By Mary Sisk
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Rockford Area Association of Realtors will merge with two other real estate groups to create a new joint association in an effort to expand its reach and customer benefits.
Rockford Area Realtors, Belvidere Board of Realtors and Realtor Association of Northwestern Illinois announced the merger Thursday at a news conference at Rockford Area Realtors on Tebala Boulevard.
The new association is named NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors and will represent Realtors with nearly 6,700 annual homes sales.
“These mergers have come through a vision for a much larger and stronger organization that can provide more for our members, more for homebuyers and more for homesellers,” said Conor Brown, who will serve as the CEO of the new group.
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The new group will encompass six counties, Boone, Winnebago, Ogle, Stephenson, Jo Davies and Carroll, and has nearly 1,200 members. Rockford Area Realtors had nearly 790 members before the merger.
Benefits of the joint team will be better customer outreach, quality of service, lower costs and more, group members said. The combined group totals $1.16 billion in annual sales.
“Bringing our three groups together into a single organization benefits our communities as a whole and creates a stronger Realtor voice,” said Natalie Mulhall, a Belvidere Realtor and secretary/treasurer of the new association. “Being freed up from taking care of the books and other day-to-day operations allows us to achieve many things.”
The association will continue to have chapters for Boone County and the tri-county area of Stephenson, Carroll and Jo Daviess counties, allowing for the alliance to keep offices in each location.
The merger had been considered for more than 30 years, but the groups were just waiting for the appropriate time.
“It was a matter of having the right market factors align and the right group of leaders who were ready, willing and able to move forward,” said Brad Marinelli, president of NorthWest Illinois Alliance of Realtors.
Joint association numbers
Association members: 1,144 (1,018 Realtors and 126 affiliate members)
Home buyers and sellers: 13,370
Market sales: $1.16 billion (total housing sales April 2021-March 2022)
Total economic impact: $1.6 billion (estimated $67,905 total economic impact for each
home sold in Illinois; source: National Association of Realtors)
This article is by Mary Sisk. You can email her at msisk@rockrivercurrent.com or follow her on Instagram at @maryrrcurrent.