Even as experts fret over a dramatic burst of the bulging U.S. real estate bubble that might send prices plunging across the nation, the land and housing values in the Potomac Highlands are defying the trend.

“With an average unit price of $174,503 and a lot of wild life,” the RealtyTimes.com reported last month, “the buyers have discovered the ‘good’ deals in The Potomac Highlands.”

In February, with a 30-percent rise in the average list price, and a nearly 38-percent increase in the average selling price, the average Potomac Highlands property spent two weeks less on the available market before sale than in January, the award-wining online service said.

“Corridor H is a leading edge of development in this part of the state,” noted Seyed Mirkhani, academic program director for business technologies at Eastern WV Community and Technical College. “And the strength of the real estate market reflects that growth, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”

Because of real estate’s key importance to the area’s present and future economy, Eastern responded to community interest last fall by offering six college credit-hours in Real Estate classes as electives in its business program. Designed to prepare students for state licensure as professional real estate agents, Mirkhani said, the classes meet or exceed West Virginia requirements for pre-license education.

Market Creates Jobs

Petersburg’s Rafe Snell finished the Eastern courses last January and passed the state licensure test on his first try in February. “Before you can even apply to sit for the state exam, you must have 90 classroom hours in a state-approved course,” he pointed out, including 30 classroom hours in real estate principles, and 20 hours each in real estate law, real estate finance, and real estate appraisal. “And to qualify for the state exam, you have to score at least 75-percent, which means a ‘C’ grade or above, in each of those areas.”

Real estate sales, an occupation that “is relatively easy to enter” according to the US Department of Labor’s 2006-2007 Occupational Outlook Handbook, attracts people for several reasons: its flexible working conditions; a potential for strong earnings; and the interest and familiarity that beginners often bring to local real estate markets.

“In addition, a large number of job openings will arise each year from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force,” the Outlook noted. And so long as the market remains healthy, it indicated, the need for real estate agents should grow.

“According to the National Association of Realtors, the median existing single-family home price in 2006 fell 2.7-percent nationwide from the previous year,” Eastern’s Mirkhani said. “But the Cumberland area of Maryland and nearby West Virginia saw a 14.4-percent gain-the third highest increase in the nation. So in the Potomac Highlands, the real estate market’s vigor should inspire confidence in the stability and growth of the profession.”

CD Monitors Progress

Eastern offers its Real Estate courses on interactive compact disk, so that learners can sit down at the computer and do the class work at their own convenience, while a computerized log keeps track of the time they spend on the coursework. “Every time you log on, the CD tracks your time by the minute,” Petersburg’s Snell said. “If you walk way from the CD, and you’re not moving the mouse, after about 6 minutes it goes on ‘time out’.”

The CD also makes sure that students keep up with the work. “You can’t access the unit quizzes and exams until you’ve read all the pages,” Snell noted. Once a student has completed the unit reading, the associated interactive exercises and the unit quiz, the CD allows him or her to take the open-book unit exam.

“You’re free to move anywhere within the units,” Snell advised, “so you don’t have to take them in order. But you still have to meet those criteria for each one.”

As a project manager for Valley Renovators, Inc., a general contracting firm headquartered near Harrisonburg, Virginia, Snell believes that adding a real estate agent’s license to his portfolio makes good business sense. “If someone is going to buy a lot,” he pointed out, “then often they’ll also need someone to build them a house. So I’d like to give you a package deal: sell you your lot, and build you your house.”

License and Listing

Because the state requires rookie agents to work under an established broker for at least two years, Snell has signed on with Harrisonburg’s Old Dominion Realty, which plans to open a new office-their fifth branch-soon in Moorefield. “They’ll have a grand opening this spring,” he said.

Snell’s new license arrived by mail in early March, and he is listing his first property, Mill Race Court, with Old Dominion Realty. “It’s a townhouse development, off Spring Street in Petersburg,” he explained, “a project that Valley Renovators has already built. The signage will go up with my name as the agent with primary responsibility.”

That responsibility flows from the knowledge and skills that Snell acquired in Eastern’s real estate classes, and that qualified him for the state license. “It was a good opportunity for me, and an opportunity for me to help grow my company in West Virginia.”

“And anytime I needed anything, whomever I needed at the college worked with me in a very timely manner,” Snell emphasized. “They were very cooperative, especially in meeting deadlines.”

A former member of the Grant County Board of Education, Snell grew up farming. “My passion lies in the dirt, on a farm in Petersburg,” he acknowledged, “and I joined the military before I finished high school. Still, education has been very important to me and my family my whole life.”

Looking Toward Degrees

Although Snell had not taken any college credits at all before the Real Estate classes last semester, at Eastern he met Lisa Reel, the college’s program manager for assessment of prior learning. “Now we’re looking at how Rafe, through the statewide WV Board of Governors program,” noted Reel, “might document learning from his military and professional experience towards college credits and an associate degree.”

And that learning process, Snell suggested, may lead him eventually to earn a Regents four-year diploma.

For more information about Eastern’s financial aid opportunities, programs of study and workforce and community education, call toll free: 877-982-2322; or check the College’s website: “www.eastern.wvnet.edu”.

Information from: www.newstribune.info

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 7th, 2007 at 12:36 am and is filed under Real Estate. Tags: Community County Board Department of Labor development finance Labor local real estate local real estate market Maryland Moore National Association of Realtors Novato online service Peters Potomac Property Reading Real Estate real estate agent real estate agents real estate appraisal real estate bubble real estate bucks real estate class real estate finance real estate market real estate markets real estate sales Realtor Realtors Realty Snell state law Tribune Virginia West Virginia . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.