Multigenerational CRS families share their stories to inspire other members to promote the designation
By Michelle Huffman
If you grew up the child of a CRS Designee, chances are you had a script for answering the phone.
“We were trained at a very early age to answer the phone correctly,” says Kimberly Efta, CRS, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Grand in Grand Forks, North Dakota, whose parents Sandy and Rod Meyer have both been CRSs. “We had our receptionist lines down, and we had to use them, or we would get in trouble,” she jokes.
Tahlia Urbinati, CRS, REALTOR® with MVP REALTY in Naples, Florida, says her CRS mother, Paula Angelopoulos Urbinati, provided her with a list of qualifying real estate questions to ask before she was allowed to hang up.
This is just one of the many common experiences shared by the children of CRSs who eventually followed mom or dad into the business and became CRS Designees themselves.
Growing up CRS
Launched in 1977, the CRS Designation has been around long enough to foster several generations of CRSs in “real estate families,” some working together in the same office and others spread out over multiple markets.
Growing up all across the country, these children of CRSs have many shared memories of leafing through massive MLS listing books (before they went digital), sitting in the car outside showings with their siblings or helping address client postcards in front of the TV at night.
Another common experience they share: a strong desire to avoid a real estate career.
“I never wanted to be a real estate agent,” says Nicole Johnsrud, CRS, REALTOR® at RE/MAX Advantage Plus in the Twin Cities and Efta’s older sister. “I thought, ‘There’s no way I’m doing what Mom does. Her schedule stinks; the whole thing is crazy.” Not even her mother’s impressive wardrobe could convince her or Efta.
Similarly, Steven Rath, CRS, broker/owner of Rath Real Estate outside Sacramento, California, saw all the work his mom, Dianne Rath, a retired former CRS and past president of the San Diego Association of REALTORS®, put into her business as a successful agent, so he veered off into engineering and business.
Bethany Weiser, CRS, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Dynamic Properties in Anchorage, Alaska, swore up and down she would never become a real estate agent like her CRS mom, Bonnie Mehner, and former CRS dad, Bill Mehner. But, like many of her peers that grew up in CRS families, she just couldn’t help it.
The next generation enters the field
Johnsrud and Efta had other plans in the corporate world after college, but both found their way back into real estate in the mid-2000s, with Johnsrud opening her own business in Minnesota in 2004 and her sister joining forces with their parents in North Dakota shortly thereafter.
Weiser discovered her knack for real estate working in her mother’s office part time during college. “It became apparent very quickly that this was a good fit for me,” she says. “Through osmosis, I had absorbed the knowledge that my parents had passed on.”
“She immediately started telling me all the ways we could do things better,” Mehner jokes. “But really, it was such an instant fit it was flabbergasting. We have very similar personalities … yet we can work together so well.”
There’s built-in trust there, Weiser adds. “I trust nobody else as much as I trust her.”
Rath felt the pull toward real estate when he entered the Air Force and started taking real estate classes. “I fell in love with it,” he says. “There was such a connection between everything else I was learning, my passion for business and what I saw growing up with a REALTOR® mom.”
Why become a CRS
The first thing Efta and Johnsrud’s mother told both of them upon entering the business was to become a CRS Designee as fast as they could.
“She felt like it was the only designation that mattered,” Efta says.
Urbanati knew that if she wanted to achieve the “lofty goals” she set for herself, she was going to have to enhance her professional credibility—and the designation was her way forward.
“Having my mom by my side provides me with an additional layer of accountability and motivation to pursue the various resources and educational programs that RRC offers,” she says.
The RRC education was at the forefront for Weiser. “Growing up, my mom and dad always talked about the benefit of education, but it wasn’t just something they talked about, they expected you to continue to grow and learn,” she says. “All the instruction I’ve taken from the CRS platform offers that in a really professional, outstanding manner.”
Her involvement with the Council doesn’t stop there. As Weiser began recruiting new members and getting involved with governance, she eventually became the Alaska RRC state president in 2022, a job her father held 20 years earlier.
Rath’s mother encouraged him, too, but his desire to earn the CRS Designation was based more on what he observed firsthand.
“I saw how much she enjoyed having it, and I wanted to participate in real estate at that level,” he says.
That led to conferences together where he met other CRSs.
“You want to surround yourself with the people you want to be like,” Rath says. “And I admired all the people that I met that were involved with the Council.”
His mom’s contacts became his contacts, and they were soon referring business to each other up and down California.
Looking ahead
While Johnsrud and Efta’s kids are too young to show any interest in the family business yet, they are relentlessly subjected to it on family vacations, Johnsrud jokes.
“I prefer not to talk shop, but my parents love it,” she adds. “We could talk for a solid week about a deal.”
And although her mom’s busy schedule was initially the biggest turnoff for Johnsrud, she realized the flexibility was one of the biggest benefits. “I don’t miss anything my kids do,” she says.
In Alaska, the Mehner Weiser company will soon span three generations, as Weiser’s daughter has joined the team as an assistant and will be earning her license soon.
After that, she, too, will earn her CRS Designation.
All in the Family Business
In the U.S., about 40% of family-owned businesses transition into second-generation businesses and about 13% are passed down to a third generation, according to the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.
In 2022, family businesses saw their largest growth in 15 years, according to PwC’s 11th Global Family Business Survey. Family businesses saw a 43% sales growth in the last financial year, up from 21% in 2021.
The largest 500 family businesses generate more than $8 trillion in revenue, according to the 2023 EY and University of St. Gallen Family Business Index.
Connect with your global CRS family on our online community, Find a CRS. Stay active and make sure your profile is up-to-date via the app or at find.CRS.com.
Photo: iStock.com/RomoloTavani
