Re: Montreal and Quebec City boards tell CREA they’re leaving
I commend the Montreal and Quebec City boards for taking a stand. The members of CREA (writer included) have created the problem by not staying consistently involved, monitoring and influencing CREA’s policies and strategies, including making adjustments to CREA’s “business model” over time as the organization and industry evolved. The result is yet another crisis in the form of an ultimatum.
CREA grew large and became inefficient because as the membership grew, so did its revenues and since it’s a not-for-profit, it has to spend all the money it takes in. Further, there’s no direct correlation between the number of members and the amount of effort and money that our national association must spend. To the contrary, while the membership was growing, productivity gains from scale and technology should have been realized. The annual dues paid by each member should be going down over time, not up as they have. In fact, since 2009, our dues have increased 40 per cent from $220 per year to $310 in 2013. At the same time, the membership increased 10 per cent from just over 98,000 in 2009 to over 107,000 in 2013. Fees paid by members to CREA will be nearly $30 million in 2013.
The illusion of relevance and the need to stay so is fuelled by a continuous and substantial stream of money being received at CREA. Many organizations, private ones included, have been bitten, some fatally, because they failed to recognize and weight what it is that is valuable to their customers or members. Most boards are also addicted to the universal suffrage business model – everyone pays the same and everything is paid for by everyone, regardless of what or how much they use.
CREA does not serve individual members, evidenced by the abysmally low participation and response rates from the membership. In fact, some boards don’t allow CREA to communicate directly with members. CREA responds to and serves the boards, who collect the annual fees for CREA. Follow the money. The boards (in particular the large boards) carry the vote, taking positions and voting on behalf of local board members. This hierarchical structure is obsolete. Not surprisingly and understandably, the boards and CREA share similar interests, which are often not aligned with the interests of members.
This is not by design. This situation has developed over time because members are apathetic or preoccupied trying to make a living in a marketplace with too many suppliers (agents) and not enough customers (buyers and sellers). The business models of franchisors and brokers exacerbate the problem because they thrive on more agents.
Bottom line is that the membership has allowed CREA and the boards to take on lives of their own, to “grow heads” so to speak, to the point where many members have the view that it’s “we versus they”. Self preservation, independent thinking and unilateral decisions by staff happen for a reason – because the membership has allowed it to happen. Members who get elected to the board of their local board often become attached to EOs and their staff, and through the process they often become risk averse, unwilling to be the activist, taking a stand, speaking up and for the interests and causes that originally motivated them to stand for election. Board members don’t make friends with and get the support of staff when they suggest cutting costs and staff.
It will be interesting to see how CREA deals with the latest ultimatum from the Quebec boards. If only another major board would endorse and join their plight, I’d be willing to bet that there will be significant change, soon.
Bill McMullin
CEO, Realtor
ViewPoint Realty / ViewPoint.ca
Bedford, N.S.
