CCIMs master the skills of the commercial deal.

NEARLY 40 YEARS AFTER THE designation was first conferred, Arkansas has only 66 CCIMs--Certified Commercial Investment Members--specializing in crafting commercial and investment deals.

There's a good reason for that, CCIMs say: Earning the letters is time-consuming and expensive. Randall Moore of Terry Moore & Associates of Little Rock calls his CCIM lapel jewelry "the most expensive pin I've ever gotten."

But rapid growth of the northwest Arkansas market has added to the ranks and even encouraged the statewide chapter of CCIMs to start the process of spinning off a northwest chapter, according to its president, Helen Selig of Selig Commercial Real Estate in Hot Springs.

Since the CCIM Institute established the certification in 1969, well over 10,000 real estate professionals have gone through the demanding process of earning the certification. No. 601 was Randall Moore's father, Terry. There are currently 8,600 active CCIMs in the United States and 30 other countries w about 6 percent of the real estate professionals working in the commercial sector.

"And there are some good ones without [the designation]," Terry Moore said. "But it gives us an edge. It definitely gives us an edge."

Craig Hull, owner and principal broker of Hull & Co. in Rogers, who has been a CCIM since 2000, said he has witnessed that edge firsthand. "A lot of old customers have come by lately, and said, 'Remember the deal you tried to scare me away from and I went down the street and bought it anyway? Can you help me fix it?'" Hull said.

Putting developers and tenants into the best possible deals and avoiding the pitfalls of a poorly researched business plan are skills that set a CCIM apart in the commercial real estate industry. Those skills are becoming increasingly popular in northwest Arkansas, which is experiencing the inevitable correction after a decade of booming growth.

Benton and Washington counties now claim 17 CCIMs, and most are relatively new. Only two of them, George Faucette of Coldwell Banker Faucette Real Estate and David Dallas of Dallas Real Estate Services, earned theirs before 2000 while working in northwest Arkansas.

Jacklyn Perry, owner and broker of JP Realty, and Cindy Morse, owner and broker with Equity Commercial Realty, two industry veterans who earned their CCIM designations in 1995 and 1991 in Dallas and Nashville, Tenn., respectively, are driving the movement to form a CCIM chapter in northwest Arkansas.

"It's going to happen, and we encourage it because there are so many CCIMs up there," Randall Moore, immediate past-president of the statewide chapter said. Traveling to Little Rock for regular mid-week meetings is a burden for the growing number of CCIMs in the corner of the state.

Plus, Perry said a local chapter will help raise awareness of the CCIM designation and provide networking opportunities for commercial real estate professionals. "It's been difficult," Perry said. "People just don't know what it is--Realtors or the general public. Someone may get a commercial listing just because they sold someone their house and they don't know how to market it."

Before going back into the private sector, Morse, who also consults for The Barber Group of Springdale, convinced Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville about the benefits of CCIM training when she was hired six years ago. Wal-Mart now has 13 employees in its realty division who hold the designation

"It puts you in a different league among your peers," Perry said. Clinton Bennett of Dallas Real Estate said being a CCIM brings "instant credibility."

Relative Costs

Becoming a CCIM is no easy process. It requires taking four courses, each lasting a week, followed by a rigorous two-day review and a grueling final exam. The courses cover financial analysis, market analysis, user decision analysis and investment analysis for commercial investment real estate. The closest sites at which the courses are offered are Memphis and Dallas. In a commission-based business, taking that kind of time away from work isn't always feasible beyond the costs of travel, lodging and the $1,000 per class tuition. The monetary costs should be considered secondary, Butch Gurganus of Colliers Dickson Flake Partners said. "It will cost you more if you don't take it," he said.

Sitting through classes and passing tests is only a part of the requirement. A CCIM must accumulate a portfolio of either 10 transactions totaling $30 million, one transaction worth at least $40 million or a total of 30 transactions.

Bennett took more than two years to earn his CCIM designation by taking a class every six months or so. Randall Moore said he spent more than three years working toward the prize. Faucette earned his in one year, which is highly unusual, but something his position as president of the company allowed him to do.

Sophistication 

CCIMs can be brokers, agents, developers or appraisers.

More people are entering the market from outside Arkansas--as investors, end-users and lenders--and they have demanded the service of CCIMs based on their prior experiences.

Those from inside Arkansas who picked up developing after successful careers in other fields are also now discovering the need for a CCIM's advice.

In the past, if a developer could simply show a solid number for a projected cash flow for a property, a loan could be secured.

A CCIM will get far deeper into a project. How many other competing projects are in the pipeline, whether utility lines or streets extend to a property or if a piece of raw land will require a rezoning request are factors a CCIM will consider.

The price of land can keep an investor from being able to build a space that cn offer a competitive lease rate.

Simply having highway frontage or being near another development isn't nearly enough to make a deal work.

A CCIM can use financial tools to compare vastly different projects like an apartment complex to a multi-tenant industrial building on the same level. While most of their income is from commissions, some CCIMs also charge fees for counseling clients on commercial real estate investment, according to Terry Moore.

No matter what kind of deal or whether it is a booming or stagnant market, the basics of real estate are the same, Hull said.

"You look at it from national perspective on those courses, not the glamour factor of being right next to this or that," he said. "The fundamentals are the same wherever you go."

Bennett said clients can often get caught up in "ancillary items" and lose sight of the most important number. "Which is the return," Bennett said. "Don't get caught up in the excitement of the market in general."

End Results

Jim Nunnelee of Fort Smith and Bill McClard of Lindsey & Associates hold both the CCIM and SIOR designations. SIOR stands for Society of Industrial and Office Realtors.

As an SIOR, Nunnelee received a call from another SIOR representing Sealed Air, a New Jersey-based packaging company that produces products like shrink wrap and bubble wrap. The company was looking for a new location for its Cryovac division to supply Tyson Foods Inc. and Nunnelee was able to broker the land deal in Rogers for a 165,000-SF plant that earned a visit from then-Gov. Mike Huckebee when the deal was announced in 2003.

In an industry in which making a sale is perceived as the top goal, CCIMs say they often try to talk people out of bad deals. Perry recently dissuaded a Florida investor from trying to build any more condos in Benton County, and McClard spent an hour trying to convince a doctor it would be no easy task to get a piece of property he was considering rezoned.

It isn't in a CCIM's interest to see bad deals happen in the market, and ones like Craig Hull who saw this market pause coming years ago will be the ones who ride out the current correction.

"Some people are going to quit and go do something else," Hull said.

"Now we'll see who wants to play."

Gwen Moritz contributed to this report.

By Andrew Jensen

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