Organization of Professional Housing Providers (OPHP)

What is the OPHP designation?

The Organization of Professional Housing Providers, or OPHP, designation is a statewide, education-based certification program sponsored and overseen by the Ohio Real Estate Investor’s Association, or OREIA.

The program recognizes real estate investors and housing providers who complete approved education and demonstrate a commitment to professionalism, responsible housing practices, and continued learning.

Why obtain the OPHP designation?

Earning the OPHP designation can help you:

Strengthen your real estate knowledge through focused education on important housing-provider topics.
Build credibility as an educated and professional real estate investor.
Improve confidence and decision-making when working with residents, contractors, legal professionals, government agencies, and other housing-related parties.
Support your long-term investment goals by building a stronger foundation in real estate investing and housing-provider responsibilities.
Stand out as a responsible housing provider as OREIA continues working to increase recognition of the OPHP designation.
Help demonstrate to legislators and public officials that educated housing providers are a serious and organized group within Ohio’s real estate community.
Potentially benefit from future program additions, such as discounts on courses, educational materials, or other resources.

How do I complete the required education hours?

Education hours may be completed through:

Local association meetings
Local seminars
Approved outside courses
Approved outside seminars

Outside courses and seminars must meet the following requirements:

They must be taught live or online.
They must be pre-approved by the National PHP Committee.
They must provide a certificate of attendance acceptable to the National PHP Committee.

Course of Study

The OPHP course of study includes 60 total hours of formal education, divided into:

42 clock hours of core courses
18 clock hours of elective topics

The core courses are designed to provide a strong educational foundation for real estate investors and housing providers. These courses help participants better understand key responsibilities, industry practices, and professional standards.

How do I track my progress?

Ultimately, it is your responsibility to keep track of your OPHP progress. However, your OPHP chair will likely be tracking your progress as well.

For Greater Dayton REIA events, your PHP hours are logged into a database when you register and check in at the event.

For other events, such as The OREIA Summit or visits to another Ohio-based REIA, you will need to submit a paper form to your OPHP chair.

How do I access my database information?

Once you are logged into your Greater Dayton REIA account, go to:

My Account > PHP

There you can review the PHP hours currently recorded in the database.

In addition, GDREIA OPHP credits are tracked using custom software under My Account > PHP. There you will find the following reports that track individual credits. The following reports are used to track individual records, which are sorted by the number of credits earned.

OPHP Summary: Report providing the following information:

OPHP rank.
Total Credits.
Credits needed to complete the OPHP certification.
Extra Credits which are not usable.
Topics completed and remaining topics to complete.

OPHP Detail Report: The report provides the following information.

OPHP rank.
All Credits earned by date and topic.

What if the database does not match my records?

If the database information does not match your own records, email the OPHP chair with:

What you believe should be changed
Why the change is needed
Any supporting documentation, if available

The OPHP chair will review the information and update your profile if appropriate.

Do I need continuing education to maintain the OPHP designation?

Yes. Once the OPHP designation has been earned, designees must complete 20 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain the designation.

These hours are elective and may be used by the designee to continue learning in areas most relevant to their real estate investment goals and housing-provider responsibilities.

What about National PHP?

The National PHP program is separate from the Ohio OPHP program. It was conceptually derived from the original Ohio program.

You can learn more about the National REIA PHP program here:

https://nationalreia.org/education/php/

Summary

The OPHP designation is a practical and worthwhile step for real estate investors and housing providers who want to continue their education, improve their professional credibility, and operate with greater confidence.

Completing the program demonstrates a commitment to learning, professionalism, and higher standards within Ohio’s real estate investment community.

Course of Study

The course of study will be divided into 42 clock hours of core courses and 18 hours of elective topics for a total of 60 hours of formal education.

Download and use the MASTER RECORD SHEET to track your progress

The core topics are as follows:

Appraisal	2 Hours	Including formal appraisal methods (cost, income, and replacement), Haines instruction and demos, how to compare properties, etc.
Contract Law	3 Hours	Including basic contract law; using contracts and clauses to protect yourself, developing contracts such as leases, options, purchase contracts etc., for the real estate investment business.
Ethics	1 Hour	Including ethics in financing, negotiations, etc.
Exit Strategies	2 Hours	Including discussions regarding wholesaling, retailing, lease/options, renting, selling with owner financing, etc.
Fair housing law	3 Hours	Including federal, state, and local fair housing regulations
Finance	6 Hours	Including conventional financing, FHA/VA financing, owner financing of all types; comparing, financing, offering financing.
Inspections	2 Hours	Including pre- and post- purchase inspections; move-in and move-out inspections.
Insurance	2 Hours	Including what type of property insurance is appropriate for investment property; negotiating for the best rates and coverage; renter’s insurance, worker’s compensation, liability insurance, etc.
Landlord-Tenant law	2 Hours	Including responsibilities of landloards and tenants, evictions, etc.
Management	4 Hours	Including record keeping; dealing with tenants; maximizing cash flow; etc.
Marketing	2 Hours	Including how to market properties for sale and for rent; how to market to prospective sellers.
Negotiation	3 Hours	Including negotiating with sellers, buyers, renters, contractors, vendors, banks, etc.
Purchasing	2 Hours	Including finding deals and calculating profitability.
Rehab, classroom Rehab, Hands-on	1 Hour 1 Hour	Rehab Classroom (1 hour): Including estimating rehab costs, which projects will pay for themselves, etc. Rehab Hands-on (1 hour): Including actual hands-on opportunities and demonstrations, volunteer work for organizations such as, Habitat for Humanity, and rehab property tours.
Regulations, Local Regulations, Federal	2 Hours 2 Hours	LOCAL (2 hour): Including zoning and building codes, foreclosure laws, etc. Attendance at meetings of the city council or other political for the purpose of learning, testifying, objecting to new or existing local laws can be counted. FEDERAL (2 hours) Including regulations affecting real estate investment OTHER THAN tax laws and fair housing laws, such as; lead paint regulations, wetlands regulations, underground storage tank regulations, Environmental Quality Zone regulations, etc.
Tax law	2 Hours	Including calculating and minimizing taxes, and tax laws as they affect the real estate investor, 1031 exchanges, property taxes.

The remaining 18 hours may include further education in any or all of the above topics, as selected by the OPHP candidate.

How will I obtain these hours?

These hours may be obtained through local association meetings and seminars. Or through courses taught outside of the local groups. All outside courses and seminars must meet the following requirements: they must be taught live; they must be pre-approved by the OPHP committee; and they must provide a certificate of attendance acceptable to the OPHP committee.

How do I track My Progress?

Ultimately, it is up to you to keep track of your progress, but your OPHP chair will likely be tracking your progress as well. When you register and get checked into a Greater Dayton REIA event, your PHP hours are logged into a database. For other events, such as The OREIA Summit, or visits to another Ohio-based REIA, you will need a paper form to turn in to your OPHP chair.

Download and use the MASTER RECORD SHEET to track your progress (just in case the online records ever become compromised).

For those fortunate enough to have completed individual subjects prior to 2018, we are working on placing "transfer credits" into the database. Those will have dates from the last weeks in December of 2017. If you don't remember being here on those dates, that's because you weren't. It's our way of making sure that you get all those check-marks you deserve!

How Do I access that Database Information?

Once you have logged into your Greater Dayton REIA account, choose the "My Account > My Dashboard" link at the top right of the web page. Once the page refreshes, scroll to the bottom and on the left side of the page, click on the link to "PHP Credits".

What if the Database Information does not match my own records?

Scan a copy of your MASTER RECORD SHEET and email it to the OPHP chair explaining the differences. We will do our best to make sure we update your profile.

Do I need continuing education to maintain OPHP designation?

Once the OPHP designation has been obtained, designees must complete 20 hours of continuing education every two years in order to maintain the designation. These hours are elective and may be used by the designee to continue his or her education as they see fit.

What about National PHP?

The National program is separate and was conceptually derived from the original Ohio program. Learn more about the National REIA PHP.

GRADUATION!

Notify your OPHP Chair when you have completed the requirements for graduation. You must notify the OPHP chair by September 1 of the year you complete your courses. The OPHP chair will forward this information to OREIA for inclusion in the Annual OPHP graduation ceremony that is held at the Summit in November. When you have made this step, you will be invited to the ceremony, and if you plan to attend the OREIA Summit, you will be able to attend free of charge! This will require some diligence on your part, because you will need to contact the registration group to register as an OPHP graduate (do not go through the regular online registration).

Extended Menu

Organization of Professional Housing Providers (OPHP)

How do I complete the required education hours?

Course of Study

How do I track my progress?

How do I access my database information?

What if the database does not match my records?

Do I need continuing education to maintain the OPHP designation?

What about National PHP?

Summary

Course of Study

GRADUATION!

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