MARCH 2021 VOLUME 25 • ISSUE 11
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Joining a Local Board Could Be Great for Your Career written by RIKI MARKOWITZ
As a licensed real estate agent, you may have won-
need to run a successful business, including a subscrip-
of REALTORS?” It’s not that it’s hard to quantify how use-
tion to the ACTRIS multiple listing service (MLS), which
ful it is to be a member of a real estate trade organiza-
offers the most complete listing data for Central Texas.
tion like Austin Board of REALTORS (ABoR), Williamson
There are several hundred MLSs in the country and
County REALTORS (WCREALTORS), or the Home Builders
ACTRIS regularly lands close to the top of industry
Association (HBA) of Greater Austin, but what every real estate professional needs to know is that without the backing of a BOR or the HBA, you’re limiting, in various ways, what you can achieve in your career. The fact is, as a licensed REALTOR, you’re officially a “businessperson,” but without a formal education in business, you’re at risk of making a lot of avoidable mistakes, especially early in your career. That’s exactly where BOR associations come in. Between ABoR, WCREALTORS, as well as HBA Austin, real estate industry professionals can take continuing education classes,
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sional trade organization that has everything agents
dered at some point, “Why should I join my local board
rankings in regards to subscriber numbers. Due to its size, the residential real estate brokerage research group, T3 Sixty, calls ACTRIS a “Mega MLS.” And in past years, the analytics company has also placed ABoR on its list of top 20 local REALTOR associations in the country. Other member benefits at ABoR include free continuing education license renewal, subscription to industry trade publications, Remedy urgent care and and closing-room space at its headquarters. The ABoR headquarters is located on Spicewood Springs, just north of Central Austin. The organization
and development tools, network with peers, learn about
holds new member orientation three times a month,
and participate in local government representation, find
which includes a “sphere of influence” class. Kelea
a mentor and eventually be a mentor.
Youngblood, ABoR chief marketing officer, says orienta-
“... connecting with ABoR ... was the most important benefit that I ever gave myself ... it was bigger than just selling real estate,” says Horton. ABoR president Susan Horton says when she got things she did. “It was the most important benefit that I ever gave myself,” she says. “It was bigger than just selling real estate.” One of the most important benefits of joining a board early in your career, says Horton, is that “you don’t feel like a fish out of water.” What the board’s 2021 president is referring to is the fact that Central Austin is populated with roughly 14,000 real estate professionals. For some people, the difference between succeeding in this business and not is getting involved with organizations like ABoR, WCREALTORS and the HBA. “I knew from the very beginning there was always somebody there that understood my needs that could help me,” says Horton. Austin Board of REALTORS bills itself as a profes-
Champions School of Real Estate
doctor’s visits, housing market reports and coworking
work on professional development, access marketing
her license, connecting with ABoR was one of the first
Priority Title
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tion is designed in a way in which new members can start lead generation right away. “Then they also get a two-and-a-half hour code of ethics class to ensure they’re upholding the most recent NAR (National Association of
Southwestern Title Agency
REALTORS) criteria,” says Youngblood. “We want new members to be successful as soon as they join.” During these pandemic days, most programming is available online until everyone can get back into classrooms, says Youngblood. “New members can still easily learn how to use the MLS to its fullest and connect the data to client needs and start selling homes quickly.” For real estate professionals who live or have clients concentrated north of the city, there’s Williamson County REALTORS, or WCREALTORS. (We should note here that there’s no limit to the number of organizations one can join. Many REALTORS in Austin-Round
[Membership Benefits continues on page 14]
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