An attempt to create a new association called Realtors of B.C. by amalgamating six regional real estate boards has failed.
Although a majority of real estate agents in Greater Vancouver, Okanagan, Kamloops and Northern B.C. voted to support an amalgamation with the B.C. Real Estate Association, only three of those groups met the legal minimum to change their bylaws. In order to pass, four boards had to vote in favour.
The vote, held on Dec. 6, was also opposed or ignored by five other real estate boards in Victoria, Chilliwack, northern Vancouver Island, Kootenay and Powell River.
The boards of Greater Vancouver, South Okanagan and Northern B.C. received between 69 and 89 per cent support; those of Kamloops, Okanagan Mainline and Fraser Valley all received less than the legal requirement. Had the vote been successful, the six boards and the BCREA would have been amalgamated, and would then have provided contract services to the other boards.
Deanna Horn, the president of the B.C. Real Estate Association, said the amalgamation vote was an attempt to streamline services being delivered to as many as 22,000 real estate agents covered by 11 regional real estate boards.
“It would have meant a combination of resources making it easier for us to invest in consumer-facing services and deliver services to realtors across the province,” Horn said.
“Had it gone through, there would have been annual cost savings of nearly $10 million for the six voting boards. If the full 11 boards had voted and approved the plan, the cost savings would have been closer to $11.3 million.”
But Mike Nugent, president of the Victoria Real Estate Board, said there was little appetite among many of his 1,300 members to support the plan. He said those promoting the amalgamation could not give the members satisfactory answers for why it would be better to fold all regional boards into one super organization.
Members also disliked the idea that the Victoria board’s offices and building would have been liquidated, their staff laid off and their contingency fund sent to the new association. “They haven’t provided us with enough information to justify this. We didn’t want to lose our board,” Nugent said.
Horn said while she was disappointed with the failed vote, it clearly showed a majority of real estate agents support proposed changes. “We are going to continue to support the profession of realtors,” Horn said. “While the vote was not successful in legally putting the amalgamation together, there is a clear desire for change to streamline our services and processes.”
She said the association is uncertain of its next move.
“We will take what we’ve learned, work with the 11 member boards and the realtors across the province and see what we can do,” Horn said. “Is it [to] combine services, is it another discussion about amalgamation? Don’t know. There is no answer to that right now.”
Horn and Nugent said the changes would have had little or no impact on consumers — those buying or selling properties — as the changes were mostly geared to services for real estate agents.
The 11 independent real estate boards in B.C. provide back-end services to Realtors in B.C., such as access to the Multiple Listing Service, education programs, lockboxes and forms. All are members of the B.C. Real Estate Association and also have agreements with the Canadian Real Estate Association, which operates the Canada-wide MLS system realtor.ca.
