Two days before the changes brought by the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) settlement are slated to go into the effect, the start-up rival American Real Estate Association (AREA) has announced the launch of its membership drive.
Jason Haber, a New York City-based agent with Compass, and Mauricio Umansky, the Los Angeles-based founder of the luxury brokerage The Agency and a celebrity from his appearances on several reality television shows, first announced their plans for AREA as a NAR alternative in January, but to date they mostly kept a low profile on their endeavor. Today, Haber and Umansky sent out an email alert inviting real estate professionals to apply for 2024-2025 membership in AREA.
“We’ve been busy behind the scenes these last few months building the foundation for your new trade association,” said the co-founders in their email alert. “During this building phase, we also began ramping up our advocacy efforts, starting with the successful push for changes at the VA to help protect our veteran home buyers. We are currently expanding our advocacy efforts and working around the country on key policy issues that affect your business.”
Haber and Umansky reminded their potential members they are self-funding the launch of the nonprofit AREA. The pair offered two introductory price tiers – a basic membership of $20 for 2024 and all of 2025 with $20 off the 2026 renewal plus 20% off all AREA events through 2025, and a founding membership of $1,500 that covers dues for the next 10 years.
“As the saying goes…‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ We couldn’t be more excited to be on this journey with you,” Haber and Umansky added.
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Please tell us what this entails…and the benefits.
Thanks~
We just reported the information that was provided by AREA. You may want to contact the association directly at https://www.americanrea.org/
The nar Monopoly with local boards and state associations should be broken up.
Their website contains almost no information. Other than a goal of a national MLS and training, it doesn’t say much. Way too many questions to be answered before I’ll join – not because of the $20, but because I don’t know if I’d want to be associated with them. Could be the start of something great or just a money grab or publicity stunt by celebrity agents.
I didn’t read anything about a national MLS.
I’m in!!
I have been a member of NAR for over 30 years with different real estate companies. And with that goes the state and local associations as well. A lot of the information that they provide has been and continues to have value.
BUT, I do not think their value is needed any more. Whether it is NAR, AREA or WHATEVER.
I am not sure that I will renew with NAR come 2025. Certainly not with any other, even less value providing association.
I have been a member for 40 years. Unfortunately, NAR has really let us down by not fighting for us over this latest issue. It is clear to me that our members have lost all confidence in them and a shake up is around the corner for some kind of new organization or way of doing business.
Oh look,
More fees. Yay!
Our Pennsylvania Association of Realtors (PAR) drafts all the documents that our market uses. I can say this is a huge value add because we are all speaking the same contractual language. Will AREA look to replace that function of our Realtor union?
I know that I can not be a member of NAR but still pay a separate fee for PAR. Maybe our local market will just do that. Everyone will pay PAR directly but then subscribe to AREA for the national influence
eXp is already going down that road. They created their own listing agreement. I believe REAL will follow in their footsteps. Interesting to see the impact of these changes on the consumers we serve. Seems we have taken the industry back about 30 years.
Interesting…here in Denver/Boulder, Colorado, I pay dues for NAR, Colorado Realtor Association and Boulder Realtor Association!
Agree with above comment. NAR dues are way too high!
And what do we get for those dues? The ability to call ourselves Realtors. In my mind it’s kind of like “Coke”. It’s become a generic term for real estate agents. I don’t believe the public hears the term and thinks “Oh, a Realtor. So she’s ethical and informed and well-trained.” Nope. Just “Oh, a Realtor. She’s in my Sunday school class. Let’s see if she can show us that house on the corner.”
Agree.
Yes!! So true!!
What’s the difference between Realtor and Realter? NAR has become mostly useless.
NARS is absolutely useless and always has been! I have had my own brokerage for 17 years and never joined any of these “associations”…
Yes, NAR dues are way too HIGH and doing nothing for my business.
Really? Do you pay a tax on your commissions? Were you working because Realtors were named “essential workers” during Covid? How about those first time buyers tax credits during the last financial crisis? As much as you think we’re over regulated, it’s a pittance compared to what “they” try to do during almost every legislative session. NAR has a team of legislative experts and a separate team of lobbyists that keep watch on this 7/24 (I know – I’ve witnessed it!) to make sure that we can continue to do business and serve our customers and clients. By the way, I’m just a Realtor like you – have been since 1976 – and know my business is dependent on us having a credible and trustworthy national presence. People are putting too much into this bull**** lawsuit. In my opinion it was a setup against us from the beginning. We’ll be just fine – we now have to make sure that our buyers – particularly first timers and middle to low income – can be taken care of. They are the ones who have been harmed. They have no leverage, no organization looking out for them except us. My dues are an absolute bargain compared to other associations.
Do we pay a tax on our commission? Um yes? Lol please explain your NAR program for tax free commissions haha
He’s probably talking about a business tax. We have to pay a state business and operating tax on our gross compensation in Washington state in addition to federal income tax.
I think maybe he is talking about a sales tax
David, here in Colorado, I do pay taxes on every dollar of my commissions and I pay dues to NAR, to Colorado Association of Realtors and to Boulder Association of Realtors. During Covid, they shut down realtors as we were not essential workers. Absolutely the public most harmed by this is 1st time home buyers, lower priced buyers and vets. I hate that the media has twisted the facts but that’s what they do in most instances.
I agree it was a set up from the start. We have the largest RE market in the world and can facilitate the individuals wealth in acquiring Real Estate. That makes the Global elite nervous. If no one wants to own RE they can take over!
Where was the NAR “legislative them” during during law suite??
Legislative issues is not a lawsuit. However, through the legislative team, NAR was able to reach VA to ensure that VA buyers will be allowed to pay a commission in the event of necessity with this new change. Don’t get me wrong, I was disappointed that NAR settled, and I assume this is not over yet.
Our current president has stated over and over that we are overpaid and if elected, their platform will make sure we are identified by the IRS and audited more readily. This is more important information than any of this and NAR is not and never will point out these agendas due to their overly liberal platform. I am out of NAR the second the AREA establishes that they are prepared to be a replacement.
NAR is bull****. It’s about time they are exposed for the fraud that they are. They are useless money grabbers and just rolled over the one time that we actually needed them.
NAR has really let us down by rolling over and playing dead for the greedy lawyers who instgated this whole mess. And yes. We pay GET on our commission here in Hawaii. I’m really open to learning more about AREA and dumping NAR!
NAR dues are a $150 a year. Advocacy efforts like Mortgage Interest Deduction, Property Tax write offs, Flood Insurance re-authorization, QRM (qualified residential mortgage) and so much more have been advocated on our behalf. Please do your research before you say NAR has done nothing for us.
When NAR members say they don’t know what NAR does for them I’m reminded how buyers think all we do is open doors. NAR does much more than the complainers recognize and understand.
I hope it’s worthwhile. I have felt like a prisoner of the worthless, corrupt, left-wing NAR and it’s political “advocacy” for destructive, Marxist policies such as DEI, LGBLT, affordable housing, “hate speech” and the rest. The same goes for my state and local boards. They force us to join and use our money against us and our communities. I would love to see the NAR disappear.
Left-Wing nar -are you kidding? They’re in Trump’s pocket
So DEI, affordable housing, LBGTQ (at least spell it right) rights are destructive? How so? Our founding documents say, “We the people” which means ALL the people and “all men are created equal”. Have you a problem when abusers of those principles are brought to task?
“We the People” spelled LGBLT bc he was thinking of lunch. As in “large bacon, lettuce & tomato sandwich!
Study Marxism and where transgenderism started. Pritzker. Affordable housing is communist and socialist. Period. It is at the heart of every blue city wallowing in socialist chaos and despair and the Democrats know it. You are either a Stalin of a useful idiot.
David, love your passion and I know you are spot on!!
What I don’t understand is how REALTORS can NOT know what their own association is doing for us every single day! Nobody is “forced” into membership! And of course as we have always said, if you don’t like it, get involved!
Do you even know what Maxist policies are? I rather doubt it. But you could consult Putin or the authoritarians of China and North Korea. You must really hate ordinary people. What a great Realtor you are. Good luck with your ideology and following the golden rule.
Amen brother. NAR is Woke from top to bottom.
Could not agree more!!
How ignorant and uninformed are those realtors that fail to see the Left wing liberal closet Communist influence on NAR, and that actually vote for these democrat politicians.
NAR’s support of candidates are darn near 50/50. We support those that sit on the committees that impact our issues. Like mortgage interest deduction not special interests. I really wish people would do their research and check the facts before posting responses. I invest in RPAC diligently and I AM a republican. NAR is all about issues that impact private property rights and ownership and NOT republican or democrat.
The nar is very leftist and goes against the morals I believe with dei and lgbt forced agenda. Way too liberal and way too many folks in nar that make 6 figures and do NOTHING for me!
Amen! We, as Realtors, better start focusing on what really matters and that is your ability to support your families not the support of the agendas of the 2% among us that do less than 1% of the business. This is out of hand. If you think NAR is right wing, you must be following another NAR or maybe you are not following but talking about the same garbage that does not benefit any of us… as usual. This is not a social organization. This is an organization to protect the majority of us who are actually out here working.
Send me information in AREA
NAR SOLD ALL Realtors out.
We Agents should have formed Real Union to protect us years ago.
The Fat Cats took our dues for what?
What kind of pathetic Attorneys did NAR Have to protect our industry?
What Hipicrats Attorneys are about price fixing.
They have ruined the true honest Agents that have worked years to create a fair market for all.
What a disaster.
I am glad I am on my out.
Personally I Don’t think it will benefit Us Brokers or The consumers. It’s Just More paperwork for us. Buyers are Struggling to buy homes now with this High Economy, what makes you think they can afford to pay our commission also? Crazy!
AREA will not be any different politically. I can almost guarantee you that.
I think NAR needs to get new attorneys, and refund its members for the crappy job they did. NAR never has and never will set compensation until now anyway. In Texas it has always been between agent, broker, and their client. Not NAR. Even appraisers will have trouble getting their work done in a timely manner due to the information gap. Listing agents will likely have to show more of their own listings because a lot of buyers will not want to be on a buyer agreement to view house. The bottom line NAR Sucks, but now even more of its members see the Light. As a wise man once said, “stupid is as stupid does”. Even Gump had more brains than NAR.
Amen to that! It s unbelievable to me that the NAR, with all its high-powered elite law firm representation could lose to a personal injury lawyer who could argue that we were somehow conspiring to set buyer broker commissions to a 3% rate and require the sellers to pay it. I’m not in Texas, but I’ve been licensed in MD, DC and VA for over 38 years, and I have always, from Day 1, told my seller clients that commissions were negotiable, and that it was up to them to decide if and how much commission they would offer to the buyer’s broker, especially since true buyer-representation became regulated in my area in the mid-1990’s.
Meanwhile, the NAR lawyers failed to point out that the very attorneys representing the plaintiffs, who were personal injury lawyers, have been protected as they ALL obviously conspire to charge 33% for pre-trial out-of-court settlements and 40% for trial awards. Those money-gouging ambulance chasers were able to convince the jury that not only had the Realtors conspired, but that 3% (a contingent fee, no less) was somehow exorbitant and was causing widespread over-inflation in the real estate market. In my market, it has been rare, for years now, to see a seller offer a buyer-broker cooperating commission over 2.5%; the price-fixing argument was a sham argued by crook lawyers.
It’s outrageous and an utter disappointment. On top of that, the NAR and its publicists allowed the anti-Realtor crowd to control the dialogue following the settlement, so that the public opinion is now in favor of the plaintiffs’ point of view and has no understanding of how bad this decision and settlement are for buyers, especially those strapped for cash.
Well written A.Realtor and Sarah Graham!
You are absolutely correct. I’ve been a full time Realtor since 1996 and our local Board President and sat on our State committees. Always very involved and this is a disaster as to what NAR has done. Well written and to the point.
As a REALTOR, i fully realize that we are blessed with great benefits, etc. but I feel NAR failed by agreeing to the settlement. When did the “powers of class action lawyers” start to dictate how we earn our living. I have been licensed for almost 60 years and have been through all the struggles of the industry, Justice Department; Federal Trade Commission, ETC and have been proud of the way we’ve worked hard to be transparent and negotiable so I feel this suit has put real estate backward the 60 years. Cooperation began in the mid 60s when people like me thought “i don’t have a buyer for my listing, but someone over THAT OTHER Realty MIGHT so let’s get together and make a sale. .. I’ll share whatever fee I collect. Amazing, it helped seller’s sell their properties faster and ultimately helped the industry. No one ever told me what to charge, but I always knew who was my client and my clients knew I believed in getting their property sold for the best Price I could. And NOW! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING. I feel like the clock just rolled back to 1960.
Amen!
Totally agreed!!!!
NAR too expensive for someone just starting out. Dues almost $700 then pay MLS fees on top of that. And yes, they do some good things in legislation and some bad things. No one should be discriminated against, but I’m a bit tired of hearing that every time a home in a neighborhood full of crime and violence is appraised lower than a home of the same size in a neighborhood not suffering from urban decay and death, it is because of white supremacy. I just sat through over 120 hours of education that continuously drilled that belief. All people should be treated equally and fairly… this goes way beyond those goals. Welcome other alternatives to NAR when they also have a MLS… and hope they too don’t become a monopoly that strangles the life out of agents monetarily.
This NAR settlement is in my opinion, the epitome of the infamous phrase “a solution, in search of a problem.” This NAR settlement should be called the “2024 Lawyer’s Full Employment Act!”
Good one!
NAR failed professional real estate agents l, with not allowing a vote on the most career affecting “Settlement” ! No well not remain a member if such a non-representative organization! NAR failed to represent and goodbye!!!
The only thing we fight for is our data. The data that gets stolen by being put out for free on the internet. START A NEW COMPANY AND ALLOW US TO PROTECT OUR DATA.
Finally, someone who just said what I’ve been thinking for years.
I should be able to join NAR, PAR & the local Association separately. I’m forced to join all 3 to have access to forms and the MLS. Talk about collusion!!!
YES!!!!
NAR should reduce its fees and staff after the sub-par job it did defending our industry. I’m not sure what this new association offers. I’ll keep a lookout for more detailed information.
There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding here. If you are a REALTOR, you pay dues to NAR. This is most commonly done through your membership to a local association of REALTORS. Your membership dues to the local Association include a fee that provides you with membership in the State Association, while another part of your annual fee goes to NAR. The part that goes to NAR. For example, my local Association charged $675 per year. Of that fee, $110 went to the State Assn and $28 went to NAR.
If your local Assn runs its own MLS, your fees will be higher. In MA, our state-wide MLS is privately owned. We pay fees to share our listings – just not to the local Assn.
So, for under $1,100 a year, I received the ability to share my listings and bring buyers to others; I got to participate in activities at the local and State level aimed to educate, inform and bring other Realtors and service providers together which has helped me to grow my business through better cooperation when doing a deal with those whom I meet, I’m able to build my list of trusted vendors, builders and tradesmen, which allows me to be better equipped to assist buyers and sellers and new and innovative ways to market and differentiate myself; and then their is the forms that my local and or state association’s lawyers have drafted and which are industry-standard; I can’t speak enough about the professional standards and ethical standards which are developed at the national (NAR), state and local levels – all which allow me to have and my clients to be assured that the other REALTORS I work with share the same beliefs, trust and work ethic towards me and my clients – and protects me from costly and time consuming litigation over collection of commissions, disputes over procuring cause, protects me and my clients from discriminatory behavior in the marketplace and lastly, from the occasional “rouge” client or REALTOR.
NAR is the top of the pyramid. They provide the rules and guidance to the state and local associations, they provide the legal and market intelligence, leadership and tools plus a license to use the “REALTOR” trademark and a “pedigree” and ability to differentiate ourselves from a non-member real estate licensee. Your NAR dues also help pay for the development of new certifications to help grow your business and finally, those dues go being part of the largest lobby for home ownership rights and availability in the U.S.
Being part of NAR protects us from antitrust rules and accusations of collusion. Your firm-wide “standard” forms and sharing and promotion of in-house listings, esp. “Pocket” and “coming soon”, are ripe for attack by clients, agents from other firms, lawyers and regulators.
NAR has been doing this for over 100 years. Its strength is its structure. Membership in AREA is only going to confuse the market and inhibit collaboration between agents and brokerages. Its biggest weakness is that it has no structure at the local AND state levels to be of any enforcement of its rules and lobbying activities.
Where is the outrage against the NAR…true, very left leaning but they SOLD REALTOR.COM…so we can pay opcity 20% for our own listing. They do NOT represent who we are…our professionalism, our hard work and our dedication to our community and country. When we speak to people we hear “You’ve been screwing us over for years”…how can that be.
What a failure the National Association of Realtors has been (before the compensation issue) and after. Let the States decide what is acceptable…the Red States will get it and the Blue will stay with NAR! The Blue will fail. Trump may not be the most easiest vote for some…but it is the only one for our family. God Bless America!
As someone already stated, lower income buyers have the most to lose with the lawsuit. And more complaints will be filed with HUD. Thats the message that needs to told to the media. Maybe the DOJ will wake up. And home prices are not going to going down just because buyer broker commissions will trend downwards. Whose going to enforce the rules to penalize the bad agents who don’t comply with NAR changes. And MLS is becoming less transparent for consumers by removing the commissions from MLS. Hoping for some leadership from an industry association that supports the good agents that play by the rules.
What a Failure NAR has Been, they SOLD Realtor.com so YOUR leads on YOUR Listings , go to other agents who pay them lots of money . Check out your lissting, it does not have your phone number but other agents !!
Um let’s see FSBO’s Always Want to Sell their home for less to the buyer! Saving on the Brokerage Commission and Passing that Savings on to the buyer.
Folded Like a Cheap Suit.
NAR did not protect us ; Realtors. We have learned as time passes and we gain experience that all day long every day we are Sellers agents and buyers agents. Thus, we know what it is like to be on the other side, so we have protected each other. We have been able to explain to sellers that buyers agents are important, they have the “buyers” that will buy their home so paying a % and splitting this with that person is logical. Stupid NAR did not help us left us in the middle of the field to help ourselves. But, we have done it always and we should continue to do. Negotiate buyer’s agent commissions with our sellers. That’s going to help us seek the property faster and will help sellers and buyers , just like before.
It just can’t be documented on MLS just on listing agreements. If we all do it, things will go back to normal. NAR should not be allowed to negotiate on our behalf, it doesn’t know how to do it. They should concentrate on the only thing I think they know how to do, pay others to do lobbying. And it should not be allowed to interview and endorse candidates, they should not be a political platform for whom they like. Let the lobbyists they pay already worry about doing their jobs, but we pay them and then make easy for them helping to elect whoever they think will help. Lastly, they sold us but also mishandled the implementation process, like scary cats , oh, oh, let’s in the name of transparency remove any and all compensation mention, etc etc…. So we are not to be paid? Why can we mention our compensation in the MLS? This is transparency? This is stupid…. Sorry
NAR, State and local associations have proven their value over and over again. NAR is one of the largest trade organizations and the DOJ would love nothing more than to dismantle and make us all W-2s. Joining this organization that is not looking out for our best interest, just looking to make money . . . ha . . . good luck. Any so-called ‘work around’ you think you can come up with, they will sue you individually. If NAR had not settled, read up don’t assume, NAR would have gone bankrupt and we wouldn’t have the largest trade organization. NAR did the right thing and did so on our behalf.
The NAR is pushing for sex identification.. local and state boards as well…
Sad how we have gotten away from property, land, owning a business and the American dream
The associations are pushing us to sell sex…
Not homes anymore