The two-day course
The core ABR course runs two full days. NAR sells it online for $310. EXCEL teaches it live for $295. Same designation either way.
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An instructor's answer
Is the ABR Designation Worth It?
Agents ask me this every few weeks, usually after seeing the letters behind somebody else's name on a yard sign. The short answer is that it depends on whether you represent buyers, and I can tell you fairly quickly which side of that you are on. One thing to clear up first, because it is the question I get most: the ABR no longer requires five closed buyer transactions.
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transactions required
One elective
A single qualifying elective, which you can take before or after the core course. Price depends on the provider you choose.
Membership and dues
Active NAR membership in good standing. Your first year of the designation is free, then $110 a year for as long as you hold it.
What the two days actually teach.
Since August 2024 an MLS participant has to sign a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home, including virtual tours. That agreement has to state your compensation in an amount that is objectively ascertainable, it cannot be open ended, it cannot exceed what the buyer agreed to, and it has to say plainly that commissions are negotiable. Plenty of agents are still improvising that conversation at the curb. The course is two days of practicing it with the agreement in front of you. That is the substance. The letters do their own work alongside it, because buyers hand their business to people they believe have specialist knowledge, and a designation is how you signal that before you ever get to say a word.
Who it helps, and who should skip it.
A sincere answer before you spend your money.
Your business is buyers
If most of your sides are buyer sides, this is aimed squarely at you and nothing else on this list competes with it.
The money conversation still makes you flinch
If you go quiet when compensation comes up, two days of training is the cheapest fix available to you.
Your competition tightened up and you did not
Agents who fixed their buyer process after the settlement are winning those appointments. This closes that gap.
You have never worked a buyer
You can enroll on day one, but rehearsing a conversation you have never had is worth less than having it badly a few times first. Do three or four buyer deals, then come back.
You are a listing agent
If eight of your last ten sides were sellers, put the money into a listing presentation or photography instead.
If you're not ready to change the way you work.
The agents who waste this are the ones who add the logo to a signature and then run the next buyer appointment exactly the way they ran the last one. The course only pays if you use it.
Before you enroll
Questions agents actually ask
The answers below are current as of September 2026. NAR updates its requirements from time to time, so check the date on anything else you read.
How much does the ABR designation cost in total?
The two-day core course is $310 online through NAR or $295 live through EXCEL, plus one qualifying elective priced by the provider. Your first year of the designation is free and it is $110 a year after that. Budget $310 to $400 for year one.
Do I have to complete a number of buyer transactions to earn the ABR?
No. The ABR does not require you to document a set number of closed buyer sides. You will still find the old five transaction rule repeated in plenty of places, including some that have not been updated in a while, but it is not a current requirement of the National Association of REALTORS®. What you need is the two-day core course, one qualifying elective, and active NAR membership in good standing.
How long does the ABR take to complete?
The core course is two days and the elective is usually another day. With no transaction requirement to satisfy, most agents finish everything inside a few weeks and hold the designation as soon as the paperwork clears.
Do I have to be a REALTOR member to hold the ABR?
Yes. You must keep an active membership with the National Association of REALTORS to maintain the designation. If your membership lapses, the designation goes with it.
Is the ABR worth it for a brand new agent?
You can earn it on day one, but that does not mean you should. Two days of practicing a buyer conversation you have never actually had is worth less than having it a few times first. Do three or four buyer deals, then take the course.
Ask before you enroll
Still not sure it is for you?
Call and ask. It takes two minutes and costs nothing, and you will be talking to the instructor who teaches the class rather than a salesperson. If the answer is that you should not take it, that is what you will hear.