Real Estate Apprentice® Foundation Announces First of 4 Judges

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Dec. 14^th, 2005 – The Real Estate Apprentice Foundation today announced that four highly respected industry leaders Jeremy Conaway, Stephen Roney, Kenneth Jenny and Thomas Dooley have all accepted The Foundation’s invitation to become part of the Official Judging Panel for the 2006 Seasons of the Real Estate Apprentice Grant Program. “These four people represent some of the real estate industries’ very best leadership and are enormous in their knowledge of the industry”, said Stefan Swanepoel, Founder and Executive Director of The Foundation. “We are indeed fortunate and honored to have them as part of the group that will be choosing the Real Estate Apprentice Grand Prize Winners and Finalists for 2006,” Swanepoel added.

Sources at the Real Estate Apprentice Foundation said that The Foundation is the only Public Benefit Corporation of its kind in the real estate industry that provides real estate education, products and services free of charge to rookie agents. The Foundation’s mission is to assist and ameliorate newly licensed agents in expediting a fast track to a successful real estate career. The Grant Program is open to all new real estate agents that are U.S. or Canadian citizens or legal residents who have taken or will be taking a real estate licensing course or became licensed during each six-month grant Season. The Foundation also posts the names of past winners, eligibility requirements, information about the judges and sponsors on their website at  www.RealEstateApprentice.com  The Grant Program applicants are judged on the basis of answers to essay questions that demonstrate salesmanship, communication skills, entrepreneurial spirit, integrity, creativity and uniqueness.  There are no hidden costs or fees to applicants or awardees.

About Jeremy Conaway

Jeremy is a leading expert in the field of real estate brokerage, Realtor® association management and MLS design. He is the founder and president of RECON Intelligence Services, a leading source of strategic and tactical ideas and applications for the real estate industry. Jeremy has created business plans, strategic campaigns, and tactical objectives for some of the largest Realtor® Associations in the country as well as some of the largest real estate firms. Jeremy was formally a member of the staffs of the California Legislature, the United States Senate and the Connecticut Legislature. He received his bachelor’s degree from California State University, his MBA from the University of Maryland and his Juris Doctorate from the University of the Pacific. He is a regular contributor to numerous real estate magazines and his articles are regularly published in a number of national journals across the nation.

Stephen is President and CEO of First American Residential Group the wholly owned subsidiary of First American Corporation, a Fortune 500 company and the nation's leading provider of business information. He began his career with Transamerica Corporation in its corporate relocation subsidiary in 1989 before being named president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Relocation Services, Inc. In 1993, he was one of five executives at the company partnering with the San Francisco-based Fremont Group in the acquisition of Coldwell Banker from Sears, Roebuck and Company.  Stephen himself an acknowledged industry leader and has been widely quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fortune and Forbes. He is a graduate of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and served six years on the Dean's Advisory Board at the University of California’s Irvine's Graduate School of Management where he was also a guest lecturer.

Ken a management professional with over 25 years of progressive and diversified real estate experience is today CEO ofTranCen.com, a residential brokerage services company in California. He is an expert in the residential real estate brokerage industry - from sales agent to corporate executive – Ken has viewed residential real estate from nearly every strategic vantage point. Real estate firms such as IAC, LendingTree, HomeGain, Prudential, ERA, Interealty Corp, EDS, HP and Primedia, Inc. have utilized his expertise, strategies and innovations to address the constant challenge of change facing the residential real estate brokerage industry. Ken’s writing experience includes: An Introspective Approach To The Real Estate Revolution – author; Real Estate Confronts the Banks – co-author; Real Estate Confronts Reality – contributor to the authors; Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers – contributor to the authors; and Real Estate Confronts the e-Consumer – contributor to the author. 

Tom is a veteran of 45 years in the real estate arena, and is widely hailed as a specialist in strategic planning, futuristic projections, merger and acquisitions. He is a prolific writer, has authored or co-authored six books and hundreds of articles. Presently, he writes a bi-monthly column for the Realtor-On-Line Magazine and contributes regularly to Today’s Buyer’s Agent and The Real Estate Professional. Today Tom is CEO of TWD & Associates, consultants to the Real Estate Profession, with clientele such as the National Association of REALTORS®, numerous State and Local Associations of REALTORS®, major industry franchise organizations and leading independent real estate brokerage firms. An undergraduate alumnus of Thomas More College, Dooley holds graduate degrees from the University of Toronto and Xavier University. His academic activities include terms of service as the Director of the Graduate School of Management of Lewis University in Romeovile, Illinois, and as Director of Small Business Development Centers at Lewis and at Northern Illinois University.

According to Swanepoel The Foundation is in the final stages of selecting another eight industry leaders to serve as judges for 2006 and their appointment are expected to be announced before year end.