IrvineRealtor_IHB
New member
[quote author="Stuff It" date=1240011631]BTW, are you going to join the NAR? IR2, do you belong to the NAR and what are your thoughts on their advertising?</blockquote>
In order to hang my license with Coldwell Banker (as is the case with all of the major brokerages), it is a requirement to have an active membership in the NAR ($115/year), and CAR ($135/year) and a local board ($120/year for <strong>P</strong>acific West, which is why my listings all begin with the letter "<strong>P</strong>")
There are also memberships required for MLS ($345/year for SoCalMLS) and some processing fees that add up to $925/year, and license renewals every two or four years, depending on your length of membership. There are also required ongoing education courses.
There are two optional fees - a "Realtor Action Fund" for $59/year and a "PacWest Charity Fund" for $25/year, which most licensees that I know pay. The Realtor Action Fund goes towards the cost of NAR's lobbying efforts. If you take a look at their past efforts, you'll note that they have a success rate in the actions they seek that is higher than even the Teamsters' and Teachers' unions. Personally, I see the lobbying efforts as more of a problem than their advertising. IMO, they should stick to the "This is what's available currently" meme and steer clear of the "It's a great time to buy" or "Marsha ran the numbers" trainwrecks, but my time would be better spent trying to hold back high tide at the Wedge than trying to fight that fight.
I would prefer to work without these constraints, but consider it a cost of doing business and nothing more.
It is possible to do business without a realtor membership. As an alternative, I could hang my license independently (and would keep 100% of commissions earned) but I believe that the money that the big brokerages spend for advertising outcompetes what would be able to be done for clients on a local ad budget. But by doing better by the people I work with, I get to work with more of them, hopefully. That's the plan, at least.
I could've answered "Yes, but I don't like it" but I hope this sheds more light.
Thank you,
-IrvineRealtor
P.S. If you really feel like putting some steam in your engine, you can check out their "gov't affairs" page <strong><a href="http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs">here</a></strong>.
In order to hang my license with Coldwell Banker (as is the case with all of the major brokerages), it is a requirement to have an active membership in the NAR ($115/year), and CAR ($135/year) and a local board ($120/year for <strong>P</strong>acific West, which is why my listings all begin with the letter "<strong>P</strong>")
There are also memberships required for MLS ($345/year for SoCalMLS) and some processing fees that add up to $925/year, and license renewals every two or four years, depending on your length of membership. There are also required ongoing education courses.
There are two optional fees - a "Realtor Action Fund" for $59/year and a "PacWest Charity Fund" for $25/year, which most licensees that I know pay. The Realtor Action Fund goes towards the cost of NAR's lobbying efforts. If you take a look at their past efforts, you'll note that they have a success rate in the actions they seek that is higher than even the Teamsters' and Teachers' unions. Personally, I see the lobbying efforts as more of a problem than their advertising. IMO, they should stick to the "This is what's available currently" meme and steer clear of the "It's a great time to buy" or "Marsha ran the numbers" trainwrecks, but my time would be better spent trying to hold back high tide at the Wedge than trying to fight that fight.
I would prefer to work without these constraints, but consider it a cost of doing business and nothing more.
It is possible to do business without a realtor membership. As an alternative, I could hang my license independently (and would keep 100% of commissions earned) but I believe that the money that the big brokerages spend for advertising outcompetes what would be able to be done for clients on a local ad budget. But by doing better by the people I work with, I get to work with more of them, hopefully. That's the plan, at least.
I could've answered "Yes, but I don't like it" but I hope this sheds more light.
Thank you,
-IrvineRealtor
P.S. If you really feel like putting some steam in your engine, you can check out their "gov't affairs" page <strong><a href="http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs">here</a></strong>.
