Gray Economic Clouds, Silver Data Linings
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
In these troubling financial times, people want to hear something, anything, positive about where the market might be headed. As we speculate on when a recovery will arrive and what that might look like, analysts, specialists, experts, authorities, and pundits are all sifting through the copious quantities of economic research for some small data point of hope.
So, is there any information out there right now that points to a near-term improvement? I recently caught up with Kathleen Hays, on-air reporter for Bloomberg Television, to find out. Read more
Top Five Daily News Stories Last Week
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
Events at this year’s NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings dominated the Daily News last week: Read more
The NAR “Value Proposition”
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
It pays to be a REALTOR®. That was the message from NAR CEO Dale Stinton at the Board of Directors meeting Saturday at the 2009 Midyear Legislative Meetings in Washington D.C.
Addressing the board during the 2010 budget proposal presentation, Stinton said any REALTOR® who had maintained continuous membership between 1991-2010 would have paid $1,282 in total national dues.
“What have the last 20 years been like for you?” he asked the audience. “You’ve probably had your ups and downs, but you’ve probably had a good 20 years. What would you have paid for all the services you got [from NAR]?”
Stinton also explained how NAR stacked up against other national professional associations. Read more
A Monument to Fair Housing
Filed under: Breaking News, Law & Policy, Midyear Meeting
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
Many of today’s REALTORS® might not realize it, but 1968 was a tough year. Dr. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, the Tet Offensive was launched against U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the Soviet Union crushed the Prague Spring liberalization movement in Czechoslovakia.
Yet it was also a year of hope. One bright spot was the passage of the Fair Housing Act, which outlaws discrimination against home buyers on the basis of their background.
Now, more than four decades later, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® will commemorate Fair Housing with a monument located in a park adjacent to its Washington D.C. offices at 500 New Jersey Ave., NW. Read more
NAR’s IDX Rule Changes Need More Study
Filed under: Breaking News, Midyear Meeting, Technology
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
The NAR Board of Directors voted Saturday to send two recommendations regarding acceptable use of IDX data back to the Multiple Listing Policy Committee because the committee is currently reviewing all IDX policies with an eye toward updating them. The action came at the board meeting that concluded the national association’s 2009 NAR Midyear Legislation Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C.
IDX, or Internet Data Exchange, refers to a system and process that allows multiple listing service participants to display each others’ property listings on their web sites.
The recommended changes to the IDX rules were as follows (underlined sections indicate proposed additions, strikeouts indicate proposed deletions): Read more
Helping Homeowners Stay Put
By Stacey Moncrieff, Editor in Chief, REALTOR® Magazine
Tucson, Ariz., practitioner Frances Flynn Thorsen is fighting mad — and she’s not sparing any punches. She wants the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and state REALTOR® organizations to do more to help homeowners with underwater mortgages keep their homes.
“All the education programs and certifications that exist today are sales centric,” she says, “not a single word about loan modifications.”
Frances has taken her crusade to the airwaves with “Truth in Housing Matters,” a weekly show on Access Tucson. She’s also written an education program on home retention and has applied for CE credit through the state of Arizona.
Balancing Management and Leadership
By Laura Melcher, Manager, Editorial Development, REALTOR.org
Michael Staver, professional speaker and leadership coach, opened his “Balancing the Management and Leadership Relationship” session on Friday with a few exercises to get Midyear conference attendees’ blood flowing. REALTORS® in attendance were asked to pick a partner and to designate one person “A” and one person “B.” The partners touched palms, and Staver directed the A group members to push against the B groups members’ hands. Not surprisingly, the B group pushed back.
Working with the Media Is as Easy as A-B-C
By Amy Konstas, Content Strategist, REALTOR.org
Communicators for local and regional real esate associations took part in mock media interviews and question-and-answer sessions, and generally enhanced their skills in conveying key messages to the media, during NAR’s dynamic Surround Sound Campaign session today.
Town Hall Explores Land Use/Property Rights Issues
By Sarah Trzepacz, Content Strategist, REALTOR.org
REALTORS® gathered this morning at a town hall meeting to discuss a myriad of issues related to property rights, land use and environmental concerns. The meeting presented a wonderful opportunity for REALTORS® to share stories and experiences about the issues affecting their local communities and their businesses. Members from all over the country-from Kauai to Boston, Spokane to Fort Myers-participated in the event and shared concerns of both national and local importance.
NAR Offers Details on Property Database
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® plans to roll out an online database that it hopes will catalog comprehensive information on nearly 150 million residential and commercial properties nationwide. Read more
