Joining a local Association of Realtors
My husband and I are a real estate agents focusing solely on commercial property.  We are very new to the career and are currently on an extremely tight budget as we adjust to no steady income, plus we're about to have our first baby.  I have been doing some research but having a very difficult time deciding if we should join a realtor association now or if it is an unnecessary expense.  Can anyone shed some light on this?  I can easily find all of the "benefits" according to the associations, but I'm having a harder time researching what the drawbacks are to not joining. My father is our sponsoring broker and is a part of multiple realtor associations.  I appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks!
[{"id": "ce3blao", "text": "Whether being a Realtor and having MLS access is worthwhile depends on your specific market and product type you are focusing on. It has benefits for networking, property research and marketing your listings, but is also among the most expensive tools in a broker's toolbox. LoopNet or CoStar may be alternative options for you as well. I think it would be difficult to do your job without access to at least one of those services.", "replies": [{"id": "ce3c9i9", "text": "Well we will have Loopnet and possibly Costar as well.  I'm mainly worried about the legal implications of not being in an association.  If there are any. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ce3jtzp", "text": "How big is your market? Are most other commercial brokers in your market affiliated with one? \n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ce3n6ym", "text": "If you're both \"very new\" to the career, it's extremely irresponsible for you two to be handling commercial transactions as you won't have the experience or knowledge to adequately serve your clients. It's against the Realtor Code of Ethics.", "replies": [{"id": "ce3s7gg", "text": "Please cite the specific ethical policy or else your argument is vague and espouses weakness.", "replies": [{"id": "ce3yle6", "text": "http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/code\n\n&gt; Article 11 \nThe services which REALTORS\u00ae provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage; specifically, residential real estate brokerage, real property management, commercial and industrial real estate brokerage, land brokerage, real estate appraisal, real estate counseling, real estate syndication, real estate auction, and international real estate. \n\n&gt; REALTORS\u00ae shall not undertake to provide specialized professional services concerning a type of property or service that is outside their field of competence unless they engage the assistance of one who is competent on such types of property or service, or unless the facts are fully disclosed to the client.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ce3xohz", "text": "We are not handling any transactions yet. Mostly just learning and helping out the broker with them until we get enough experience to handle something on our own. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ce3tguo", "text": "Join anything you can in the beginning of your career and network as much as possible.  It can't hurt and you can always back out if it's not for you. http://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Secrets-Relationship/dp/0385512058", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]