CCIM 'fraternity' grows in Northwest Arkansas.(Certified Commercial Investment Members )(Brief article)

The more the merrier.

That's the approach the growing number of Certified Commercial Investment Members in northwest Arkansas are taking.

A CCIM is an expert in commercial and investment real estate, designated as such after completion of an intensive program to ensure its participants are proficient in practice as well as theory.

CCIM's Northwest Arkansas chapter is less than two years old, and only 17 certified members worked in Benton and Washington counties as of June 2007. Two years later, there are now 39 CCIMs in the area.

Whitley Dunn, president of Management Realty of Fayetteville, said the growing membership had advantages.

"It's almost like a fraternity because there's terminology and lingo that CCIMs use that probably wouldn't mean much to other people," Dunn said. "If I'm talking to another CCIM, I can have a 10-minute conversation that might take me an hour and a half to have with a residential broker."

The process also requires significant commitments of time and money. Dallas and Oklahoma City are among the closest places classes are available, often pushing the total cost of certification to about $10,000.

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