What our members think of us!

The dues you charge are ridiculous. They keep going up when real estate sales have gone down. Where does this money go from all the agents. Overcharged. Use to be $400.

Pick up calls, and return phone calls

I like the abundance of forms.

Lower your fees

Dues are not worth what we pay into them, at least not on the state level and certainly not at the national level.
NOTHING with any campaigning or political slant to it should be a forced 'contribution', ever. Including 'R Voice'. There isn't enough 'voice' for the 'regular' Realtors at any level. It is all slanted toward 'major investors' who basically BUY their influence. Literally the most corrupt aspect of our modern (if not always) political landscape is the imbalance of money buying power for the few and the needs of the many (let alone the will) being usurped thusly.
We all don't want to have to run for office (or simply cannot, due to life events) within the various levels of board just to not get steamrolled about choices, or have the organization we basically have no real choice but to join, dictate which candidates 'we' support, including, but certainly not limited to, everything from local state-level people that are dirty and shady, but hey, they filled out some questionnaire so they get money, or the state office supporting/sponsoring the RNC nominating convention of a convicted rapist and felon.

Nobody believes our organization is unbiased in the least, but people at the least, no agents should be forced to pay for decisions that go against their own morality. I realize nobody there probably views it that way, but there are a lot of 'regular' agents, just trying to scrape by, who cannot afford to donate thousands of dollars just so they can be on Tv or suck up to somebody in Washington D.C. (because THAT has helped us SO MUCH).
The only thing, really, that has probably kept this aspect from becoming a lawsuit is that the middle-class agents or down don't have the money to file the suit.
There is a reason WHY so many agents are upset, and the commissions are a big part of it, but not the only part. Our dues...we are a huge trade union, without the actual benefits of an ACTUAL union. The Jedi mind trick that it is 'so great' to be an 'independent contractor', any mope can figure out that is only, 'great' for owners. The rest of 'us' would love some paid sick days, health care like normal companies, something crazy like vacation time...the system itself is already rigged, but paying dues toward things people don't like (EVEN WHEN THEY KNOW what the 'things' are) demoralizes 'us'.

Now...Mainstreet itself, isolated from the state level odd shadienes or NAR's catastrophically poor management (previous the current lady, at least), is really very good. The people there are helpful when they can be, they really are nice, kind folks. It is a shame they have to take cues from IR, which seems run by those that don't really represent the majority of the population, as much as maybe the geography.
Lastly...every board in this state should be pushing IR to figure out the taxes being funding so heavily for schools. Very few states use anything close to the formula we do, and it hurts us.
Illinois is actually really strong in a lot of ways. Especially north of I-80, east off 355. Yes, Chicago has crime, but statistically, per capita, not even in the top twenty (and most of the guns come from surrounding states with lax laws, so...). We are more educated and better trained than most of the downstaters that seem to have wrested control of IR. Stop supporting the Tax Board until they stop handing out waivers for rich white people up way north. As a board, we should (and maybe we do, so sorry, then) have people actively digging into the various potential solutions coming out soon to the public about this. We need to do what is right for the majority, not support those propping up those 'major investors' from the outside that hurt the majority of Illinoisans.

I know some of that doesn't seem like it is our exact purview. Perhaps not, but also, that is a bit cowardly of 'us' if that is our attitude. We KNOW the impact these things have on our clients. The MAJORITY of whom are not wealthy. It is hard to be proud of any group that isn't doing all it can to improve the world around it. I believe Mainstreet does want to do that, but I think sometimes they play it a bit safe, follow the leaders, and honestly, those leaders aren't always as forward thinking as the good folks at Mainstreet have been. Our Government Affairs folks, I'm told, work for state (IR), not our board. I don't like that arrangement, really. It leads to people that don't know our part of the world as well deciding things, taking our money and doing things 'we' may never have voted for. (Closed the loop...there...)

Who knows if these things are actually read, if they know who wrote them (I may get tossed if that is the case), or if any of what I said matters to anybody.
Every year we get these, and every year I ask about training, about how ConnectMLS still doesn't make agents list things without lying, where the money goes, etc. Never yet have things changed, really...except perhaps for the worse?
Whoever gets stuck reading this...first, ask for a raise, you've earned it.
Second, sorry for the rant.
Lastly...have a great day, stay warm.

There isn’t a lot of value provided for the cost. There seems to be a lot of additional charges for courses and other functions that I believe should be included in membership. The included options aren’t very robust.

how easy and quick things get done

As a local chapter of the IAR, Mainstreet has not done well living out their mission statement. Realtors and their clients are routinely impacted in a negative way with infringements on private property rights, inordinate fees and other actions by the various municipalities where we do business.

In addition, Mainstreet forces licensed real estate agents/brokers to join their organization if they want access to MRED data. This borders on collusion in my opinion.

The yearly fees are ridiculously high and I don't know what I'm even paying for. As other Realtor organizations and brokerages are leaving NAR, Mainstreet continues to hang on while charging nearly $200 to be a part of it. Years later, I still don't know what R-Voice is and why I'm paying for that. Never once has anyone responded to my comments or returned emails with my concerns or questions. I'll be following a lot of other Realtors and leaving Mainstreet.

All of my person to person contact has been very professional and informative. The personnel are friendly and anxious to help. The association offers a large variety of real estate courses to enhance the membership's capabilities.and to keep you informed.

All in-house training that has been provided through the association has been presented by very well informed and personable trainers. The trainers never seem rushed and are available for questions after their presentations.

I enjoy the news letters but I wish they were condensed with the rules and regs. I hear others comment also that it is easy to miss things.

New agents that struggle to pay their annual dues are given zero options to pay it in installments. Sponsoring broker gets notified right away that makes the agent feel even worse.

When paying dues and MLS fees, your Webb interface is difficult to use. Makes it difficult to only pay for what I wanna pay for.

Always on stand-by and willing to help, assist, and answer questions. I've havd my questions answered quickly too!

There is always someone there to help us with any of our questions or problems

I've found them nothing but helpful. Quick question though... The reason why I was on the site today is I got my ABR but noticed they have some odd phone #'s for me - the "Main" one being my "preferred" phone there that is a very outdated pager # Phone number removed. It says on that Site * ABR. realtor via NAR to change it at my local association. I went online at MORE to do that and I don't see that number anywhere in my account information. Could you help with getting that deleted from your end which probably feeds through to NAR (or does it not feed through) - I just don't want to have the wrong contact phone # out there for me. Thanks for any help you can give.

quick responses and friendly service.

Data analysis is seamlessly available.

Fees are to high,.especially for those who are new in the business and still struggling.

Insane fees

Staff is very helpful and professional.

Have more events in South Suburbs

It's the best around!!

I’m new to the industry and still navigating all of the organizations involved and how I’m supposed to work with them: Mainstreet vs CAR vs NSBAR, NAR, MLS, MRED, IFDPR, my own brokerage. Then add in all of the tools - KvCore, Dotloop, canva, Percy, curio, Xpressdocs, VHT, etc. Then add in the hours and hours of webcasts available to learn- and where to start. I have a great team lead and managing broker who are helping me. Just overwhelmed by all of this, how they fit together , and who I owe money to. Also would be nice if the $695 fee didn’t coincide with the holidays. Can the billing cycle be adjusted?

Our mls system is sub par compared to other state MLS systems. We also pay double or triple what those people pay and they have more features.

There should be more free virtual classes for members in the evening due to some of our work schedules.

Don't have dues due in Dec. That is the worst month for dues!

The board should be more diverse for starters. I would love to see the board move away from NAR and all the other 3 party companies they partner with and strictly become the exclusive real estate agent/broker board.

Yiu guys are doing great! Thank you!😊🙏

I believe years ago the NAR was optional and today it’s mandatory to belong. I would like the choice and not feel like I’m being forced to belong to an organization.