The National Association of REALTORS® licenses its Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) courses to any individual or entity, e.g., REALTOR® association, firm, franchise, proprietary school, mortgage company, real estate trainer, etc. that is interested in offering these educational courses to real estate professionals. The licensing agreement is designed to allow the sponsor to generate net revenue from the program while offering a valuable educational program.

Included in this section is the following information.

Why License CIPS Courses?| Course Descriptions| Delivery Model Options| Meeting Facility| Marketing| Revenue| Roles of NAR and Course Licensee| Sample Contract

Interested sponsors should review this information and the sample contract. Contact Heidi Henning, Manager, International Education, to discuss specific licensing details at 312-329-8376.

Why License CIPS Courses?
A convergence of factors has greatly impacted the opportunity for international business for REALTORS® in the US, including emerging property markets throughout Europe and Asia, immigration trends in the US, foreign investment, and the forthcoming development of a global Internet-based property information system. For practitioners to stay competitive in many markets (both residential and commercial), they must be familiar with international real estate issues and practices.

To respond to these factors, the CIPS designation (Certified International Property Specialist) courses provide international real estate education to REALTORS® and other professionals seeking education in international business issues such as currency conversion, cultural awareness, and legal and tax requirements.

Currently, there are nearly 1500 CIPS designees, with several candidates. Many others have elected to take one or more of the courses with no immediate intent to pursue the designation, but simply for the value of the education itself. Approximately 70% of CIPS students are residential practitioners, and 30% are commercial. Students average over 10 years in experience.

International real estate is a growing specialty and course sponsors both in the US and around the globe are finding that the licensing and delivery of these courses provide their constituents with valuable information needed to remain viable in the next century and also a source of revenue.

CIPSCourse Descriptions
NAR offers two levels of international education. The "International Real Estate for Local Markets" (formerly Essentials) course is ideal for members wanting a high-level, broad exposure to international real estate and is a prerequisite for the advanced courses as well as for membership in the CIPS Network. For members interested in more in-depth education and training, the advanced CIPS Institute is available. Read individual course descriptions.

Delivery Model Options
Depending on market size, some sponsors may be more financially lucrative to partner with another entity and share revenue based on financial contribution/support of offering. Following are suggested partnership delivery models that may assist organizations with a smaller market in providing this program to members. All details of such partnerships are left to the discretion of the involved parties. NAR's only role will be with the "licensee of record."

• State/Local REALTOR® Association Partnership - State licenses program and partners with individual local associations to market and deliver courses.
  
  
• Firm Partnerships - Local association licenses program; acts as "administrator" in terms of student record keeping, continuing education approval, etc. and partners with area firms to market/deliver courses.
  
  
• National NAR Institute, Society or Council licenses program and partners with local chapters to market and deliver program.
  
  
• Proprietary school/REALTOR® Association - roles determined based on strengths of each organization.
  
  
• REALTOR® association entity licenses program, but seeks financial support in the form of sponsorship/underwriting from industry affinity partner, e.g., mortgage company or vendor. Smaller, multiple sponsorships may be solicited for such activities as refreshment breaks, meals, extracurricular activities, materials printing, etc.

Meeting Facility
The sponsor provides a meeting facility that is conducive to learning and meets guidelines for safety and accessibility. Room requirements are chevron style, two chairs per six foot table. One instructor table is required in rear of room, with registration table outside of room. The room can be decorated with maps, flags, and other international items. A room with high ceilings is recommended to afford better visibility for the overheads. Tabletop tent cards for the students are highly recommended to help instructors facilitate classroom participation. The sponsor provides an overhead projector, screen, lavaliere microphone (depending on room size/instructor) and speaker lectern in front of room. Morning and afternoon refreshments are required.

Marketing
The licensing organization is responsible for its own marketing costs. A promotional kit will be provided by NAR, which will include sample course brochures and flyers. Mailing labels targeting specific groups or regions from the CIPS Network database also are available. NAR will promote courses through its international newsletter, fax-on-demand, and Realtor.org.

Included in your course sponsor promotional kit, you will receive sample flyers provided by NAR. Electronic versions of these flyers are available for download in both color and black and white:

Download CIPS Sponsor Color Marketing Flyer (172K PDF file) >>

Download CIPS Sponsor Black and White Marketing Flyer (110K PDF file) >>

Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read these files. Download a free copy.

Revenue
NAR offers the following options for licensing its courses. The CIPS Institute courses may be offered individually or on a non-consecutive basis. The royalty fee for offering these courses on an individual basis is higher due to the administrative costs. Although NAR licensing and royalty fees are fixed, most of the remaining expenses present opportunities for cost savings based on existing facility resources, partnership and/or advertising sponsorship agreements, and the licensee's ability to negotiate cost savings with instructors and materials vendors. NAR reserves the right to provide assistant instructors at NAR's cost. NAR estimates that 20 - 25 students will result in break even without sponsorships or other financial underwriting. Following are specific licensing options and costs.

Essentials
Royalty fee to NAR is $75.00 per student.

CIPS 5-day Institute
Royalty fee to NAR is $150.00 per student. I

Non-consecutive and/or Individual CIPS Institute Courses
1-Day Europe, Asia, Middle East/Africa or Americas Course: Royalty fee to NAR is $50.00 per student for each course.

2-Day Investment & Financial Analysis Course: Royalty fee to NAR is $75.00 per student.

Roles of NAR & Licensee
Following is a breakdown of the core terms of the licensing agreement, as related to course offering, and roles of the Licensee and NAR. Each is addressed in the licensed contract.

Licensee Role/Terms	NAR Role/Terms
Non-exclusive license to use NAR copyrighted materials.	NAR retains ownership of materials and designation.
License is for live classroom delivery only.	NAR may develop and offer alternative delivery options, e.g., CD ROM, Internet-based, etc.
Licensee may present the International Real Estate for Local Markets (formerly Essentials) course to "Qualified Individuals" (see definition in right-hand column) and to students who are not Qualified Individuals, but only Qualified Individuals may become CIPS Candidates or CIPS Designees, and receive the free, limited CIPS Network services or the full CIPS Network services.	NAR defines "Qualified Individuals" as: (i) individuals whose principal real estate business is located within the United States, or (ii) individuals whose principal real estate business is located outside of the United States and who are members of an association outside of the United States which is a party to a then effective Bilateral Cooperation Agreement with NAR.
Licensee will receive a link to download course materials and is responsible for the duplication of these materials and their safekeeping. Costs for duplication are to be borne by licensee.	NAR to provide a link to download course materials.
Licensee submits dates of course offerings at least 45 days prior to conducting course.	NAR may make this information available via www.realtor.org for marketing purposes.
Licensee shall contract and compensate full instructors. Instructor fees may be negotiated with instructors.	NAR shall provide list of approved instructors. Assistant instructors are recommended for all course offerings.
Licensee may establish tuition and fees for its student which it deems appropriate.	- -
Licensee is responsible to develop all course promotion and marketing materials subject to NAR approval. Licensee shall submit to NAR at least 30 days prior to their use of any promotional materials for approval and must include ADA statement. Licensee shall bear all costs associated with the promotion of this course.	NAR will review and respond to promotion and marketing materials submitted for approval within 10 business days of receipt. NAR may make course offering information available via www.realtor.org if advised of offering dates 45 days in advance of course.
Licensee is responsible to conduct and handle course registration, collect tuition/fees. Submission of NAR royalty fees is to be made within 10 days of the completion of the course with a complete roster and copy of original course registration forms.	NAR will maintain records of all students completing courses and may market related products and services to those students.
Licensee shall submit with course roster and royalties all course evaluations which are supplied with the master set of course materials.	NAR will use course evaluations to monitor course instructors and students’ satisfaction with overall course.
Licensee shall administer examination for all students who have completed the course, exercising due caution to protect the integrity of the examination process. The multiple-choice exam takes 60 minutes to complete. Licensee shall grade exams and submit answer sheets to NAR at the time it sends in its roster, with copies of all examinations.	NAR will send a certificate of completion to all students who successfully complete the course. If a student does not pass the exam, they may retake the exam at a later date by calling NAR and scheduling a retake at their local board.
Course materials may not be customized or modified without written permission from NAR.	NAR will respond to requests to modify or customize course materials within 30 days of received requested.
Licensee may secure real estate continuing education credit in its state(s) of operation whenever possible and shall verify student attendance and provide certificates of completion to students attending course.	Course and exam has been designed for continuing education approval and will be provided to sponsor to obtain approval.
License may be terminated by either party with a 90 day written notice.	Licensing fees are nonrefundable.
Not assignable by Licensee to another party without NAR written consent.	NAR will respond to request for assignable license within 60 days of request.

 Sample Contracts for International Real Estate for Local Markets (formerly Essentials) and CIPS Institute Offerings