Atlanta Real Estate Agents Receive Professional Designation

Of the more than 1 million agents who hold a real estate license in this country, Realtor Mark Spain and two of his listing agents, Lisa Wilson and Aaron Vuu, have just earned real estate designations held by only one in 10,000 agents. Known as the Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) designation, it’s offered by the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council (SAREC). Based in California, the SAREC helps Realtors do target marketing to this population group as well as providing Realtors with special reports geared toward seniors’ concerns with buying and selling residential real estate. The three members of the Mark Spain Team earned the designation to be better informed about assisting older Americans with making wise decisions when it comes to selling a family home, buying rental property, or managing capital gains and other tax implications.

“We work a lot with the active adult and senior market in the Atlanta real estate industry,” explained Mark Spain. “We took the SRES course to better serve these clients by being aware of the latest trends and developments. Our region of the country has a fast-growing senior population and we want to be informed to respond to their needs.”

In 2007, AARP The Magazine, ranked Atlanta as one of the top five places to retire. It was the only city in the Southeast included in the top five. According to the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, the number of people age 65 and older in Georgia is growing twice as fast as the growth rate estimated for younger individuals. In five Georgia counties in particular—Forsyth, Dawson, Gwinnett, Fayette and Columbia—the senior population is so outpacing the nation that, according to a 2007 study by the Brookings Institution, these counties are among the top 20 in the nation for fastest senior population growth since 1990.

One of the top-producing real estate teams in Georgia and the U.S., the Mark Spain Team ranks in the top 10 RE/MAX agents worldwide out of more than 115,000 RE/MAX agents in 65 countries. Earlier this year, Spain was honored as the #4 agent team in the world for most annual closed transactions with RE/MAX. Out of all U.S. RE/MAX agents, the Mark Spain Team was second. Mark Spain is an Atlanta native and a University of Georgia graduate. He is a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame and was honored with RE/MAX International’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. For 2007 sales, the Mark Spain Team was recently ranked the #6 Team in the U.S. for Closed Transactions by the Wall Street Journal and Real Trends Magazine.