I'm setting up a home based in Queens NY. LIBOR offers a "New Broker Orientation Class", which sets you up with LIBOR & MLS for about $2,000. I wanted to know if this class is necessary or beneficial and how many brokers actually took this class?

I guess my upstate experience won't be much help in your area, it sounds expensive to me. I would hope for that amount of money you would have NAR, NYSAR and local board dues paid for a year, MLS access paid for a year and any one time initiation fees for the local board and/or MLS paid also. If that charge is just for an orientation class it is excessive.

That would include LIBOR Dues for a year and all one time initiation fees, thereafter MLS will charge $160.00 per month

If your MLS is $160 a month and is included for a year that accounts for most of the fee, not much left for the other items.

However $160 month sounds awfully steep for MLS. I belong to one that charges $125 per quarter and another that charges $114 per quarter. The less expensive one will also give you a discount if you pay the full year at one time saving them the quarterly billing.

Anybody else had to do this in NY?