Merger proponents did not offer convincing arguments on the merits of folding all of B.C.’s regional boards into one super-organization, VREB’s head says
The long-proposed merger between 6 regional real estate boards into the Realtors of B.C. union fell through, and the president of the Victoria Real Estate Board attributed this failure to a lack of interest among industry professionals in the region.
Mike Nugent stated that the proponents of the amalgamation did not offer convincing arguments on the merits of all the province’s regional boards combining all operations into one super-association.
In particular, many of the Victoria Real Estate Board’s 1,300 members voiced strong opposition to the idea that the board’s facilities would be sold off and that the organization’s contingency fund will be used for funding Realtors of B.C. instead.
“They haven’t provided us with enough information to justify this. We didn’t want to lose our board,” Nugent told the Vancouver Sun.
B.C. Real Estate Association president Deanna Horn said that the merger attempt was intended to streamline the processes covering as much as 22,000 real estate agents in 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.”
“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 added. “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.”
“Is it [to] combine services, is it another discussion about amalgamation? Don’t know. There is no answer to that right now.”
Mike Nugent stated that the proponents of the amalgamation did not offer convincing arguments on the merits of all the province’s regional boards combining all operations into one super-association.
In particular, many of the Victoria Real Estate Board’s 1,300 members voiced strong opposition to the idea that the board’s facilities would be sold off and that the organization’s contingency fund will be used for funding Realtors of B.C. instead.
“They haven’t provided us with enough information to justify this. We didn’t want to lose our board,” Nugent told the Vancouver Sun.
B.C. Real Estate Association president Deanna Horn said that the merger attempt was intended to streamline the processes covering as much as 22,000 real estate agents in 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.”
“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 added. “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.”
“Is it [to] combine services, is it another discussion about amalgamation? Don’t know. There is no answer to that right now.”
