"Why do I recommend land professionals join the REALTORS® Land Institute? Simple, it makes you money!" -  George Clift, ALC, Clift Land Brokers

We got such great feedback from our article Answering Common Questions About the ALC Designation that we thought we’d do a follow-up article about RLI Membership. We get dozens of calls every week about membership benefits, costs, and networking. Membership numbers have been on the rise, so we thought this would be the perfect time to answer the most common questions about an RLI Membership.

Q. Why should I become a member?

Becoming a member of RLI unlocks a lot of great tools and discounts for land agents. Membership includes:

• Savings of $200 per LANDU course with exclusive member rates (excluding chapter and Land 101 independent study courses).

• Free webinars throughout the year and exclusive member rates on paid webinars.
• Discounted member rates on the Annual National Land Conference
• Exclusive offers from our RLI Partners through our Member Advantage Program (MAP).

• Access to RLI property marketing tools like The Land Connections listing site and our e-Properties email platform.

• A personal profile in the Find a Land Consultant online search tool/member directory to be found by clients and other agents.
• Access to a national network of over 1,700 land professionals.
• Access to exclusive resources like a contract library, technology + services recommendation center, and a marketing kit filled with tips and advice.
• Ability to apply for the prestigious APEX Production Awards
• A subscription to the biannual Terra Firma Magazine.
• And more! Check out the full list of member benefits on our website.

Q. What EXACTLY are the costs of becoming and staying a member?

The cost to become a member can vary depending on the month you join (we’ll go more into that in the next question), but a full year’s membership costs $445 plus a one-time $125 application fee. The annual renewal fee is $445.

 Q. Why does it cost different amounts to join at different points in the year?

If you looked on our website, you might be confused as to why joining in September is so much more expensive than joining in August. Our pro-rated dues schedule determines when your membership will expire and when you will need to pay renewal dues.

If you join between January 1 and August 31 of each year, your dues will be prorated through the end of the current year. If you join between September 1 and December 31, your dues will be prorated to include the rest of the current year as well as through December 31 of the following year.

The one-time application fee of $125 doesn’t change.

Q. I’m working towards my ALC Designation. Is it more or less expensive to be a member?

We’ve run the numbers. Long answer short, having an RLI Membership while working towards the ALC Designation will more than pay for itself in savings on courses. Plus, you get the added benefits of an RLI Membership.

If you are working towards the ALC with a membership, the total cost of six online courses ($535 per each of the five 16-hour courses plus $750 for the 24-hour Land Investment Analysis) at the member rate (a savings of $200 per course) equals $3,425.

For the course work alone, the average ALC applicant will save about $1,200. Take out the cost of membership and the one-time application fee and you'll still come out ahead in savings plus you'll be able to take advantage of all the other property marketing, networking, and resources that are included as RLI member benefits.

Even when you add in membership costs and the one-time application fee, getting the membership will save you money in the long term.

Note: class prices are subject to change. For the most recent course pricing, see the individual course registration pages.

Q. How does RLI promote its members and give them exposure to get more clients?

We're dedicating an entire October blog post to all the ways RLI promotes its members, so we'll save the in-depth descriptions for that, but here are some of the main ways that we promote our members:

• Ads in top industry publications, including The Land Report, LAND Magazine, Farm and Ranch Magazine, NAR Commerical Connections Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Open Fences Magazine, and the TerraStride HuntStand app.
• Host the Find A Land Consultant search tool
• Write guest posts for top industry websites such as LANDTHINK, Land.com, and National Land Realty that highlight the benefit of working with ALCs and RLI members.
• Run digital ads on Facebook and other industry websites
• And so much more. Keep an eye out for our October article covering the many ways RLI promotes its members!

Additionally, we encourage all of our members to harness the power and prestige of the RLI brand by promoting themselves as RLI Members. We even have a member logo for our members to use on their marketing materials to help create awareness in their local markets.

RLI Membership is an endlessly helpful tool for land experts that continually provides value to its members. If you don’t believe us, ask the members themselves! These glowing reviews are just a few examples of how land experts used their membership benefits to become the best in the industry. As George Clift, ALC, once said "Why do I recommend land professionals join the REALTORS® Land Institute? Simple, it makes you money!"

If you have more questions about membership, contact us at 1-800-441-5263 or rli@realtors.org. Ready to join RLI? Simply fill out the online membership application today!