There is always room for improvement, no matter how long we’ve been in the business.

In the case of organized real estate, we are determined to explore every option for excellence and intend to propel our industry forward by delivering on what matters most to CREB^® members.

Over the past few weeks, we have been doing just that by seeking member feedback through the One Alberta Membership survey. Thank you to everyone who participated, we appreciate the effort and time taken.

Key takeaways from the survey were shared by Alec Milne from Framework Analytics at today’s town hall. If you were not able to join us and would like more information, we invite you to view the recording of his presentation and/or presentation slides.

Response rate

We exceeded our target response rate with 21 per cent (1,104) of members completing the survey.

This is a strong response rate and gives us confidence in the results below:

Top trends

• The majority of respondents support exploring One Alberta Membership for CREB^® members.
• Respondents clearly indicate that the cost of membership and quality of service are equally important factors in any model for organized real estate.
• 56 per cent of respondents support a provincial merger option as the single best solution. This was true for both the quality and value of membership as well as managing the cost of membership.
• The top three most significant issues facing organized real estate in Alberta, as ranked by respondents are:
  
  
  • The economy/downturn/recession.
  • Rising costs/cost to belong to a real estate organization.
  • Overlap of services between local boards, AREA and CREA.

As mentioned in our initial outreach, this is not decision-making time. Our first step with the survey was to gather information and shed light on the best course of action for our future direction.

Now that we have the information, the survey findings will be explored further by CREB^®’s One Alberta Membership Task Force, which will then recommend next steps to CREB^®’s board of directors.

We know progress is impossible without change, but change is impossible without the support of our members. Your trust and support in this process is critical to our organization’s future success and we will continue to openly communicate and engage with our members on this subject.

Thank you for helping us define the future.