I was just curious, have any of the brokers here gone it without belonging to the NAR? If so, do you have any thoughts or experiences on this subject to share?

Yep I don't have NAR. My agents don't want to pay 600.00 plus a year dues. Some of my agents buy investment properties for themselves or just sell a few properties a year.

The way NAR works is if one is a member they ALL have to be a member.

My listings go to realtor.com through my mls anyways and I can access all free material online. I don't get a magazine but can look at the e-mails they send anyways for the free stories.

I also like that I am only regulated by my state real estate commission and not held hostage by an arbitration board where politics can sometimes get involved. I have never had a complaint anyways.

I basically just like my freedom and independence which is why I have my own brokerage.

Every time is see NAR it is usually a hand stretched out for top level executives there needing more money to pad their retirement.

I thought NAR and your state (CAR for me) association go hand in hand and you cannot belong to one without the other. NAR has always been a peeve of mine.

I though they went hand in hand too, in Illinois at least that is. When I joined the local mls it did. Although there are other businesses in the local board...

Yes in my are it would go NAR national,GAR (georgia association of realtors) state level, and then your local county chapter (example cherokee association of realtors).

In our area they pay one fee to belong to all mandatory 3 if you want to be a realtor which fees vary a little but average around 600.00 a year in my area.

Where people get confused is some mls's require joining NAR to get access. My state of GA has no such provision and I have all the access as anyone else would. I get all the free info I want from national,state,and local websites without paying dues.

The GREC(georgia real estate commission) could care less about NAR and just controls license law violations and protecting the interest of the general public.

I feel bad for those that are in states where they strong arm you for mls access to have to be realtors. It should be a choice not a requirement.If NAR didn't have the cash cow coming in and agreements with some states mls's then NAR would have to work harder to keep their member base.

I am also in Georgia and have never joined because of the fees. I don't see the value. I have never had a problem or even asked by a client if I was a "Realtor".

Along a somewhat similar line, for our mls, even as an idividual broker working alone the "office" and "individual" must both join and pay. Is this the case eveywhere else too? Just curious, cost of doing business here...

When I brokered in CA, I was able to join an MLS that didn't require NAR membership. I love the saving and the freedom of it all. I think NAR and the local boards are mainly a political lobby and a way to hobnob with other members. IMO, No one should be forced to join a trade organization to have access to an independent advertising and information database. It seems like restaint of trade.

legally, you cannot use the term "Realtor" unless you are a NAR member. the word is a registered trademark of the NAR, and therefore people not Realtors are "merely" real estate agents...

an MLS and the NAR are not necessarily affiliated with each other- your local MLS might require membership in the NAR, or might not...

This is one of the main reasons why I'm working towards getting my broker license. I've always seen NAR membership as paying $500 a year for a magazine mostly full of advertisements. I can't wait.

The sad part is the magazine years ago actually had some decent info in it but now like you said it's mainly advertisements and I get the e-mails with the stores for free with no ads.

In my area for access to the MLS I must be a member of the local. To be a member of the local I must be a member of the state. To be a member of the state I must be a member of the National. I pay all the fees. Its a cost of doing business, so I am a Realtor.

I was on a few committees within the local chapter of Realtors. They cut services related to Realtors and from what I see, they are focused on raising money. Hike the costs and cut the services. Then they implemented a "strongly suggested" memo stating that every committee member needs to contribute to the RPAC fund and 100% compliance was manditory to serve.

I served without paying the PAC fee, then they told me I had to or I would be removed from the volunteer committee. You can't even run for local office unless you pay the donation.

See in GA we just rack a gun and they go from mandatory to just kidding.

I am a broker and work under my license in a home office of just me. I had to join in order to get access to local forms. Unless you work at a brokerage and they supply forms, the only way that I know of is to get San Francisco and CA forms through Realtor membership and Winforms. I pay to join just fo form access. Am I missing something?

I guess I couldjoin for one year, print out 100 of each form, but I like having computer access to fill out forms via Winforms. I also think that even if you pay for the expensive copy of Winforms, yu cannot get the San Francisco form library unless you are an SFAR/CAR/NAR member.

LND

There was a couple of years I belonged to only the MLS and I found just subscribing to the CAR magazine and getting forms from Professional Publishing in San Rafael and First Tuesday in So cal was just fine.

When a listing agent would request offers on CAR forms I would just say you provide them and I'll use them. Plus some boards would sell them if you just showed your real estate license. After all if their members want you to use that form then it is best to provide it, I wasn't going away just because of a form.

When I became a Realtor in 1965 I was very proud of my little button, now I would never wear it because the term has become generic for merely having a license, and every bad experience story starts with "My Realtor...", and ethics ha ha so many violations and so few consequences.

As soon as I get around to it, I'm going to drop my Realtor membership. I see no benefit, and most of the time we're not on the same page with what we believe (me vs NAR). How I wish we could redo the whole real estate industry. Fees, fees, fees. I know there's a cost to doing business, but the cost/benefit ratio doesn't make sense when it comes to NAR AND the MLS's.

Got my new dues for 2010 in the mail. Found out the following:

Yes, I can drop my membership from NAR and still be a member of my local MLS. HOWEVER, the monthly fees are almost double. Well, so much for dropping NAR. I'd drop them if it made economical sense. I do continuing education on my own free will, as I'm a big fan of education and self improvement. I also have a much higher ethical standard than that, in my opinion, low standard set by the Realtor code of ethics.

Anyway, just wanted to follow up on my attempt to drop NAR.

Here our MLS is controled by our local board- so if we want to use the MLS we don't have a choice- as was stated earlier in the post. However, we have a lot of people in the state who just want to keep their license active to be able to legally collect referral fees; they have no use for the MLS. So we have a seperate company set up, ran by a retired broker, that is not a Realtor member for those people to hang their licenses. It works out great for them.

MLS is not an independent advertising and information database. It is paid for, governed by, and maintained by members only. Benefits should go to members only. If enough members of the MLS decide that memberships in NAR and the state association are not mandatory, that requirement can be changed. It may not be likely, but the ability for the group to make such a decision is there.

I am an NAR member, and I probably would be even if membership were not required by the local MLS. I belonged to professional organizations in my former gig, also. Access to online forms is one of the benefits. And, believe it or not, individual members can have impact on the local organization. Most members would be surprized at how effective they can be when they start contacting board members, committee members, and then actually get involved.

Mark,

Which MLS's do you use??

I am mainly Metro Atlanta and use GAMLS,FMLS. I do not pay any extra for anything. These companies could care less about NAR and just want the money.

Now I have seen some other tiny mls's pop up in small areas that are tied to a board but not in my core area.

That blows if you are in one of those areas.Just shows with those mls's if they do that HOW WEAK their services are that they have to blackmail you to stay a REALTOR.

I am more proud of my principal broker designation as I had to work hard for it.

I mean by Metro Atlanta the 20 plus counties.

Wow Mark I checked and Augusta is right on the state line almost in Carolina.

Hmm, I'm a little bothered that you choose to call yourself "super REALTOR" if this is the case. Maybe "super broker" would be a better moniker given the situation....

I was a Realtor at the time I created the name on the forum. I don't use REALTOR anywhere else so I keep the name on here.

Everyone knows me on here by this name so I have no interest in changing it.

Super, been slammed the past couple of days. I am a member of GAAR. Yeah, Augusta is right on the state line and with the reciprocity agreement with South Carolina, all we have to do is fill out some paperwork and pay some fees, and we are licensed in SC as well (no additional tests).

Actually, North Augusta (that's a city name) is in South Carolina, while every other part of Augusta is in Georgia. What stinks is that Aiken SC (the county that North Augusta is in) has their own mls and if we want to show homes in Aiken county that are strictly in the Aiken mls, we've got to join that board too! That's not to say I can't list homes in SC, as I should, since our mls is bigger (significantly more listings) and most of the Aiken homes are listed in in the Augusta mls instead of Aiken mls (go figure).

I have heard that Aiken realtors don't take kindly to Augusta GA Realtors' listings which are in Aiken county. I can't stand that kind of childishness. I could care less what Realtor/non Realtor member of this mls or member of that mls brings me a buyer as long as we work together to get homes sold.

What I really hate is the blackmailing to force us to stay members of NAR. I don't like NAR, and I don't want to be a member, but I certainly am not about to pay almost double fees to prove a point.

When I first got licensed, I used to be proud to be a member Realtor. Sad to say, after I got to meet many Realtors, and after I saw enough of how things operate, I don't want to associate with that association anymore.