Interior realtors form mega-association

Realtors in the Thompson and Kootenays are joining the Association of Interior Realtors to create an even bigger and better industry mega-group.

The 340-member Kamloops & District Real Estate Association and 365-member Kootenay Association of Realtors decided this week to amalgamate with the 1,778-member Association of Interior Realtors, amassing an organization that will represent a total of almost 2,500 realtors.

The new, bigger entity will retain the Association of Interior Realtors name.

"The pillars of advocacy and professionalism that the associations are tasked with will be far more robust when representing nearly 2,500 realtors, versus three small organizations," said Kootenay Association of Realtors president Chuck Bennett of Bennett Family Realty in Nelson.

"This change gives our members a strong voice for the real estate profession."

While the decision to join forces was made this week, it won't become official until early in the new year.

The current Association of Interior Realtors is itself a product of amalgamation when the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (covering the Central and North Okanagan, Revelstoke and Shuswap) merged with the South Okanagan Real Estate Board in January 2021.

The current Interior association also now includes the South Peace region, including Dawson Creek and Chetwynd.

"Kamloops and district realtors have clearly shown us they are ready for change and believe the shared resources of a larger association will better help them serve their clients," said Kamloops & District Real Estate Association Chelsea Mann, a realtor with Century 21 in Kamloops.

The amalgamated Interior association will become the 9th largest realtor association in Canada and the 3rd biggest in BC, behind the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and the Victoria Real Estate Board.

"This is an exciting development for all our realtor members to be able to come together to represent a unified body and voice of real estate professionals within the Interior of BC," said Association of Interior Realtors president Kim Heizmann, a realtor with Century 21 in Vernon.

George Greenwood, the current CEO of the Association of Interior Realtors will continue as head of the new, bigger Interior association.

"We are very proud to share the announcement of collaboration between our associations within the Interior of BC and in welcoming these members into a collective real estate association that will ultimately benefit not only the members, but buyers and sellers alike," said Greenwood.

The Kamloops and Kootenay associations are already linked because they share resources and a CEO in Trevor Koot.

"I want to commend the boards of directors from all three associations for coming together to support this initiative and demonstrating incredible leadership," he said.