Pacaso, a luxury second home co-ownership proptech company, launched its Pacaso Second Home Specialist Certification program on Wednesday to help agents gain expertise in the home co-ownership market, and access benefits.
The free program includes five steps, including co-ownership best practices from the Pacaso Agent Playbook, a collection of lessons and tips from agents within the Pacaso network, a live virtual tour of Pacaso homes and submitting a referral.
Marnie Blanco, vice president of industry relations at Pacaso, said the aim of the program is to help agents grow their business in 2023.
“By taking a short time to complete our new Second Home Specialist Certification program, agents will have the knowledge they need to discuss co-ownership, as well as create further trust with their clients on home ownership options,” Blanco said.
Incentives for agents include a 3% referral commission along with Pacaso equity in the form of 500 restricted stock units on each closed referral and a 1% commission on resales, irrespective of where they’re based or licensed, a release says.
Upon completing the program, agents will also receive a Pacaso Second Home Specialist badge and free enrollment in Pacaso Access for agents worth $1,000.
Jeff Kennedy, vice president of the independent residential brokerages conglomerate Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, said the program is a “must have” for agents. The company chose Pacaso for its Solutions Group program.
“With the uncertainty of the market, successful agents are already creating business plans for next year. The buyers that purchase high-end second homes typically have friends that also buy high-end second homes. If you don’t tell your clients about co-ownership and Pacaso, someone else will,” Kennedy added in the statement.
The certification program follows the launch of the company’s Agent Referral Dashboard, which allows agents to refer potential second home buyers, track the status of their referrals and get updates.
Pacaso offers ⅛ to ½ ownership of luxury second homes and manages resales after purchase. The company launched in October 2020 and has paid its agents more than $21 million in total gross commission income, according to the statement.
In July this year, RE/MAX partnered with Pacaso, to allow agents and clients access to its home co-ownership portfolio in 40 destinations. It also published a report the same month that found a 25% increase in transactions in Q2 of 2022 and that luxury second home sales increased by 235% from Q1 of 2020.
In October, Pacaso laid off 100 workers, citing concerns over a global recession. The workers were given severance, health care coverage and career help.
