Grand Prize Winner to be Announced on February 22nd, 2006

Aliso Viejo, Calif. Feb 15^th, 2006 – (Part 2 of 5) The Real Estate Apprentice Foundation today announced the names of Finalist 3 & 4 for its Season III grant program.  Lori Bair, of Prudential Dinning-Beard in Wichita, Kansas and Lori Heerde, of RE/MAX Professionals of Suwanee, Georgia were chosen by a panel of 14 independent Judges from 2,688 applicants. Both Bair and Heerde will receive $5,000 worth of real estate education, books, products and various career enhancing services. These two finalists received their respective licensing courses at Career Education Systems, a RealtyU^® Real Estate School located in Wichita, Kansas and Georgia MLS Training Institute in Sugar Hill, Georgia. 

After graduating with honors from high school she attended Kansas State University where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education and a Masters degree in Adult and Occupation Education. Previous to her career in real estate, Lori Bair was the Director of Admissions and an Instructor in the Business Department at a Community College in Kansas where she had worked for 15 years.  At the time of her application for the Real Estate Apprentice Grant, she had listed four homes, and one commercial property and as of today she has closed on one property and has three additional properties in escrow. Her goal in 2006 is to be Prudential Dinning-Beard’s Rookie of the year. Lori is married to Dwight Bair and is the mother of four children. She was raised in a rural setting on a combination farm and ranch outside of St. John, Kansas.  

After college, Lori Heerde accepted a job with American Red Cross (ARC) as a program manager where she managed 250 volunteers serving a seven county area in North Georgia. Lori moved from the non-profit to the business world when she became the public relations manager for Lanier-Ricoh Worldwide. “While I loved the challenge and energy of working in fast paced corporate environments, I longed for a work environment where individual contributions were more meaningful,” Lori said. She went back to the non-profit world, as director of the American Cancer Society Foundation, bought her first home, got married and moved to the big city in search of a higher level of personal satisfaction.After months of serious consideration and evaluation, Lori knew she was ideally suited for a career in real estate. She sold her first home five days after becoming licensed, and her second listing within three weeks thereafter. “I have never been so exhilarated nor have I felt so sure of a career choice,” she said.

1. Access to any two real estate course offered by a RealtyU® School. Sponsored by RealtyU® Real Estate Schools.
2. Unlimited access for two (2) year to iSucceed Real Estate Mentoring Service, including weekly counseling calls, hundreds of business tips, tools, money-making systems and marketing strategies, a special “Ask your Mentor” program as well as a Home Seller’s Workbook and a Home Buyer’s Workbook. Sponsored by iSucceed.
3. Online property information tool that provides an integrated set of tools used during all phases of a real estate transaction, from listing to closing. Sponsored by First American Residential Group.
4. Design of a special stationary package including business cards, letterhead and envelope. Sponsored by Hobbs/Herder, Advertising and Design.
5. Versatile and easy-to-understand Mortgage Calculator and Laser Dimension Master with the complete starter package for the Qualifier Plus IIIx Calculator. The Real Estate Success Kit provides solutions to the most often encountered residential real estate financial situations. Products to be provided by Calculated Industries.
6. A comprehensive set of real estate books sponsored by Thomson Learning.
7. Real Estate Cyberspace membership sponsored by The Real Estate Cyberspace Society.
8. A one-year subscription to the online and print magazines Broker Agent News and Real Estate Magazine. Sponsored by Broker Agent News and RIS Media.