Realtors® see value in belonging to PAR

Realtors® continue to see value in belonging to the state association, particularly when it comes to standard forms and legislative advocacy, according to a new survey conducted by PAR.

Those responding believe standard forms is the top PAR service that benefits individual Realtors®. Fifty-nine percent of members indicated that providing standard forms is a “very important” function of the association.

PAR should put the most emphasis on government affairs and political action over the next few years, according to 34 percent of respondents. Those who have been involved in real estate longer were much more likely to put emphasis on government affairs: 42 percent of those with more than 30 years of experience said it should be the number one priority, compared to 26 percent of those with less than five years of experience.

“PAR conducted the survey to get a pulse of what the general membership feels about a range of topics such as involvement in the association, benefit from various services/activities, and communications tools,” said Dave Phillips, PAR chief executive officer.

“Results from the survey will help us, in partnership with the local associations, tailor our services to what’s most important to Realtors® and help to lead PAR in the right direction over the coming years,” added Phillips.

The survey found that technology use and trends are evolving very quickly and Realtors® are at the forefront.

While email is still the most commonly-requested mode of contact (97 percent in 2011 compared to 94 percent in 2009), the number of members preferring to be contacted by text message has skyrocketed (20 percent in 2011 up from 2 percent in 2009). Text message usage has increased from 68 percent in 2009 to 88 percent in 2011, with 64 percent saying they send and receive more than three text messages per day.

Internet access on mobile devices has increased nearly 75 percent from two years ago. Seventy-eight percent reported having internet access on their mobile device (up from 45 percent in 2009) and about half of the respondents indicated they access the MLS from their mobile device. Over 75 percent of Realtors® have mobile email access, up from 41 percent in 2009.

Nearly half of the survey respondents indicated they look to their local association as a key source for real estate news and information. Forty-five percent of respondents said they got most of their information directly from their local association, compared to 38 percent in 2009.

A $50 gas card was randomly awarded to one member completing the survey. Congratulations to Julianne Lesniak of the Pen-Mar Association of Realtors®!

The results are based on an Internet survey of 2,626 members of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® conducted between June 28 and July 8. All references to 2009 indicate a comparison to the 2009 PAR membership survey.