Realtors® and Politics

There is no denying that politics and real estate are intimately intertwined. Bills and laws are put forth all the time that affect home owners and their property. Recently the National Association of Realtors® put forth a new initiative which they call the Political Survival Initiative. In essence, they would raise our annual dues and move forward to devote over 50% of their budget to political advocacy, campaign support, and lobbying. While I do believe we as Realtors® need to remain politically mindful and act when it’s in the best interest of our clients and the housing markets, I do not believe that the new push by NAR is the right way to go about it. The following is an email that I sent to our local association (San Antonio Board of Realtors®) after reading their request for input and feedback.

My letter to SABOR

Angela,

Thanks for posting the open call for comment on NAR’s Political Survival Initiative. Unfortunately, I don’t think all the opinions out there will make a difference – I’m not saying that in the oh-none-of-the-directors-care-what-we-think kind of way, but rather I think the open discussion came too late.

To put it simply, I’m against the idea of NAR’s Political Survival Initiative. There are several reasons why, but I would like to address the one “positive” aspect that I feel has been missing from the conversation. Although any increase is more money out of my pocket, I have to admit that our overall NAR dues when compared to other national trade organizations are quite reasonable. The bulk of our costs come on the local level. So although the percentage increase is high, the actual dollar amount isn’t that much overall.

What I don’t like about the Political Survival Initiative is what it is, a way to fund more politicians. Yes, it’s the way of the world, but I am against the mass expenditures being made in the world of politics. While it can be argued that it is necessary in today’s media-filled climate, it doesn’t make me approve of it. Now, with the genie out of the bottle, I truly fear for the amounts of money that will be poured into advertising and what it will do to the political landscape. It’s no longer let the best man win, it is pure dollar driven propaganda.

While NAR functions as a political arm for Realtors® and consumers – protecting critical housing and financing legislation, this new initiative turns NAR even further in that direction. While this may be seen as a good thing in protecting our and our client’s interests, I fear it will lead to more regret, mistakes, and potential backlash. This may be a game of “what if,” but it is one NAR needs to think through with the voice of their membership. What if we back the wrong guy? What if that candidate turns into just another politician who disappoints the public? What if they get caught up in scandal? How does that reflect NAR and its membership?

Of course, for me and many others, politics is about more than my chosen career. Yes, I want homeowners’ rights to be protected, but that is not all I vote for at the polls. Much like I don’t vote straight Republican, Democrat, or Independent. It’s not about the party affiliations and it’s not about one single issue. It’s about the candidate as a whole. Issues are weighed and measured against personal beliefs and balanced against stances on other issues.

My best example? What if a candidate is firmly in NAR’s corner on a piece of housing legislation, but is pro-abortion? In a state like Texas, where religious beliefs run deep, I see this as a major issue for NAR. I know many people who would never give money to a candidate on those grounds and yet they will be forced to, because of their affiliation with NAR. Politics and religion are often intertwined and are the two most hot-button issues for people.

Touting that “over 50%” of NAR’s budget will now go to political advocacy is not going to sit well with consumers either I fear. We all know we’re in a constant uphill battle on the public perception front, I think this will be a giant step backward. People are tired of watching enormous amounts be thrown at campaigns and I fear the next presidential election will be overkill as it is.

That brings up the issue of political expenditures by other industries. We all know the banks will be all over this. They will spend and spend and spend some more to get what they want. Who has deeper pockets? How long will that $40 increase last – will it be enough or is it just the beginning of mandatory raises? One year of loss to another industry’s lobbyists will only make it clear that NAR needs more money and who are they going to turn to? I see a quick escalation in mandatory funds, something I doubt many of us would back.

On to the local level, does this then bring SABOR into a new dawn? Now that NAR has built their “war chest” will local associations need to raise dues to do the same on local and state levels? I see a precedent being set by NAR that I can’t imagine local and state leaders would not want to follow…it just makes sense for them to join in the fray and use (need) more money to support local candidates. (I’m aware that some of NAR’s funds will trickle down to local campaigns, but I’m looking at the big picture – how much is enough?)

I hope you’ve made it this far and can see just how much this issue brings into question for a local Realtor® like me. As you can tell, it brings up more questions than it does answers. My thoughts on a solution? Take the $40, increase our dues…but spend it on education. Make us aware, make us care, make us want to devote our time, energy, and dollars on politics and the issues that are important to Realtors®. It won’t be easy and I know the associations work on this all the time, but the message isn’t getting out there if NAR suddenly sees the need to ramp up its collections. I have seen instances where agents were in the dark about important issues, which clearly means we need more education, more outreach, and more advocacy on the local level – not forced support.

Thanks for offering us the opportunity to openly comment, I will be posting this on my blog and I hope you will direct other association leaders to it (or forward my email to them). Any followup questions, comments, or thoughts can be sent direct to me or left as public comments on my site.

Matt Stigliano, Realtor®

photo courtesy of Theresa Thompson

Code of Ethics Amendment

On November 8, 2010, the National Association of Realtors® delegate body voted to amend the Code of Ethics, Article 10 to include prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation. With over ninety-three percent of the delegation voting to pass the amendment, it is clear that the Nation Association of Realtors® and its members want to send a clear message about discrimination in all forms and not just those that fall under Fair Housing Laws (sexual orientation is not considered a protected class under current Equal Opportunity Housing requirements).

The New Language

REALTORS® shall not deny equal professional services to any person for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin or sexual orientation.

REALTORS® shall not be parties to any plan or agreement to discriminate against any person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin or sexual orientation.

REALTORS®, in their real estate employment practices, shall not discriminate against any person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin or sexual orientation.

Congratulations Realtors®

While I believe that no Realtor® should discriminate for any reason, I do know that discrimination exists and I applaud the new change in the Code of Ethics. I also think it’s important to mention just how all of this started… with a blog post. Eric Kodner, a Madeline Island real estate agent, wrote a post on his blog after reading a somewhat heated exchange over discrimination based on sexual orientation. In his post, he asked whether or not NAR should add sexual orientation as a protected class to the Code of Ethics. You can read more about the chain of events that Eric started over at Realtor® Magazine Online. With one simple post, Eric helped change the Code of Ethics for the better and to advance the National Association of Realtors® anti-discrimination policies. I applaud his efforts and his willingness to speak his mind and work to affect change from within.

**UPDATE** Please read NAGLREP’s comments below for more on the history on how this amendment came to be. I apologize for not mentioning them in the original posting, but I wrote the post based on National Association of Realtors® postings (the post mentioned in Jeff’s comment was not printed when I wrote this) and personal knowledge of Eric and his writings.

photo courtesy of See-ming Lee 李思明 SML

Equal Opportunity Housing

Karen Fiddler, a Mission Veijo real estate agent, recently wrote on her ActiveRain blog about an experience with a client that wound up forcing her to make a decision to drop the client based on discrimination and fair housing laws. Typically, when you hear the words discrimination or fair housing laws it is about an agent making a comment that is deemed discriminatory or in violation of the fair housing laws. This case, however, might help shed some light on why we, as Realtors®, sometimes can’t answer your questions.

Texas Real Estate Forms

Section 18.A. of the Buyer Representation Agreement states:

Broker’s services are provided without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or familial status.

Section 21.B. of the Residential Real Estate Listing Agreement Exclusive Right to Sell states:

Fair housing laws require the Property to be shown and made available to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or familial status. Local ordinances may provide for additional protected classes (for example, creed, status as a student, marital status, sexual orientation, or age).

Personal thoughts

When I get to either of these two sections when signing a buyer or seller to an agency agreement, I do the same thing every time. I read the statement (they are located at the end of the documents with several other important notices) to the client and add a note about my personal feelings on discrimination. Although I am only required to satisfy the law, I simply don’t discriminate. End of story. There’s no need for it in my business practice and I don’t have any reason to discriminate. It’s a shame these laws are even needed.

Fair housing laws were designed at a time when they were very necessary and they were a great idea – pushing us towards a more democratic, egalitarian society. If you experience discrimination in housing, you have rights and you should know them. The Department of Housing and Urban Development provides an excellent fair housing fact sheet and information on how to file a complaint if you feel you’ve experienced discrimination in housing.

In Karen’s case, she was being asked to help her clients find an area for them which matched their ethnicity. Although it has been argued before that this is not discrimination, for real estate agents, it is a dangerous question which could lead to a lawsuit. Unfortunately, as with all laws, the pendulum has swung further to one side than the original law (in my opinion) probably meant to. Realtors® should not steer their clients to particular areas of town based on race, religion, etc., but if a client specifically wants to live somewhere that fits that specific demographic, they should be allowed to and (again, in my opinion), their agent should be allowed to talk to them without fear of a lawsuit. Of course, the problem then is that the agent is acknowledging that there is some sort of separation between different areas (ie. that’s the Jewish part of town or that’s the area where all the Italians live) – and in the eyes of the law, that could be negatively viewed as discrimination.

The trouble with it is that if we didn’t need discrimination laws in the first place, we could probably talk more openly on the subject. I’ve always felt that part of the reason that discrimination still exists is because we spend so much focusing on pigeon-holing everyone. The Census wants to know your racial background. Demographic information for neighborhoods is often broken down along racial lines. By continuing to break everything down by these classes (race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or familial status) we create our focus on the distinctions between them and allow the “differences” between us to be marked, tagged, and flagged – which can easily lead to discrimination.

I encourage everyone to be equal opportunity people and as far as my business practice goes, everyone is welcome.

As usual, I must disclose the fact that I am not a lawyer and therefore can’t give legal advice. The opinions I express about discrimination are in regards to my personal beliefs and although they follow the law, they are not necessarily one and the same as the law.

If you’re interested in reading about fair housing laws, check out this post by Patricia Kennedy, a real estate agent in Washington, DC, which opens up the question of whether the fair housing laws are unconstitutional.

photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives

Bills split from Jobs Bill and passed.

After being denied as part of H.R. 4213, American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, the first time home buyer tax credit has been extended (please see details below) and the National Flood Insurance Program is reinstated. Both (originally amendments to H.R. 4213) were split off as stand alone bills (H.R. 5623 and H.R. 5569 respectively) in order to get them passed after a vote to break a filibuster in the Senate failed.

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended to September 30, 2010

I like to call H.R. 5623 a paperwork deadline extension in order to try and avoid confusion about what this bill’s passage means. The extension of the tax credit does not allow new home buyers to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, it only gives those first time home buyers (and so-called “move up buyers”) that were already under contract (on or before April 30, 2010) a few extra months to close on their home. The original deadline to close your transaction for qualifying purchases was June 30, 2010, this new bill gives first time home buyers until September 30, 2010 (on or before) to wrap up their transactions and close on their new home.

There have been a lot of misleading articles about the first time home buyer tax credit extension, so please be aware:

This extension does not allow for new purchases. It is only for those already under contract on or before April 30, 2010.

The biggest beneficiaries of this change will be those who bought short sales or foreclosures and those who were caught up in the suspension of the National Flood Insurance Program.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

The National Flood Insurance Program (also know by its initials, NFIP) expired on June 1, 2010 and has left some home buyers stuck in the middle of a lender that won’t write them a loan without flood insurance and a flood insurance program that halted activity. This reauthorization of the NFIP, will allow home owners currently in limbo with their home purchases to buy flood insurance to satisfy the lender’s requirements and move on with the transaction. This new bill reopens the National Flood Insurance Program and is retroactive, so buyers that were unable to purchase insurance, but had applied can now resume the process.

photo courtesy of Zevotron

More resources for Texas Home Owners.

Yet another site introduced recently by the Texas Association of Realtors®, TxHomePrograms.com, aims to help home buyers find and take advantage of the many affordable housing programs available in Texas. A continuously updated database, Texas Home Programs, was created in part with the National Association of Realtors® in order to help consumers find the programs relevant to them. The site also offers home buying advice, a real estate glossary, information about the process of buying a home, and resources about predatory lending, credit, and health and safety issues in the home.

The push to help consumers have more information at their fingertips when considering their real estate purchases and sales is a welcome one. The Texas Association of Realtors® in particular is being very proactive when it comes to educating home buyers and sellers, which makes me proud to be a Texas Realtor®. The more knowledge consumers enter the market with, the better their choices and decisions about real estate.

photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks

Worried about losing your Texas home?

Although Texas escaped the mass foreclosure problem that states like California, Florida, and Arizona were plagued by, we do have them and they are a fact of life. While no one wants to lose their home, owners are often scared, confused, and frustrated. As they get behind on their mortgage payments, many people freeze up, bound by their fears and a lack of good resources to turn to. Google “foreclosure” and you’re more likely to find someone ready to fleece you of your money than give you solid advice and help in your time of need. It’s a sad reality that there are always vultures out there waiting to prey on those in situations like these.

Enter, KeepMyTexasHome.org, a new site brought to you by the Texas Association of Realtors® and the National Association of Realtors®. Full of information about foreclosure, what to do if you’re behind on your mortgage, how the Texas foreclosure process works, terms you’ll hear in real estate (we have a terrible habit of abbreviating real estate terms), and solid advice of “what to do” when you find yourself facing these situations, this new site aims to keep more Texans in their homes and keeping their homes from foreclosure.

photo courtesy of TheTruthAbout…

A piece of the home ownership puzzle.

Home ownership can often bring up a lot of questions. Before, during, and after the home buying process you’ll need answers. Enter HouseLogic. Whether this is your first home or your tenth, there’s something here for everyone.

As more and more consumers turn to the internet for answers to their questions, the need for more quality information increases. The National Association of Realtors® recognized that need and built HouseLogic. Divided into six main categories, HouseLogic compiles facts, figures, and how-to information in one convenient place for home owners. I’ve been toying with the site since I first heard about it and I have to say, I’m impressed. Back when I bought my first home in Los Angeles, real estate blogging hadn’t really taken off and although I was a complete internet-geek, all I could really do was go online and look at houses and occasionally stumble across an article or two about home ownership. As many home owners begin their research online before ever contacting a real estate agent, HouseLogic should be added to their list of reference websites.

Putting the pieces in place.

Let’s take a look at what HouseLogic provides by looking at each of the six main categories:

Improve – This category covers exactly what you might guess it does. Home Improvement. The best part of this section of the site is your ability to look at various projects, get the know how to do them yourself, and see the potential value added to your home versus the project’s cost. If you’re a registered user, you can actually save projects in your “binder” and build a personalized home improvement guide.

Maintain – Home ownership brings with it the need to update and maintain the various systems and appliances in your house. If you’re a first time home owner, it can seem a bit daunting at first, but the longer you own a home, the more you get comfortable and capable. This section of the site covers many of your questions about home repair and maintenance and contains a lot of great suggestions for getting more out of your home, whether prolonging your appliances life expectancy through proper maintenance or simple projects to improve your home’s energy efficiency.

Engage – I was pleasantly surprised to find this category at HouseLogic. This section covers community and neighborhoods. In a world where we love our gated communities, fences around our yards, and caller ID to keep people out of our lives, I think we’re beginning to move back to a sense of community amongst our neighbors. Sure, not every neighbor is your idea of the perfect person to live next door to, but getting involved in your area can bring safety, friendliness, and a sense of community to your neighborhood. I applaud the National Association of Realtors® for including this section, I hope all neighborhoods become more tightly knit in the future.

Taxes & Incentives – Obviously one of the incentives that is discussed is the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, but that’s not all that’s out there. Tax credits for making your home more energy efficient, tax deductions for vacation properties, as well as deductions based on mortgage interest are all covered. As always, you should speak with a qualified tax professional when dealing with these matters, but knowing what’s out there first can be a great help.

Finances & Insurance – I find that the world of finance (as it applies to mortgages) is one of the most confusing subjects for home owners. Even some of the seasoned veterans of home ownership can be lost in this topic and have more questions than you can imagine. Part of that comes from the fact that mortgages are ever evolving. Remember the sub-prime loans that helped cause the market to crash? Gone. Ever heard of a no-doc loan (no documentation or verification of income was necessary to get the loan)? Gone. Just when you think you have mortgage finance figured out, changes come along. Lucky for us, the basics usually stay the same. Topics such as refinancing, foreclosure, hazard insurance, and loan modification are discussed within this section of HouseLogic.

News & Activity – Housing market news from around the country, stories that affect both national and local real estate markets, and the latest in building technology and information are all covered by HouseLogic in this section. Since I become a real estate agent (and thereby immersed myself in real estate news) I have found I have become a better home owner through all the news I read on a daily basis. Of course, you probably won’t read quite as much (it is my job to stay on top of the news after all), but I do find that the more my clients read up on real estate news, the more they are prepared for the different challenges we might face in the home buying process.

The puzzle is never finished.

As HouseLogic grows in size and gathers more content, look for it to become an excellent resource for anyone with a home. The National Association of Realtors® is really taking the issue of home owner education head on and I think this is a good first step. With that said, I don’t think it will ever beat out hands on experience of home owners as they learn by doing while living in their home (when a toilet overflows at 3AM, you learn a lot – really quickly). I think the “binder” idea that allows you to build a project guide for your home is a great idea and will probably build myself a file, break out the hammer and drill, and get to work.

photo courtesy of rharrison

Social Media And Real Estate Agents.

Yesterday morning, I received a link to an article in the North Bay Business Journal from a few friend of mine on Twitter. I had spoken to the author of the post, Jenna V. Loceff, last week as she asked me about my thought as a real estate agent utilizing social media as part of my business plan. In particular, she wanted to discuss Flickr with me as she had read my stories about what happened between me and the photo site.

Our conversation covered a lot of ground in a short span of time and some of what I said made it into Monday’s article. I was shocked to see the numbers for real estate agents’ use of social media as reported by the California Association Of Realtors® considering how California is home to some of the world’s tech giants and also an incubator for many of the technologies we use on a daily basis in real estate.

Read the full article on the North Bay Business Journal website (it appears they don’t archive older articles so the article no longer exists on the site)and please take a moment to leave your thoughts and comments.

photo courtesy of Gastev

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What a week it has been.

I apologize for my absence. I’ve been busy lately. I’ve had some clients to perform work for, but most of my week seems to have been involved in politics. To be more specific, the politics of being involved in such a huge organization as the National Association Of Realtors® (NAR). It’s been an eye opening experience and I don’t want to rewrite all the details as they have blogged about in many places, including my other blog www.sanantoniorealestaterockstar.com, which is based off of my writings at ActiveRain (which tend to be a bit more Realtor® focused than this site. Regardless, I have been fighting for both agents and consumers this past week by adding my voice to several issues.

Issue #1 – Should Google Be Considered a Scraper?

While the issue of “scraper sites” might not be your biggest concern, it is a big deal for agents. Unfortunately a recent decision by a local board in Indiana (MIBOR) and NAR has resulted in Google being viewed as a scraper. What does that mean to you? Well right now in San Antonio we haven’t seen any of the effects, but the fear is that we will. The effect is simple. I can show my listings on my site via IDX technology as well as other listings from other brokers. You can search through the San Antonio MLS right here on my site. That’s the simple side of it, but what happens when Google can’t index those listings on a site? Because many agents are putting my listings (and everyone else’s) on their sites via IDX, when Google comes through and crawls their site, my listing might appear in Google a few more times than if only I were doing it. It would be associated with another agent’s site, but it would be free advertising for my sellers. If more people can find the home, more people might take an interest in it and we can get it sold. That’s the goal isn’t it?

Every seller I have ever worked with has been more than happy to have their home plastered all over every corner of the internet, but this ruling makes this possibility disappear. Many agents stood up to this ruling and there has been a lot of action on it (emails, phone calls, blogs, comments, etc.). It seems that agents that want things to remain the “old way” want to keep the ruling in effect. Those of us that want to push the internet envelope for our clients want the ruling to change. Many of us are working on it and I hope to have good news some day on the issue. Unfortunately, NAR moves slowly and it will take time.

Issue #2 – Using The First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit As A Downpayment.

The shot heard round the world. On May 12th, HUD Secretary Donovan made the announcement that HUD would be allowing FHA lenders to offer first time home buyers a bridge loan in order to monetize the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. In other words, the lender would issue you a short term loan equalling your tax credit and you could use it as a down payment. This announcement was made at the NAR Midyear Meeting in Washington D.C. and was quickly lauded as a great move. NAR sent out info to Realtors®, it was all over Twitter, and many Realtors® blogged about it. It seemed like great news for all those buyers who wanted to take advantage of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, but just didn’t have enough for a down payment.

Don’t always believe what you hear. HUD had issued Mortgagee Letter 9-15 (which directs lenders how to deal with new rules put out by FHA), but suddenly – poof – it disappeared. Appears Secretary Donovan wasn’t meant to announce the idea, but rather talk about its possibility. Apparently it’s being talked about in Washington, but the details haven’t been worked out. Once I know for sure that it is or isn’t possible, I will report to you back here. Until then, you can not use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.

The links below are suggested reading if you have questions or just want some more information about what’s been going on. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I find it important to keep you informed of what we’re doing to make the real estate experience better for you. I for one, don’t want my hands tied by my own association, which is why I fight for changes when I think they’re necessary.

photo courtesy of Marshall Astor

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