Quality standards for homeownership education and counseling are crucial to raising communities of informed homebuyers, experts told a gathering of Realtors here.

Many communities are built by Realtors® partnering with counseling agencies, said Joanne Poole, a Realtors® and president of the Maryland Association of Realtors®, during a workshop on business opportunities and counseling partnerships at the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.

“The key as a Realtor is to identify a good counseling agency that brings good candidates,” Poole said. “It’s important to build relationships that are two-sided and built on trust. It’s very important to build mutual respect for each other. You need to have a relationship before you can build a partnership,” she said.

NAR is among the founding sponsors of NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling program. Counselors trained by NeighborWorks NCHEC program are expected to provide education and or counseling services to more than 1 million households annually by 2007. This type of sponsorship is one example of how Realtors add value to the real estate transaction.

“There are 3,000 nonprofit counseling agencies nationwide. Out of those 3,000 programs, 2,300 are approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and only 750 of them are part of an intermediary network like NeighborWorks America,” according to Jayna Bower, senior manager for NCHEC.

“By partnering with counseling agencies, Realtors can provide marketplace expertise to counselors that often times are not as familiar with the market the way Realtors are,” said Cora Fulmore, president of the Mortgage and Credit Center in Orlando, Fla. Fulmore is a nationally recognized instructor who specializes in homeownership education and mortgage and credit counseling.

NeighborWorks America is a national organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts. There are more than 200 local affiliates in 49 states.

NAR’s Housing Opportunities Program emphasizes the role Realtors play in their communities by providing them tools they can use, including training, research, communications tools and opportunities to collaborate with allied interests.