30 Under 30: Don’t Miss Your Chance

By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

In 1999, former REALTOR® Magazine Senior Editor Robert Sharoff gave birth to the idea of showcasing talented real estate pros under the age of 30. Thousands of applications and hundreds of profiles later, the 30 Under 30 program is thriving.

The 2010 edition will mark the 10th anniversary for this feature. REALTOR® Magazine has been accepting applications for this program, and will until Jan. 31. Don’t miss your chance!

For the big anniversary, we’ve created a new application with more questions (though each answer needs to be under 750 characters). In the meantime, if you have any questions about the process, please feel free to write me at ktarbox@realtors.org.

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YPN at NAR 2009: Learning, Connecting, Having Fun

By Jared James, Guest Contributor

What a night it was at REALTOR® Magazine’s YPN exclusive, invitation-only event on the pool deck of the Hotel Solamar. Just when I started thinking that a rooftop might not have been the best place for anyone who enjoys mingling without goose bumps all over their body, we were greeted by conveniently placed heat lamps and fire pits that not only added to the modern feel, but also ensured that everyone stayed warm and comfortable.

I didn’t get to talk to as many people as I would have liked, but of those I did get to interact with, it was nice to see a diversification of experience and levels of success. In this summit of the “who’s who” of young people in real estate, I was surrounded by past and present 30 Under 30 honorees, TV producers, and tomorrow’s up-and-coming stars. One moment I was talking to a charming lady from a  resort destination in Idaho, and the next minute I was greeted by an agent from Beverly Hills, Calif. There was one thing that I found in common with each and every agent that I came in contact with, though, and that was that they all had a curiosity and hunger to learn how to better succeed in today’s changing market. Read more

What Will NAR’s Political Strength Be in 5 Years?

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Heather Smith knows how to get young professionals engaged in our political process. She founded an initiative called Young Voter Strategies as a way to reinvigorate our democracy by making clear to young people the importance of their political involvement. One outcome of that, arguably, is the success of Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy. Whatever your views of his politics, his camapign was built on a massive influx of young Americans who had little or no involvement in politics before. That can only be healthy for a democracy, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum. She’s now head of an initiative called Rock the Vote. You might have heard of that: It works through rock acts like the Fall Out Boy and entertainers like Zach Braff to reach out to young adults about voting.

I mention Smith because she’s one of the speakers at a forum called Rock the REALTOR® at the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo on Friday that touches on an important topic for the health of real estate in the years ahead: getting today’s young real estate professionals to take an interest in the politics of real estate.

What are the politics of real estate? Getting the home buyer tax credit extended and expanded is a good example. If you don’t follow the day-to-day machinations of the legislative process—hopefully you’re too busy cultivating customers and closing deals to do that—it might seem like there was little controversy behind the effort to get the credit extension passed (which happened last week). After all, the Senate passed the credit without a single “no” vote. But in fact passage of that law was in some sense years in the making. That’s because it’s taken years for NAR (and other real estate associations, for that matter) to develop the ability to energize its members on behalf of what’s best for real estate.

You should know that NAR broke all records on its Call for Action to extend and expand the tax credit. I don’t have the latest figure, but the last time I checked NAR had an 18 percent response rate. Compare that to just two years ago, when the typical response rate was 3 percent. That kind of turnout is crucial, because lawmakers respond when thousands of real estate professionals in their district or state contact them about an issue. Read more