After much discussion and consideration , the Triangle Commercial Association of REALTORS®, have decided as a group that we are unable to support the REALTOR® Party Political Survival Initiative. We believe any raise in the NAR portion of our dues is not acceptable due to the current economy and state of the real estate industry. It is also our position that an increase of almost 50% is excessive at any time, regardless of the political climate.
Past history of NAR dues increases have resulted in a loss of membership for our Association. We have approximately 550 members and believe we would experience a loss of no less than 15%, especially since 65 of our members are Institute Affiliates. We only receive $25 from this sector of our membership, and the financial implications would be substantial for our organization. As a local Association, we have been unable to increase our portion of the dues simply because the national and/or state associations continually raise their dues. In fact, TCAR has not increased dues since 2005.
Recently, TCAR has invested heavily in the startup of a Commercial Information Exchange Platform through e-Property Data, a company purchased by NAR. Fortunately, we are now having companies rejoin our association after years of seeing little use for their REALTOR® membership. This new dues increase would definitely create second thoughts for those returning companies and other larger firms as to whether to continue their membership. We believe this Initiative by NAR could have a profound impact on our bottom line.
As an alternative to this increase, we recommend consideration be given to using the $35 Image Campaign Assessment, (an increase that was originally only supposed to be for one year), to be funneled into the Political Survival Initiative. The $35 should be sufficient to accomplish the top goals of NAR until the economy substantially improves and more people are back to work.
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