The association aims to offer an alternative to NAR and is launching its membership program when there is a “lot of dissatisfaction with the status quo,” according to one co-founder.
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As the deadline for new National Association of Realtors rules nears, a nascent competing organization is launching its first-ever membership program.
The American Real Estate Association (AREA) announced today it will have two different membership tiers. The first tier, called “basic,” will cost $20 for a membership that lasts through 2025. Basic membership also includes 20 percent off any online and in-person AREA events that happen in 2024-2025. The price was set low on purpose in an effort to encourage people to engage with the association.
A second tier, dubbed a “founding membership,” costs $1,500. That price covers membership dues for the next 10 years, as well as invitations to exclusive events and recognition on the AREA website, among other things.
A statement from AREA notes that the membership program launch “is strategically timed to address the current challenges within the industry.”
“Real estate agents are increasingly frustrated, brokerages are under pressure, and national leadership is lacking,” the statement continues. “The association aims to leverage this pivotal moment of business practice changes within the industry to redefine the future of the residential real estate business.”
The remarks allude to the Aug. 17 deadline for new NAR rules that are the result of recent antitrust litigation. The rules bar sellers’ agents from making offers of compensation to buyers’ agents in NAR-affiliated multiple listing services. The rules also require buyers to sign agreements with their agents before those agents show them properties.
Jason Haber
Compass agent Jason Haber and The Agency founder Mauricio Umansky serve as AREA’s founders and first announced the project in January — while antitrust litigation was ongoing but before NAR had settled on its now-impending new rules. In a conversation with Inman this week, Haber said that a “lot of dissatisfaction with the status quo is bubbling to the surface right now” and that consumers “have no idea what’s to come.” AREA, then, is meant to fill what Haber and others see as a void in the industry.
“We’re at the point now where we’re ready to invite folks to join and to be a part of actually jump starting the trade association’s regular business operations,” he said of launching a membership program. He later added that “what we found is that people are really animated on this right now so we can tap into the frustration that’s out there about the way things are and the optimism about the way things can be.”
In the time since announcing their association, Haber said he and Umansky have assembled a 25-person advisory board, “64 percent of which is female, which basically matches the industry,” Haber noted. They have also worked on lobbying for issues that impact the real estate industry, and focused on building infrastructure needed to actually run the organization. With the money from membership dues, Haber said the goal is to eventually hire an executive director, an operations director and other leadership.
“We’re starting it,” Haber added, “but we think this could be much bigger than a Mauricio and Jason thing.”
AREA’s founders don’t have a specific membership goal, but Haber said “several thousand” people have already signed up for more information on the association’s website.
When Haber and Umansky first announced AREA in January, many saw the move as a direct challenge to NAR at a time when the venerable trade organization had faced not just lawsuits but also a series of scandals and leadership turnover. And Haber’s comment about dissatisfaction with the status quo suggests many in the industry may still be looking for alternative leadership.
But speaking of NAR, Haber told Inman, “we’re not rooting for their demise,” adding that “we think there’s a world where everyone can exist.” Haber also expressed interest in potentially collaborating with NAR in the future on issues where the two organizations’ interest align, but said that right now the industry needs better messaging.
“If we can make them better, and I think we already are, great,” Haber continued, referring to NAR. “We don’t see this as a winner take all scenario.”