an educational program unlike any other professional certification or designation course available, comprehensive and interactive. It is specifically designed to provide real estate professionals with the technology tools needed to assist consumers in the purchase or sale of a home.

The exclusive REALTOR e-PRO certification course is presented entirely online and certifies real estate agents and brokers as Internet professionals. The course is designed to help REALTORS stay at the leading edge of technology and identify, evaluate and implement new Internet business models.

Once completed, the e-PRO certified real estate professional joins the ranks of a special community of highly skilled and continuously trained professionals who provide high quality and innovative online-based real estate services. Consumers can identify the e-PRO through the exclusive e-PRO Internet Professional logo.

Both the content and the delivery platform were created by San Diego-based technology company InternetCrusade. Graduates use the skills they’ve acquired to provide clients information on properties for sale, local communities and the local real estate market.

Based out of Prudential’s Peachtree City office in The Avenue Shopping Plaza, Tom is part of The Shell Team, with his wife, Jo Ann. Tom joined his wife, who has nearly three decades of real estate sales experience, after retiring from the corporate life. Collectively, the Shell Team has closed more than 750 homes in their careers and 90 percent of their business comes from referrals of satisfied customers. They are active members of the Fayette County Board of Realtors, where Jo Ann is a life member of the board’s Million Dollar Club for high annual sales, the Georgia Association of Realtors and the NAR.

To better serve their clients, Tom has earned other real estate designations in addition to e-PRO, including the Graduate, REALTOR Institute (GRI) and Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) designations. Fayette County residents for more than 33 years, The Shell Team specializes in residential real estate and relocating families in the Fayette County and surrounding region. They have extensive experience in corporate relocation. The Shells have relocated personnel with such local companies as Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, United Parcel Service (UPS), Ford Motor Company, Georgia-Pacific Cargill and SunTrust.

To learn more about the local real estate market, e-mail Tom Shell at tshell@prudentialgeorgia.com, call 770-632-3864, or visit www.theshellteam.PrudentialGeorgia.com to conduct a complete search of the more than 100,000 available properties around metro Atlanta.

Prudential Georgia Realty is an independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, a full-service residential and commercial real estate network with offices throughout the U.S. and Canada. Ranked by Real Estate Magazine as one of the top 100 real estate companies in the U.S., the company placed 36th for most 2006 transactions in the real estate trade magazine’s 2007 Power Broker Report.

For the last four consecutive years, Prudential Georgia Realty has been honored with a Consumers’ Choice Award as Best in Class for Executive Home Sales in metro Atlanta. The firm set another sales record in 2006 with nearly $3 billion in gross real estate sales and broke the 10,000 real estate transaction mark for the second time in its 43-year history. The company has 25 locations in metro Atlanta and the Southern Crescent and 1,500+ Realtors ready to assist metro Atlanta families with their real estate needs.

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