If you are a military homebuyer, you may have noticed that many loan officers and Realtors® don’t understand your needs.

Some real estate professionals are generalists, while others are specialists. Like many industries, some real estate pros do the bare minimum to get by while others take the extra time to get certified.

Why is certification important?

Your home is the biggest investment of your life. Having someone in your corner who has taken the time to understand your needs can save you a lot of headache and frustration.

In this post, I’m going to outline a couple of the most common military oriented certifications that loan officers and Realtors® can get.

Military Relocation Professional (MRP)

The MRP program is a certification by the National Association of Realtors®. It helps real estate agents serve military clients better.

In order to obtain the MRP certification, the Realtor® completes classes and webinars related to military life, special needs of military buyers and a brief training about VA mortgage loans. At the end of the training, the Realtor must take a quiz and pass with a score of 80% or higher.

How To Find MRP Certified Realtors®

The National Association of Realtors maintains a directory of MRP certified Realtors® at: www.militaryrelocationpro.org.

Military Mortgage Bootcamp (also known as MMBC)

MMBC is a program that was started by two experienced lending professionals, Michael Fischer and Jay McMaken. Michael and Jay started MMBC because they  were frustrated by the lack of knowledge in the real estate community about the VA mortgage program.

Disclaimer:MMBC founder Michael Fischer is my Branch Manager

MMBC members are on a mission to clear up myths about VA mortgage loans. Sadly, many loan officers and underwriters are needlessly screwing up VA deals because of lack of specialized VA guideline knowledge. MMBC helps educate loan officers to close that gap.

Additionally, far too many Realtors® are discouraging VA offers because they don’t understand how to submit VA offers that get accepted. MMBC helps educate Realtors® so that more VA offers can get submitted.

Here are the certifications that MMBC offers:

MMBC Certified Loan Officer

A loan officer that has completed this program has completed the MMBC classes and has passed the certification test.

MMBC Certified Loan Officers have access to a private Facebook group to figure out how to structure the tough VA deals to get them approved.

MMBC Certified Instructor

A loan officer that has completed the MMBC Certified Instructor training has completed the Certified Loan Officer classes and has completed additional training to teach the Realtor® continuing education class, “How To Submit A VA Offer Sellers Will Accept.”

MMBC Certified Agent

A Realtor who is a MMBC Certified Agent is someone who has completed the 2.5 hour continuing education class, “How To Submit A VA Offer Sellers Will Accept.”

By completing this class, the Realtor® has more VA lending knowledge than the vast majority of the other Realtors® in their market.

How To Find Certified MMBC Loan Officers and Agents

Unfortunately, there’s not an online MMBC directory at this time. If you are in Ohio, Kentucky or Michigan, I am MMBC Certified and can help you. If you need to find someone outside of these areas, reach out to me at 937-572-3713 or cscarpero@epochlending.com and I can match you up with the appropriate MMBC professional.

Conclusion

Certification is important in the homebuying process. By working with a real estate professional who is certified, you will have a smoother transaction and will most likely save some money in the process.