If you sell in Miami, Houston or Southern California, you have probably seen "CIPS" after another agent's name and wondered whether you need it too. The Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation is the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) credential for agents who work with international buyers, sellers and investors.
This guide covers what NAR requires, what it costs, what you learn, and the honest question: will it bring you more international business, or just more letters after your name? Fees and requirements below were checked on NAR's pages on October 27, 2026. Confirm them before you pay.
What CIPS is and who awards it
NAR describes it as being for REALTORS® in the U.S. and abroad, plus association staff and volunteer leaders, who want to build an international real estate business.
Designees join the CIPS network, which NAR describes as a community of more than 4,000 real estate professionals across 50 countries. NAR also runs a public CIPS search where anyone can look up designees by country, city, state or zip code, and designees get marketing materials such as postcards, web banners and a press release template.
The market is real, but smaller than it was. NAR's latest foreign buyer report (April 2025 to March 2026) found:
The top destinations were Florida (20% of foreign buyers), California (19%) and Texas (12%), and 48% paid all cash. NAR notes that 67,100 purchases is the second-lowest level since it began tracking in 2009, so weigh the investment with that in mind.
CIPS designation requirements
For US REALTORS®, it comes down to five courses and an application worth 100 points of international experience. Details come from NAR's US application form, course overview and CIPS FAQ.
| Requirement | What NAR asks for (US REALTORS®) |
|---|---|
| Membership | You must be a REALTOR® (the form asks for your NRDS ID) and stay a member of a local REALTOR® association |
| Core courses (2) | Global Real Estate: Local Markets (you take this one first) and Global Real Estate: Transaction Tools |
| Regional electives (3) | Choose three: Europe, Asia/Pacific, The Americas, or Africa & International Real Estate |
| Optional substitute | You can swap one regional course for At Home With Diversity, the Resort & Second-Home Property Specialist course, or Pricing Strategies: Mastering the CMA |
| Course time limit | Courses count for 3 years. Anything older than that when you apply has to be retaken. |
| Tests | Each online course ends with a test you pass at 80%. Classroom courses have no required exam. |
| 100 points | Earned from 11 categories on the application (see below). You don't need every category, just 100 in total. |
| Application fee | $75, one time (US and Canadian REALTORS®) |
| Annual renewal | $220 a year, with a 10% discount if you pay by December 31 |
International REALTORS® outside the US and Canada take a different core course and pay a one-time US$300 fee, then $75 a year.
How the 100 points work
The US application form lists the categories. The bigger ones:
- International transactions: any sale, purchase, lease or consulting deal with an immigrant, global buyer or seller. 25 points each, up to 75.
- Foreign language fluency: 20 points per language, up to 40.
- Other NAR designations or certifications (ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI and others): 15 points each, up to 45.
- Membership in a cultural or global organization such as NAHREP, AREAA or Rotary: 10 each, up to 20.
- A college degree: 15 to 25 points depending on the level.
- Working or studying abroad for more than a year: 25 points. Travel to three or more countries: 25 points.
Other categories cover global committees at your association, international conventions, trade missions and published articles. A bilingual agent with a four-year degree and two deals with immigrant buyers already has 90 points. An agent with no international work will have to build points another way.
Cost, timing and course formats
What you pay NAR. The application fee is $75, and your first-year renewal is due with it, prorated by quarter. NAR's application form (dated August 2022) lists $220 in January to March, $165 in April to June and $110 in July to September. After that it is $220 a year, and if you stop paying you can't use the designation. Reactivating after one to four years adds a $50 fee; after five years you retake courses and reapply.
What you pay for courses. Prices vary between NAR's online learning site and the associations that run classroom versions. We couldn't confirm a current list price, so check learning.realtor or your local association.
How long it takes. Each course is designed as a full day (8 hours), so classroom study adds up to 40 hours across the five courses. Online courses are self-paced, and NAR suggests 6 to 8 hours of screen time each. Online courses bought since May 1, 2026 must be finished by December 31, 2026, or restarted free in 2027. NAR's review of your application can take two to four weeks.
Online or in person. Online, in a classroom (including CIPS Institutes) or a mix. NAR recommends in person for the networking: the agents in the room are future referral partners.
What you actually learn
The course overview lists the topics: currency and exchange rates, cross-cultural relationships, regional market conditions, investment performance and tax issues. In practice:
- Local Markets covers how the global economy affects your local market. NAR says it also counts as an elective toward the ABR and CRS designations for US members.
- Transaction Tools is the most practical: researching markets, metric conversions, currency trends, flagging tax and visa issues, and analyzing the numbers on a deal.
- The regional courses cover each region's culture, history and investment patterns. For Latin American buyers, The Americas is the obvious pick.
CIPS does not make you a tax or immigration adviser. It teaches you which questions to spot, so you can send the client to a CPA, an immigration attorney or a lender who works with foreign nationals. This is not legal or tax advice.
Is CIPS worth it?
CIPS pays off when it supports business you have or are clearly building. It rarely creates that business on its own.
| Worth it if… | Probably skip it (for now) if… |
|---|---|
| You already close deals with immigrant or foreign buyers and want a credential that says so | You have had no international inquiries in the past year and no plan to get them |
| You work in a market foreign buyers favor (Florida, California, Texas) or in pre-construction sold abroad | Your market is almost entirely local, first-time buyers |
| You speak a second language and want referrals from agents abroad | You want the letters but won't go to events, join a global council or work the network |
| You want a structured way to learn currency, tax-flag and cross-border issues | Your Hispanic clients are mostly US residents buying their first home (see the alternatives below) |
The last row matters. A Spanish-speaking buyer who lives in Houston and buys with an FHA loan is not really an international transaction. For that client, fluency, financing knowledge and a fast reply matter more than a global credential.
How to use CIPS to win international clients
Earning it is the easy part. What makes it pay:
- Put it where buyers look. Add it to your WhatsApp Business profile, email signature and website bio, with one plain line: "Certified International Property Specialist (NAR): I help buyers from abroad purchase in South Florida."
- Work the referral network. NAR's international referrals page has a sample international referral form created by the CIPS group. Introduce yourself to designees in your buyers' home countries, and agree on referral terms in writing before a deal.
- Join your local global council. It earns application points and is where local referrals start.
- Publish what you know. Short Spanish guides on closing remotely or what an HOA is help buyers, and articles on global topics also earn points.
- Answer fast, in their language, on their app. Buyers abroad write from other time zones. The rule from how to answer click-to-WhatsApp ad leads applies: answer the question, then ask one.
One way to mention it to a Colombian buyer on WhatsApp without a sales pitch:
- Hola, vi el apartamento en Doral. Vivo en Medellín, ¿puedo comprar desde Colombia?Hi, I saw the apartment in Doral. I live in Medellín, can I buy from Colombia?
- ¡Hola Camila! Sí, es posible y lo hago con frecuencia. Tengo la designación CIPS de la Asociación Nacional de REALTORS®, que es para compras internacionales.Hi Camila! Yes, it's possible and I do it often. I have the CIPS designation from the National Association of REALTORS®, which is for international purchases.
- Para orientarte bien: ¿sería para vivir, para rentar o para las dos cosas?To point you in the right direction: would it be to live in, to rent out, or both?
- Para rentar por ahora, y quizás mudarnos en unos añosTo rent out for now, and maybe move in a few years
- Perfecto. ¿Piensas pagar de contado o financiar una parte? Trabajo con un prestamista que atiende compradores extranjeros si lo necesitas.Great. Are you planning to pay cash or finance part of it? I work with a lender who serves foreign buyers if you need one.
The credential takes one sentence. The rest is about her plans.
Alternatives and complements
For some agents, CIPS is not the first step:
- At Home With Diversity (AHWD). A one-course NAR certification on diversity, fair housing and serving clients from many cultures. It can replace one CIPS regional course.
- Resort & Second-Home Property Specialist (RSPS). An NAR certification for resort and second-home markets, grouped with CIPS and AHWD under NAR Global. It can also replace one CIPS regional course.
- ABR and other buyer-side designations. If most of your buyers live in the US, a buyer-representation designation may be more useful day to day. The Local Markets course counts as an ABR elective, so the paths overlap.
- NAHREP. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals is a trade association, not a designation. Its stated mission is to advance sustainable Hispanic homeownership, including educating the professionals who serve Hispanic buyers and sellers. If your clients are mostly Hispanic US residents, a local NAHREP chapter may be the more direct network, and membership also earns CIPS points.
The two are not exclusive: CIPS for the international referral network, NAHREP for the local Hispanic market.
Where Replint fits
A designation helps a buyer abroad trust you. It does not answer their message at 11 p.m. your time. Replint is an AI sales assistant that answers WhatsApp leads in seconds, 24/7, in English or Spanish, so a buyer writing from Bogotá or Madrid gets a reply while you sleep. It asks the qualifying questions one at a time, saves the answers on the lead and hands you the buyers who are ready to talk. It is in early access for US agents and teams.
