In the wake of ongoing class-action settlements, REALTORS® are assessing the role associations play in the industry. Alabama REALTORS®, for instance, has put forth a proposal to end mandatory membership in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
To further assess this trend, the MLS-consulting firm WAV Group conducted a national survey back in August, polling 278 agents and brokers on what they value—and don’t want—from REALTOR® associations.
More than four in 10 (42%) respondents considered mandatory NAR membership “unfair,” but a majority (57%) said they are likely to maintain their NAR membership in 2025 and beyond.
For local associations, the survey grouped together seven broad categories of associations’ common member benefits and services. In turn, REALTORS® were asked to rate how satisfied they are with their association’s benefits. From there, the WAV Group offers strategic prescriptions on how associations should shift to address evident areas of weakness.
Quizzed on the seven key offerings, here are the percentage of respondents who said they were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied.”
- Education: 58%
- Code of ethics enforcement/professional development: 55%
- Advocacy: 46%
- Networking: 43%
- Community engagement: 37%
- Economic development: 30%
- Productivity awards: 28%
Takeaways from the WAV Group survey results
In four out of the seven services (networking, community engagement, economic development and productivity awards), a third or more of surveyed REALTORS® rated their satisfaction as “neutral,” or neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
The two categories where neutrality and dissatisfaction ranks higher than satisfaction are economic development opportunities and productivity awards. More than a third (35%) of responding REALTORS® rated themselves as being either “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with these two services.
The lowest ratings across the entire survey are 15% of REALTORS® saying they are dissatisfied with education offerings and 20% saying they are dissatisfied with code of ethics development. This further supports these two categories as where agents/brokers are most satisfied with the benefits of their association memberships.
Marilyn Wilson, CEO of the WAV Group, offered this observation about satisfaction of association advocacy in a press release: “While advocacy is arguably one of the most important services delivered by local Associations, they are not as well-appreciated. Those Associations with higher than average satisfaction are finding ways to drive home the tangible benefits of successful advocacy efforts taking credit for preventing harmful legislation and celebrating the legislative wins that benefit real estate consumers.”
Read the full report here.
