Mandatory, not a fan of wasting money and being forced to be a member of something

     I can go "MLS Only" and get a Lockbox Key.  But, I lose access to Standard Forms, cannot attend meetings at the Tallahassee Board, etc.  I have tried it both ways; it works better if I pay the NAR tax.

     The Realtor brand means nothing to the Public.  It is like the word "Kleenex"... in the eyes of the Public, all real estate agents are Realtors. 

     When NAR advocates tout the COE, they try to portray non-NAR members as less than ethical.   That is slanderous, and absurd.

Debbie, I'm proud to help people buy and sell homes and do a good job for them.  But I have to confess to mixed feelings about NAR.  It was sort of like when I had to join the musicians union to perform with other union members, even though the union did nothing to help free-lancers get gigs. 

But here , it's really  not practical to opt out of NAR membership - at least not if you want to get a door opened to show a house!

It used to mean something decades ago at least more than it does today. People are the brand and results is what counts

Debbie,

We were not members in our commercial real estate practice.  When we were consulting a company they asked to join them at NAR to help promote them, which we did on 3 occasions.  We would not join NAR, and I don't see any value in the word or the Registration mark.  I don't think they truly represent the agents.  A

Membership is mandatory for MLS access. Otherwise, they would lose many members.

Mandatory here for MLS access

I belong to NAR. I wish the dues were not so high.

NAR is a requirement for MLS here, and RPAC is pushed heavily (even included as a line item on membership dues) but voluntary and can be removed.

Public doesn't know NAR, but DO know NRA! Membership does NOT provide the value to the fees that we are charged. Not owning Realtor.com? Please!

I am with Jeff Dowler CRS and Fred Griffin on this one.

It's mandatory here as well. If it weren't I would more likely be a member of our state association and not NAR although I would still attend conventions and just pay the nonmember rate. 

It is mandatory to get access to MLS. Most agents don't care or know about what NAR does for them. I do understand and do see how it benefits me. 

NAR does nothing for me inspite of all they tell me they do. I would not be a member if it wasn't mandatory from my brokerage & MLS. 

I think they are not forward thinkers & some of their politics I don't like at all. Let's give an example of having Hillary Clinton speak at a NAR function a few years ago. They paid her big bucks & (lets put this in BIG quotes) she won't be running for office. Well, guess what happened.

In fact, they embarrass me.

I am a member and need to be for my local Board and MLS. Would I be a member if by choice? Not likely. I have to agree with Fred Griffin 

Here you do not necessarily have to be a member, if you want to give up the benifits, but the fee that your broker has to pay for non members is so high that you might as well be a member.

I have never been a member, but I may change that somewhere down the road. Though it does make me wonder about the wise use of those membership dues when I see them spending dues money to advertise the latest movie and other non-sense adds.

I have been a memeber since I first got licensed. At first I was really excited about being part of such a large organization but then I started to wonder, how are they helping me? I think they are out of touch with what is really going  and their commercials are really dumb. They do not show/tell HOW or WHY using a Realtor will help them with buying or selling their home. 

It means little to nothing to me. Public doesn't seem to care. I need it to access MLS, so I'm a member. For me it's forced unionization.

I am a member of NAR.  You don't have to be a member in our MLS.

I think there is prestige that goes with the title REALTOR® and yes I would be a member of NAR even if it wasn't required by our local association.

Never Assisting Realtor? 

yes, it is mandatory. If you do not have NAR, you can not be a member or CAR and a local board + MLS. That also means: no winform(digital forms) access. So, you can of have no choice but to pay about 1.2k+/year for all.

I don't believe I would be a member if it weren't required for MLS access.

Debbie - It is a requirement to be a member of NAR in order to access the MLS. However, I don't know what NAR actually does for me on a personal level, and that is sad.

I am a member.   

It means that I have easier access to more detailed real estate information.

It is mandatory with my brokerage.

No feedback.

I am happy there are people like you involved at the local, state and national level who care about the membership.  Thank you for your service. 

I know there is a lot of bashing in this forum about NAR.   

Membership is mandatory in my area, which I completely resent. I already embrace all that "Realtor" stands for and should not have to pay extra fees to belong to an organization that does not seem to be doing much for me and is now working with Realtor.com.

I have always been part of the NAR since day one.

I put ditto " " under Sybil Campbell comment.

I will add this:  many of us are members of other organizations and groups, such as church or social organizations, and do not always agree with everything.  I belong church of my choice, contribute $, volunteer on projects such as VBS and participate in some of the events/services/projects but not all.  

Take what you like and leave the rest.

I appreciate the emphasis on our ethical standards. Don't appreciate the dues being so high. I would choose to belong even if it was not required if the fees were lower.

NAR membership has no bearing on MLS access in our great land.

Debbie Laity - I am a NAR member - and am proud of it.

I am not sure, but to best of my knowledge, my market center wants all the agents to be a member of NAR.

If it is so painful to be a member of NAR why not just leave? What I do find to be true is that those who would rather not be a member has not really looked at the benefits, do not work on the inside to make change they believe in, and rather than try to expect perfection do what is needed to be done to make change a little bit of a time.