NAR’s Shiny New “Assessment Fee”

Earlier this week, Benn Rosales noted on AgentGenius that he received a $30 fee from the NAR on his annual dues bill. The fee was labeled, “NAR Image Campaign”. Benn’s local association slapped an additional “image fee” on him as well.

Knowing I was soon to get my dues statement and bill, I waited with breathless anticipation.

Well, it arrived Friday…

NAR Dues $80.00
Local Dues $115.00
State Dues $150.00
NAR Assessment Fee $30.00
RPAC Survival Fee $30.00 (voluntary)

Total due = $405 (doubled for my family since the wife is a realtor too). But hey, it’s two bucks cheaper than my buds in Austin are paying. That and another 3 bucks will get me a Starbucks.

The letter that came with the bill had this to say about the NAR Assessment Fee:

The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) has increased their dues to $80, plus the $30 NAR Assessment fee embarked to fund the successful Public Awareness Campaign. This campaign aggressively promotes the REALTOR image in the public’s eye.

What a load of crap.

Let’s see…. 1.4 million members x $30 = $42,000,000. That’s a heck of a campaign.

And this comes just a week or so after the NAR’s decision to spend $15,000,000 on a credit union.

I can hardly wait to see the $42 million aggressive public awareness campaign. Or has this money already been spent telling everyone, “it’s a great time to buy or sell a home” or putting the kid on a swing?

What is also going to be interesting is to see how many people bail out of the industry rather than writing a $400 check. It’s been a rough year for a lot of agents…

Note: the “RPAC Survival Fee” pertains to my local Realtor Political Action Committee. They conveniently make it quite simple to pay, and not so simple to “unvolunteer”. But I’ve got that down to a science.

“Survival Fee”??? WTF???  Can they not survive without my money, or am I supposed to believe I can’t survive without them?

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