No not really castlelady. Like Al said it does make us look more professional and we do pay dearly for the right to use it. But that is entirely up to you.
This real estate forum is comprised mainly of REALTORS®. We have no paid staff here and the Members make major ALL decisions. So unlike other forums since we are a forum of mainly REALTORS® that is run by REALTORS® I guess we should be more aware of image. As per NAR:
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Proper use of the MARKS can never be evaluated solely on the basis of the "intent" of the user but rather must focus predominantly on how each mark as used is likely to be understood by the public. The same evaluation must be undertaken even if the audience is expected to predominately or even exclusively be composed of members. Members and Member Boards are encouraged to assess each use from the perspective of the public. Will the public view the MARK, as it is used, as an indicator of membership? Or will the MARK, as it is used, be misunderstood as a synonym for "real estate broker" or some other term? It is imperative that Members and Member Boards work together and with the National Association to avoid all uses of the MARKS which may suggest to the public that, without regard to his membership in the National Association, a REALTOR® is simply a provider of real estate related services.
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While non-realtor Members such as HHI Golf Guy, Neal and others make major contributions to this forum and by no means are any less important to us than our REALTOR® Members they are still a minority here. We also have licensed real estate Agents that are not REALTORS® that are active here but they too are a minority.
You do not have to be a REALTOR® for NAR to enforce their terms of use. Anytime the term is used in print or on the web it is to be displayed properly. So even non-realtors are required to use REALTOR® when displaying the term.
Like anything else it does take some time to get used to doing it. I don’t even think about doing it anymore and rarely forget to do it properly (usually after a couple of adult beverages).
Great question castlelady!
~Mack
Re: REALTOR® Trade Mark
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