HISTORY OF THE WATERLOO-CEDAR FALLS BOARD OF REALTORS®
The Waterloo Real Estate Board was organized in 1912 with M.J. Pommer as President. The Cedar Falls Real Estate Board was formed in 1944 with A.H. Refshauge elected President of the 17 member Board. January 1, 1966 the Waterloo Real Estate Board merged with the Cedar Falls Real Estate Board to form the now existing Waterloo-Cedar Falls Board of REALTORS®. The first President of the newly formed Board was R. Keith Stokes.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Board of REALTORS® began with 73 offices and 229 members. The office was located at 1519 Headford Avenue and moved in September 1966 to the Black Hawk Building when the Morris Plan purchased the Headford Avenue building. On June 19, 1970 the Board moved to its present location at 351 Fletcher Avenue, Waterloo.
The Multiple Listing Exchange was organized in March 1922 as a separate organization. January 1, 1972 the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and the Board merged into one organization, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Board of REALTORS®. Until this time we had a president for each organization. Now the MLS is a committee of the Board, with the 2nd Vice President as chairman.
At present, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Board of REALTORS® has 355 members and 39 affiliate members. The MLS has 97 offices with 404 members. Robert J. Reisinger is the Executive Vice President / CEO and has a staff of 2 personnel to correlate the MLS, as well as handle the administrative details of the Board. The Waterloo – Cedar Falls Board of REALTORS® is a member of the Iowa Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of REALTORS®.
This brief history covers almost a century of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Board of REALTORS in a very few words. However, it does give you an idea of when and where this professional organization originated and how it progressed. A book by Valentina K. Martin, REALTOR® Emeritus, Progress Towards Professionalism contains the history of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Board of REALTORS® from 1911 through 2000 (copies available through the Board).
