One co-founder said the association aims to provide an alternative to NAR and launches a membership program when it is “very dissatisfied with the status quo.”
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As the deadline for new rules for the National Association of Realtors approaches, a new competing group is launching its first membership program.
The American Real Estate Association (AREA) announced today that there will be two distinct membership levels. The first level, called “Basic” membership, is valid until 2025 and costs $20. Prices are deliberately set low to encourage participation in the association.
The second tier is called “Founding Membership” and costs $1,500. The price includes membership for the next 10 years, invitations to exclusive events, recognition on the AREA website and more.
A statement from AREA noted that the launch of the membership program “is a strategy developed to address current challenges within the industry.”
“Real estate agents are increasingly frustrated, brokerages are under pressure and there is a lack of national leadership,” the statement continued. “The association aims to capitalize on a critical moment of change in business practices within the industry to redefine the future of the residential real estate business.”
The remarks alluded to an August 17 deadline for NAR’s new rules, the result of recent antitrust litigation. These rules prohibit seller’s agents from providing compensation to buyer’s agents in NAR-affiliated multiple listing services. The rules also require buyers to sign an agreement with their agent before the agent can show the property to them.
Jason Harper
Compass attorney Jason Haber and The Agency founder Mauricio Umansky are founders of AREA and first announced the project in January while the antitrust lawsuit was still ongoing but before NAR reached a settlement over the impending new rules. In a conversation with Inman this week, Harper said “a lot of dissatisfaction with the status quo is surfacing” and consumers “don’t know what to expect.” As such, AREA aims to fill what Haber and others see as a gap in the industry.
“We’re now ready to invite people to join and be part of really launching the trade association’s regular business operations,” he said of launching the membership program. He later added, “We’re finding that people are very interested in this right now, so we can tap into people’s frustration with how things are and their optimism about what could be.”
Since the announcement, Haber said he and Umansky have formed a 25-person advisory board, “64 percent of which are women, which is largely in line with the industry.” They also work to lobby on issues affecting the real estate industry and focus on building the infrastructure needed to actually run the organization. Harber said the ultimate goal, using funds from membership dues, is to hire an executive director, a director of operations and other leadership.
“We’re getting started,” Harbor added, “but we think this could be a much bigger thing than Mauricio and Jason.”
AREA’s founders have no specific membership goals, but Haber said “thousands” of people have already signed up on the association’s website to get more information.
When Haber and Umansky first announced AREA in January, many viewed the move as a direct challenge to NAR at a time when the venerable trade group was facing not only lawsuits but also a series of scandals and leadership changes. Harper’s comments about dissatisfaction with the status quo suggest that many in the industry may still be looking for a replacement leader.
But when it comes to NAR, Haber told Inman, “We don’t support their demise,” adding, “We think there’s a world in which everyone can survive.” Haber also expressed interest in working with NAR in the future on both Organizations work together on issues where their interests are aligned, but he said the industry currently needs better information delivery.
“If we can make them better, which I think we have done, that would be great,” Harper continued, referring to NAR. “We don’t see this as a winner-take-all situation.”
Email Jim Dalrymple II
