An Accredited Land Consultant is an individual in land real estate who has earned the designation from the REALTORS® Land Institute, which is the land division of the National Association of REALTORS®. These experienced professionals bring a nuanced understanding of landownership and all that it entails to provide top-notch services for their clients.

This article will examine a few of the requirements necessary to earn the ALC designation, as well as a few reasons why a Land Professional should take the time to become an Accredited Land Consultant!

What are the Requirements to Earn the ALC Designation?

There are two main requirements for becoming an Accredited Land Consultant. Firstly, agents must complete continued education courses through the REALTORS® Land Institute. The second requirement is a total sales volume of at least $10M. Let’s examine each of these requirements in more detail.

Continued Education Through RLI

To earn the ALC designation, agents are required to complete 104 hours of continued education courses through the REALTORS® Land Institute. These courses are meant to expand the agent’s knowledge base on subjects pertaining to the land industry and land as an investment. Subjects include 1031 exchanges and identifying the best use for a property, as well as additional training for more nuanced situations such as transitional real estate. 

During a recent episode of the National Land Podcast wherein Land Professionals Nick Ardis, Jim Fleissner, and Ashley McCraney discussed their journey to becoming Accredited Land Consultants, Ardis stated, “There’s a lot of financial coursework, a lot of investment analysis, and bringing in attributes that your general agent isn’t going to think about. It’s a lot of finance terms and being able to really break down ‘is this an investment worth taking?’ 

After the required course hours have been finished, applicants must score 70% or higher on a comprehensive exam to complete the education requirements for the ALC designation.

Sales Volume Requirement

The other prerequisite to becoming an Accredited Land Consultant is a sales volume requirement. Fleissner described this requirement stating, “You have to put together your portfolio, it’s essentially lining out each one of your transactions that qualify for that total $10 Million in sales volume. A minimum of 51% of that needs to be agricultural land for the ALC, and you can’t have more than 20% of your volume coming from residential sales.”

Fleissner went on to explain that there’s a decent bit of math required to determine which sales can qualify for the total sales volume and which can’t. He also elaborated that for each item reported, applicants are required to answer testimonial questions like “What went right? What did you learn? and What went wrong?” to ensure that the agent is adequately evaluating each sale contributing to the overall sales volume total.

Why Should Land Real Estate Agents Become an ALC?

There are a variety of reasons that a real estate agent or a land professional would want to pursue the Accredited Land Consultant designation, but the main reason is the way that this designation can set them apart from the competition. Ardis echoed this sentiment, stating, “There are much smaller groups of people who have actually taken the time to go and do it and show that they are willing to go through what is necessary to prove themselves as a true expert in the area.”

Another reason that many Land Professionals choose to become an ALC is because of the exposure to new ideas and potential services that the continued education courses provide. To this point, McCraney stated, “We went really deep into 1031 exchanges, and in my market in particular, especially as poultry specialists, there are not a lot of agents who are truly knowledgeable in 1031 exchanges. That has definitely been a value added to my business!”

Becoming an ALC is a fantastic opportunity for a Land Professional to expand their knowledge base as well as their repertoire of services while also making themselves stand out from other traditional real estate agents. Many National Land Realty Land Professionals have earned the ALC designation, and would be happy to help you understand how it could change your business!