Inside the REALTORS® Land Institute and the Designation Behind America's Best Land Agents

About this episode

The episode discusses the REALTORS® Land Institute and the importance of the Accredited Land Consultant designation for land transactions.

There are roughly 1.6 million licensed real estate agents in the United States. Only 749 of them hold the Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) designation. That gap is the whole conversation. RLI CEO Aubrie Kobernus and two-time past president Jeramy Stephens join Mac Christian for a full breakdown of what the REALTORS® Land Institute is, what it is not, and why it matters to anyone buying, selling or brokering land. They cover the 80-year history of the organization, the difference between holding a real estate license and being a Realtor, and why land transactions are complex enough that the wrong agent can cost a client tens of thousands of dollars before anyone realizes it. On the agent side, they walk through the full path from RLI membership to the ALC designation, what the courses actually cover, and why RLI members averaged $36 million in annual sales compared to $16 million for non-members in 2025. On the consumer side, they explain exactly how to find a land specialist in any state in the country and why AI is already sending people directly to the ALC search tool when they ask what to do with inherited land. Whether you are a land agent wondering if the designation is…

People in this episode

Host: Mac Christian

Guests: Aubrie Kobernus, Jeramy Stephens

Topics covered

• real estate
• land transactions
• Accredited Land Consultant
• REALTORS® Land Institute
• land specialists
• real estate agents

Keywords

• real estate agents
• land transactions
• Accredited Land Consultant
• REALTORS® Land Institute
• land specialists
• real estate license

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: REALTORS® Land Institute, National Land Realty

More episodes of The National Land Podcast

• Conservation Easements, Rising Seas and Working Lands on Maryland's Eastern Shore · June 12, 2026 · 45 min
• What Happens to Your Tax Bill When You Sell the Farm? DST Strategy & More. · June 1, 2026 · 59 min
• Q2 2026 Agricultural Economy and Land Market Update with Jackson Takach · May 22, 2026 · 47 min
• National Land Realty's New Commission Structure: Pick Your Plan, Keep More, Get More. · May 15, 2026 · 1h 0m
• What Is the Present Use Value Program and Should Your Timberland Be Enrolled? · May 1, 2026 · 54 min
• How a Fifth-Generation Fruit Farmer Built One of the World's Largest Hunting Booking Agencies · April 24, 2026 · 49 min