COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Brokers Hit the Books: During the boom, it seemed as if anyone could be a broker. Now that deals are scarcer, some companies are holding their sales associates to a higher standard.

Longtime commercial and industrial broker Rex Allen, president of R.B. Allen Group in Costa Mesa, has staffed his firm solely with real estate bookworms.

Each of his 20 associates, Allen said, has completed or is in the process of completing work for Certified Commercial Investment Members status. That requires 240 hours of courses in fields such as leasing, financial and market analysis and tax planning.

The designation offered by the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute is the Ph.D. of the market, Allen said. Of 80,000 real estate professionals nationwide, just 3,500 have the designation. The institute, based in Chicago, is an affiliate of the National Assn. of Realtors.