And here I thought I wasn't gonna have to go to college...

So I have been working on a commercial real estate designation called CCIM - Certified Commercial Investment Member. It is a national designation that covers the analyzing of commercial and investment properties for many different applications. My desire for the designation is to have the knowledge to price Rapid City commercial real estate for sellers and determine what is the best investment for buyers. It is also great to have for the networking and referrals. All kinds of fun stuff such as Internal Rate of Return, Cap Rate, Gross Rent Multipliers, Annual Debt Service, Debt to Credit Ratio and other fun stuff.

There are a total of 4 courses to take that are a week long. Then I have to take a national test and provide a portfolio of qualifying experience. It has been said it's kind of like a graduate degree.

So last week I was in Minneapolis for CCIM class 104. Not exactly the normal continuing ed class you can fall asleep at. It was more like:

"Here is module 1, 2, and 3. This is what they talk about. OK! Now let's go to case study 1. Here's what you are going to be doing. Go to work. If you have questions, refer back to the modules. And for homework, study the modules and answer the questions at the end of each chapter."

Uffda. (that's Norwegian for...well...uffda.)

Fortunately, we were in groups of 5 or 6, so we worked together to get through the case studies and help each other understand the concepts.

So that was 8:30 to 5:00 every day (except Wed - which was a day off for the locals to get caught up on their work - but I studied all day long, so I count it) and then the test on Saturday for a couple hours. Talk about brain fry! Driving home, I was getting bored because my mind had shut down...

Good news on the end of all this. I passed the test! Now for 2 more classes...

Onward and upward. As always!

- Tristan

Tristan Emond
Prudential Kahler REALTORS
www.rapidhomesonline.com