Having lunch today in Venice, Florida at Sharkey's On the Pier, a rather large group of gregarious REALTORS got on the subject of how much our local Board of Realtors dues had gone up over last year.
Many feel that the increase is due to the decline in the number of REALTORS who renewed their annual dues, others feel that they are being gouged.
I happen to feel it was time for the dues to go up, even though I don't like paying more for anything. It is logical for increases to happen just to keep pace with overhead costs, etc.
All inclusive annual dues and fees for two of the local boards in Sarasota/Charlotte County area of Florida are in the approximate range of $1000-1300 for a first time applicant to the board. It is a good business investment.
Our local area Board of Realtors does so much for us in the way of training, information distribution, support, lobbying, etc. etc. etc. that the value of our dues...at least to me....is well worth it. What doesn't make sense to me is this...................
If you were a member last year and for whatever reasons you dropped membership prior to the first of the year, but then rejoined anytime after first quarter...they are not "allowed" (by FAR or NAR?) to pro-rate you back in. In previous years, they did. (Has anyone else heard this?)
Being curious about this...I called the board. I was told that a brand new member can be pro-rated in, but a returning member cannot. In short, they are penalizing returning members who had a gap in membership. Hmmm..what do we think about this?
It was explained to me that this is being done because so many REALTORS couldn't afford to pay full year membership dues and therefore dropped out to see what the market was going to do. Now that they are returning, they are astonished to find that they have to pay full boat PLUS a $150 reinstatement fee. Some are yelling.....FOUL!
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