Last week was a historic event for the Sarasota and Manatee National Association of Realtors and its 8,500 members. On Friday, we celebrated the grand opening of his new RASM North office at his 2901 Manatee Ave. W. here in Bradenton. This brand new, state-of-the-art facility provides Manatee County members with a convenient location to receive services or receive additional training in the Multimedia Auditorium. We also rent out to general customers for events etc.
If you’ve been in Bradenton for a while, this may all seem very familiar. This is because this site housed the former Manatee Realty Association from 1977 to 2008, before moving to Lakewood Ranch for a short time before the Manatee Association and the Sarasota Association merged. We hope that this new facility will not only be used by our members, but will be a great addition to the Bradenton community.
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RASM is also celebrating another historic milestone this year as an active contributing member to the region for the past 100 years. It all started in 1922 with him. The “Bradentown” Florida Real Estate Board established his six-member Bradentown Realtors Association, and in its first year he grew to 257 members.
At the time, Florida Real Estate Association Executive Director JL Wallace reported: recognition. “The admission fee for the Board was $200 for him, certainly a large sum for 1922, but his respect for the newly formed Society was evident from the outset.
The National Real Estate Journal reports: Intermediation in multiple listing system.
In June 1923, the board of directors of the National Association of Real Estate Commissioners (known today as the National Association of Realtors) elected the Sarasota Real Estate Commission, which has 21 active members, as members. The creation of both commissions has redefined the real estate business in the two-county region.
Realtors under the NAR are now regulated by the NAR’s Code of Ethics and Practice, adopted in 1913. The Code ensures that consumers are served by requiring realtors to work together to promote the best interests of their customers. The Code has been revised many times to ensure that the industry has no room for hate speech or any kind of discriminatory conduct.
Over the years, both associations underwent minor name changes, and by 1998, they were known as the familiar Sarasota Real Estate Association and the Manatee Real Estate Association.January 1, 2015, The two commissions were formally merged to form the Sarasota and Manatee National Realtor Associations.
Over the years, as the market has changed, the Association has kept an eye on important issues that may affect the real estate industry and the private property rights of its clients. Whatever hurdles arose, the association was ready to meet and tackle those needs. Year after year, RASM has stood with its members, providing support and meeting the needs that each unique market has created.
Educating agents and helping them raise the bar of what is expected of realtors is the association’s primary goal. But local, statewide and national Realtor Associations do a lot to defend the property rights of our clients and the profession itself. Every day, we monitor the politics of and fight for the public and your rights as a property owner and tenant.
Finally, Realtors are a generous group of people who work within their community every day to see firsthand how their donations help us all. They have a strong interest in giving back to the communities they live in and making them stronger and more desirable. As a result, you will always find a wide variety of charities, community non-profits, volunteering cultural institutions and realtors in public office. This has happened in our community for the past 100 years, helping realtors make Manatee and Sarasota counties the best places to live, raise a family and retire. I look forward to continuing for another 100 years.
Tony Veldkamp is president of the Sarasota and Manatee Association of National Realtors.