SENIORS GET THEIR OWN REALTORS HOME-BUYING BABY BOOMERS ENCOURAGE SPECIALIZATION.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

The California Association of Realtors said Tuesday that it will start conferring a special designation on members that want to better serve the growing population of baby boomers.

The board of the National Association of Realtors approved the state group's action earlier this week.

Realtors now will be able to obtain the Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation after taking 12 hours of class work offered by the state group through its Senior Advantage Real Estate Council subsidiary.

``There has been strong interest on the part of Realtors to meet the needs of the growing senior segment of the U.S. population,'' Cathy Whatley, president of the national group, said in a statement.

According to buying trends compiled by AARP, there are more than 93.7 million adults age 45 and over, and they collectively hold more than $750 billion in discretionary household income.

And the organization says Americans 50 and older can expect to live another 30 years, about nine years longer than in 1990, and fewer of them are suffering disabilities.

The training program to help these seniors find homes was started four years ago by Murphys real estate agent Tim Corlis, a past president of the state trade group, and his wife Jill.

Realtors participating in the program learn about such issues as related tax and estate implications in the home buying and selling process, and are able to point their clients in the right direction for further assistance.

Jennifer Dodge, the council's managing director, said the course costs $399 and includes a year's membership in the council.

The work also addresses the various submarkets that make up the baby boomer sector, which is rapidly expanding because someone turns 50 every seven seconds, she said.

``The reason to help Realtors identify the different segments of mature clients is you have such a broad range of needs among this group,'' Dodge said.

Authorizing the state agency to endorse and offer the training gives the program a touch more cachet, said Jim Link, executive vice president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

``The ones held in the highest esteem are those awarded by CAR or or NAR because (people) know that the educational requirements are top-notch and that there is a professional level you have to maintain,'' Link said of these kinds of designations. ``Some of them just require paying a fee and getting some of the alphabet behind your name. There is nothing to them.''

Link said that the boomer segment of the market is growing, too.

``You have a lot of senior communities that are cropping up, not just in Palm Springs and those areas where you've always had them, but all over,'' he said.