Please set aside your understandable and well founded and frequently reinforced cynicism, doubt and thoughts of futility for a moment. The NAR is apparently seeking ways to increase Realtor Professionalism.
(Dick Gaylord) recently appointed a new Presidential Advisory Group to consider how we can raise the professional standards for membership in NAR.
Like NAR or not, they are at least putting on the facade that they are trying. In fact, they may actually be trying, and I’m hopeful. My limited experience with the NAR is that the individuals fundamentally believe that what they are doing is right – and on an individual, even group or committee level, they often are right. The breakdown and disconnect happens once the bureaucracy – the machine if you will – takes hold. I for one, have reasonably high expectations for what the Group will accomplish and much more tempered expectations for what will come of the Group’s efforts, once they have completed their charge.
Some of the ideas bandied about over the years to raise the bar of entry have been to require higher levels of education, apprenticeships, increasing dues – for all levels of Association membership, production requirements (there may be some anti-trust implications here), more ethics training (although I don’t believe one can learn ethics or honor through a class) … the list goes on.
The NAR does, for better or worse, have some say in how we do our business; working from within may have its advantages. If you could implement one (or two or three) policies/requirements/whatever that would help our collective profession to increase its professionalism, what would it be?
*Full disclosure – I have been selected to sit on this PAG, and having looked at the list of those who comprise the group, see a lot of Big Broker and CEO representation; I’d have liked to have seen more “grunts” like myself.
