Membership Criteria

Commercial Real Estate Affiliates

Membership Criteria

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Commercial Brokers in Independent Commercial Firms

Commercial Practitioners in Independent Residential Firms

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Definitions:

Commercial Firm: A real estate brokerage that employs real estate brokers who exclusively work on properties and land with the potential to generate profit through capital gain, development or rental income.

Commercial Practitioner: A real estate broker who works with clients to buy, sell or lease properties used for business, development or investment purposes.

Commercial Real Estate Experience: Demonstrated agency and completed transaction (sale or lease) experience for clients who transact in commercial real estate.

Independent: Sole proprietor, independent partnership or commercial franchise brokerage — not a national or international real estate firm.

Member: Existing CREA Member.

Member Firm: Existing Brokerage with 10 or more CREA Members.

Residential Firm: A real estate brokerage that employs real estate brokers who exclusively or primarily work on residential properties and land that are not intended for profit generation, development or rental income.

Prospective Member: A real estate broker who is applying for, or has applied for membership in CREA.

Protected Area: 20-mile radius around an Existing Member’s office.

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Prospective Member Category:

Commercial Brokers in Independent Commercial Firms

Eligibility Requirements:

The Prospective Member must hold an active real estate license in good standing.
The firm or self-employed Prospective Member must be Independent.
Geographic Test, Protected Area:
1. Prospective Member’s office must be outside of a 20-mile radius from a Member Firm.
  1. No Geographic Test applies if other Members that are within the 20-mile radius are self-employed or employed by firms with 9 or less Members at the time of the Prospective Member’s application.
  2. No Geographic Test applies if the other Member Firms in the Protected Area have a substantially different discipline from the Prospective Member. Substantially different shall be defined as 80% or more of the firm’s brokers being engaged in a different discipline from the Prospective Member. For example, if a Member Firm’s 8 out of their 10 current Members are retail brokers and the Prospective Member is an industrial broker, the Geographic Test does not apply to that Prospective Member.
If the Prospective Member does not pass the Geographic Test, the Prospective Member can submit a letter of recommendation (“LOR”) from the Member Firm with the rights to the Protected Area. Such a letter will trigger a membership review and vote by the CREA Board of Directors (“Board”).
1. An LOR from the Member Firm that has rights to the Protected Area must be requested directly from the Prospective Member to the Member Firm. CREA will not make the request on behalf of the Prospective Member.
2. If an LOR is received with the application from the Prospective Member, the Board will review and either approve or deny the application. Factors affecting the decision may include, but not be limited to a review of the LOR and follow up with the Member Firm, and the Prospective Member’s industry activities, awards, community involvement, as examples. If the membership is declined, the Prospective Member may re-apply and be subject to the same process once every (2) years from the date of application, or upon a change in the Protected Area, such as a Member Firm reducing their number of Members below 10.
If an existing Member changes firms or moves, the eligibility requirements must be re-established. If the then former Member does not meet the eligibility requirements after the move/new affiliation, the former Member may request a Board review of their application.
1. If an application review is requested by a former Member, factors affecting the Board’s decision may include, but not be limited to, a survey of the Protected Area and approval from the Members inside of the Protected Area, review of the Prospective Member’s industry activities, relevant mentor relationships, continuing education, awards and community involvement, as examples. If the membership is declined, the Prospective Member may re-apply if they meet the standard eligibility requirements in the future.
The Prospective Member cannot be a current member of any other commercial brokers’ network, other than member-owned or non-profit associations that do not have geographic, discipline or experience restrictions. Examples include California’s AIR Commercial Real Estate Association, Washington’s Commercial Broker’s Association, CCIM, Commercial Realtors®, all of which are allowed.

Prospective Member Category:

Commercial Practitioners in Independent Residential Firms

Eligibility Requirements:

The Prospective Member must hold an active real estate license in good standing.
The Prospective Member must be affiliated with Windermere Real Estate, or affiliated with a firm that is Independent and outside of the Protected Area.
The Prospective Member must demonstrate a minimum of two years of commercial real estate experience, as defined under Definitions below.
1. If the Prospective Member has less than two years of commercial real estate experience, the Prospective Member may request a CREA Board of Director (“Board”) review of their application.
  1. If an application review is requested by a Prospective Member, factors affecting the Board’s decision may include, but not be limited to, a review of the Prospective Member’s industry activities, relevant mentor relationships, continuing education and community involvement, as examples. If the membership is declined, the Prospective Member may re-apply once they have reached the two years of commercial real estate experience threshold, provided the Prospective Member meets the other eligibility criteria.
Geographic Test, Protected Area:
1. Prospective Member’s office must be outside of a 20-mile radius from an existing Windermere Real Estate office.
  1. If a Windermere office opens within a 20-mile radius of an existing Member, the existing Member’s membership is unaffected.
If an existing Member changes firms or moves, the eligibility requirements must be re-established. If the then former Member does not meet the eligibility requirements after the move/new affiliation, the former Member may request a Board review of their application.
1. If an application review is requested by a former Member, factors affecting the Board’s decision may include, but not be limited to, a survey of the Protected Area and approval from the Members inside of the Protected Area, review of the Prospective Member’s industry activities, relevant mentor relationships, continuing education, awards and community involvement, as examples. If the membership is declined, the Prospective Member may re-apply if they meet the standard eligibility requirements in the future.
The Prospective Member cannot be a current member of any other commercial brokers’ network, other than member-owned or non-profit associations that do not have geographic, discipline or experience restrictions. Examples include California’s AIR Commercial Real Estate Association, Washington’s Commercial Broker’s Association, CCIM, Commercial Realtors®, all of which are allowed.

For requests for additional information, or to request a review of your application, please contact us at info@crea-member.com.

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