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KINGSTON — The Greater Wilkes-Barre Association of Realtors will mark its 100th anniversary in October and prepare for a name change next year.
It will merge with the Greater Hazleton Association of Realtors on Jan. 1 and form the Luzerne County Association of Realtors.
“It’s a consolidation more or less,” Charles Adonizio, president of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association, said.
The merger follows a trend to join forces and meet the mandates of the National Association of Realtors to provide members with most professional services; something Adonizio said was a challenge for smaller associations.
The Greater Hazleton group has 125 members and it was considering raising dues, Adonizio said.
Gerald McGuire, president of the Greater Hazleton group, was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
“We already have over 400 members. We already have critical mass,” Adonizio said.
The Greater Wilkes-Barre group has two full-time staff and its own office building on Pierce Street, Kingston. “We give our membership that high level of service that the National Association requires,” Adonizio said.
The Greater Wilkes-Barre group traces its beginnings to 1915 and Wilkes-Barre Real Estate Exchange. “We’re celebrating our 100th anniversary as an association on Oct.1. In doing so this will be the last anniversary we’re going to celebrate,” said Adonizio, whose two-year term as president ends at the end of the year.
“They approached us and in early 2015 we had a few meetings,” Adonizio, said. The Greater Wilkes-Barre group did its due diligence before its membership overwhelmingly voted last month to merge, said Adonizio, who also operates Atlas Realty Inc. in Plains Township. The Greater Hazleton group will dissolve and give back its charter.
The groups work in Luzerne County, can cross county lines and use the Multiple Listing Service to list properties for sale. In some states there is only one MLS, Adonizio said.
“We’re doing more business regionally. We’re all licensed in the state of Pennsylvania,” Adonizio said. He used as example the Greater Scranton Board of Realtors, Inc. which covers Lackawanna, Wyoming and Susquehanna counties.
“It’s time to change. It’s time to grow,” he said.
He wouldn’t be surprised to see more regionalization in the future, he said.