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Agency Laws & Regulations

Since Massachusetts Real Estate Agency has changed significantly, we will be keeping the information you need for legal implementation of agency regulations at your fingertips. In addition to the most recent news and information on Agency in Massachusetts, you can also find links to the Massachusetts Agency and Non-Agency disclosure form  and information on the types of agency relationships now defined by law.

Mandatory Licensee-Consumer Disclosure | Consumer Guide To Representation

Types of Representation in Massachusetts

Other Agency News:

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Pro. Standards

Professional Standards: Enforce REALTOR® Principles and Standards.

professionalstandards

Professional Standards Tribunal Training:

Annually the Board offers a session for members interested in serving on the Professional Standards or Grievance Committees. The training covers the ethics and arbitration process for volunteers and highlights examples from the initial filing of a complaint to the appeal process. All members are encouraged and welcome to attend.   Completion of this training qualifies you to serve on Pro Standards, Grievance, or Appeal Committees (panels that enforce the Code of Ethics and handle the arbitration of business disputes).  Training is required every 2 years and includes the concepts of due process, hearing procedures, findings of fact, decision rendering and the Code of Ethics. 

To find out our next scheduled Professional Standards Tribunal Training, visit our Events Calendar.

REALTOR Code of Ethics Obligations

The Code of Ethics establishes the foundation on how REALTORS® are to operate as professionals in the Real Estate Industry. Not every Real Estate Professional is a REALTOR®; only those who adhere to the 17 Articles of the Code of Ethics which defines a higher standard of professionalism and behavior in three categories: Duties to Customers and Clients, Duties to the Public, and Duties to other REALTORS®. By becoming a REALTOR®, members agree to the duties and responsibilities outlined in the Standards of Practice for each of the 17 Articles, and are subject to be sanctioned if found to be in violation of any article.  We require that all REALTORS attend training on the Code at least once every two (2) years.… Read on

Berkshire Market Watch Report

2025 1st Quarter Market Watch Report

The complete 2025 1st Quarter Market Watch PDF report, with graphs and town by town historical data can be found here.  In the meantime, here are some highlights:

Residential Sales Up 9% with dollar volume up 16%

The 217 residential sales in the first quarter of this year reflected an increase of 9% in the number of transactions and 16% increase in dollar volume to $103 million dollars when comparing the sales rate to last year.  The residential sales pace in the first quarter of 2025 rose in all parts of the Berkshires, with increases in the number of sales, the dollar volume of those transactions and the average selling price of single-family homes.

In the first quarter of 2025, the number of all real estate sales retracted 2% to 320 units sold, but rose 7% in the dollar volume transacted.  All transactions in the Berkshire MLS accounted for nearly $138 million dollars of residential, condo, multifamily, mobile home, land and commercial deed transfers.  This is a high since the peak in 2022.

Notably, the sales of single-family residential homes, condos and commercial properties improved in the first quarter of 2025 when compared to last year, but multifamily, mobile home, and land sales fell. Residential sales improved in all regions of the county.   The number of real estate sales during the 1st quarter is below pre-pandemic rates comparatively, but dollar volume is tracking higher.  A lack of available inventory remains an issue in the residential home market.

… Read on

Committee Center

Committee Center

Our committees are the lifeblood of the Board and establish the services, education, and programs we offer to our membership. The diversity of these committees and task forces is matched by the diversity of REALTORS volunteering to participate in the process.

We need you, to ensure that the Board is meeting your professional needs and hope you will consider taking part. Simply learning about the various groups working on your behalf is a start… perhaps attending a meeting that interests you is the perfect second step… and finally we hope to see you take that final leap to becoming an active participant in our association.

Committee Descriptions

Interested in being a part of one of our committees? Submit our Volunteer Submission Form!

Click here for Committee Chairperson’s Guidelines.

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All Rules & Polices

The Board and MLS succeed in maintaining order in the Berkshire real estate marketplace through our adoption and enforcement of policies. Our polices always seek to protect your right to earn a living, be treated fairly, while upholding the code of ethics and ensuring consumers are protected by the law. Friendly reminders about these policies are based on phone calls to the Board Office, information obtained from the National Association and general reminders of issues frequently on the MAR Legal Hotline.  Below are our governing documents.

Board of Realtors Governing Documents

MLS Governing Documents:  The MLS succeeds in maintaining order in the Berkshire real estate marketplace through our adoption and enforcement of policies.  Our polices always seek to protect your right to earn a living, be treated fairly, while upholding the code of ethics and ensuring consumer’s right.  Any REALTOR® of this or any other association without further qualification except as otherwise stipulated in the MLS Bylaws, shall be eligible to participate in the multiple listing service upon agreeing in writing to conform to the rules and regulations thereof and to pay the costs incidental thereto.

Application & Change Forms

Board Policies

Application & Change Forms

 

Board & MLS Forms

Please select from the following to pick the membership level or service you’re interested in learning more about…

Filing a Complaint

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REALTOR® Promise

The REALTOR Promise: As REALTORS® we Pledge…

  • To strive to be honorable and to abide by the Golden Rule;
  • To strive to serve well my community, and through it, my country;
  • To abide by the REALTORS’® Code of Ethics and to strive to conform my conduct to its aspirational ideals;
  • To act honestly in all real estate dealings;
  • To protect the individual right of real estate ownership and to widen the opportunity to enjoy it;
  • To seek better to represent my clients by building my knowledge and competence.

Fair Housing Declaration. As REALTORS®, We Agree:

  • To provide equal professional service without regard to the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of any prospective client, customer, or the residents of any community
  • To keep informed about fair housing law and practices, improving my clients’ and customers’ opportunities and my business.
  • To develop advertising that indicates that everyone is welcome and no one is excluded; expanding my clients’ and customers’ opportunities to see, buy or lease property.
  • To inform my clients and customers about their rights and responsibilities under the fair housing laws by providing brochures and other information.
  • To document my efforts to provide professional service, which will assist me in becoming a more responsive and successful REALTOR®.
  • To refuse to tolerate noncompliance.
  • To learn about those who are different from me, and celebrate those differences.
  • To take a positive approach to fair housing practices and aspire to follow the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
… Read on

REALTOR® Benefits

REALTOR® Benefits – Money & Time Savers!

Being a REALTOR® is a prestigious choice – you’ve set a higher standard in your real estate business conduct than other licensees by agreeing to follow the Code of Ethics. You enjoy the wonderful benefit of having your own local MLS system, free contracts, assessor’s information at your fingertips, but what else? Oh, of course you are offered a wide variety of membership benefits too! We use our collective buying power (over 1 million members strong!) to bring you local, state and national deals to help you save time and money. Here are the latest.

News and Information

E-Mail News & Award Winning Websites: All of the resources you need to be an effective real estate salesperson are at your fingertips.  BerkshireRealtors.org has property information, regulations, resources, critical news and more. You will have access to our FREE services, such as our Internet Data Exchange (IDX) solution which enables you to display MLS property information on your own website in limited format, FREE electronic real estate contracts, and FREE website / e-mail links.  Check your e-mail for OUR e-news notices and the MLS message board for frequent communications.

Baystate REALTOR® & REALTOR® Magazine.  The Baystate REALTOR® is produced by the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® and will be delivered to your home or office on a monthly basis.  Read articles from our state legal counsel, the board of registration and members throughout our region.  The REALTOR® Magazine is produced by the NAR and delivers practical business knowledge to you each month.… Read on