Upstart association ready to collect dues, lays out road map
“We have to act as an industry. We have to do something,” Jason Haber, co-founder of the American Real Estate Association, told Real Estate News.
The American Real Estate Association — a trade association competitor to the National Association of Realtors that sprung up following harassment allegations and a leadership shakeup at NAR last year — formally launched its paid membership initiative last week.
Co-founder Jason Haber briefly caught up with Real Estate News to talk about the effort and what's in it for new members.
How much is it to join? The upstart organization is currently offering two levels of membership: a basic membership for $20, which covers the remainder of 2024 and all of 2025, and a "founding member" level that costs $1,500, but covers dues for the next ten years. Additionally, the founding member level includes a shout-out on the association website and invitations to exclusive events.
"Keeping with the spirit of things — the membership is really 2025 dues while 2024 is free," Haber said.
Why now? Haber told Real Estate News that the timing to push for paid membership was largely influenced by the NAR settlement practice changes deadline from this past weekend.
"As we were inching closer to the August 17 deadline, we were getting more and more people not just signing up on our website, but saying we have to act as an industry. We have to do something. We have to do better," Haber said. "And the business practice change has served as an avatar for people's anger at how the industry exists today."
Haber said that supporters who've already linked up with the American Real Estate Association pushed Haber and co-founder Mauricio Umansky to "think differently about membership," because when it comes to staffing up and pushing for industry change at a higher level, "they want us to get there faster."
How many people have joined? Haber didn't have a specific number handy, but said that "it's over 1,000 for sure" when it comes to paid sign-ups since last Thursday. He said they're in discussions about bulk enrollments for some MLSs and other industry-adjacent organizations and businesses.
What's next for the American REA? Haber previously told Real Estate News that the group would plan to hire for leadership positions later this year, but said this week that 2024 "was an organizing year," and the group will focus on operations next year.
"Goals in 2025 for operations are [hiring an] executive director, political director; we've interviewed multiple lobbyists that we're excited about, and we spent a lot of our time on general sort of messaging strategy," he explained. "We don't build Rome in a day. We're building something for the long haul that we believe can be a national voice to help redefine the real estate industry across this country."
On new NAR CEO Nykia Wright: "She's in a very difficult position," Haber said. "She's terrific. We've only had good things to say about her, and we wish her the absolute best."