More Upstream drama

Andrea Brambila at Inman News wrote a story about how a few NAR Directors were under the impression that Upstream would be REALTOR Only. Not the case says NAR…

“Yet just recently over the last few weeks, three NAR directors told Inman they voted to fund Upstream under the presumption it would be available exclusively to Realtors — that is, certified, dues-paying NAR members. NAR and Upstream’s leadership, however, disagree, saying they have always maintained Upstream would be available to all brokers, not just Realtors.”

Someone has some explaining to do…

“Diana Bull, a Santa Barbara, California broker who says she’s been an NAR director for the last 31 years and a member of RPR’s advisory board since 2009, also seemed astonished to find out that Upstream would not just be for Realtors.

“This is really an anomaly,” Bull told Inman. “For NAR to fund millions of dollars for Upstream … for brokers who are not Realtors … it’s something that I really have to look into and it’s something that I should know about being on the RPR advisory board and being in the positions I hold.”

She, like Frank and Stroman, believes other NAR directors also voted in favor of Upstream funding thinking it was going to be a tool only for Realtors. “It was never discussed that non-Realtors would have this benefit after we have funded millions of dollars for Upstream, now twice,” she said.”

Well, this whole drama got NAR leadership involved. Newly appointed NAR CEO Bob Goldberg penned a letter to the membership. Which is pretty unusual.

“Some of you have read Inman’s latest article, which questions whether Upstream should be available to brokers who are not REALTORS®, as well as our NAR membership.

Since the very beginning, the Upstream contract outlined both a member and non-member pricing approach. That has never changed, and many products and services in this industry follow the same model.

NAR offers products to both REALTORS® and non-members and gives NAR members preferred pricing. Multiple listing services are also an example of a service that is available to both REALTORS® and non-members.

This approach can incentivize non-members to join the association to get more attractive pricing.

I think it would also be useful to clarify here that RPR is a vendor for Upstream RE, LLC; Upstream is independent from NAR. Upstream’s approach is driven by the large brokers on Upstream’s Board.

Effective January 1, 2019, Upstream RE, LLC will be responsible for 100% of all operation costs, with some dollars coming back to NAR.

I would caution everyone here to consider the context behind and genesis of stories like these. This particular article is clearly written toward a specific point of view and positioned to benefit the interests of some of the MLSs versus those of our members, who ultimately own this listing and intellectual property data.

Bob”

Emphasis mine.

Seems like Bob might be reading former NAR CEO Dale Stinton’s playbook…

RULE #1: Blame the MLS.