Highlights from NAR Conference in San Diego

Kailey WaringFeatured

The 2015 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego took place last week from November 13-16. Some 18,000 REALTORS® and guests attended the conference, which included several days of education sessions, forums, and committee meetings, along with the trade expo. Many local REALTORS® and board members attended the conference and took part in sessions and meetings.

Advocacy

NAR’s recent Call for Action on guarantee fees was the most successful CFA in the association’s history, with almost 19 percent of the association’s 1.1 million members nationwide responding. The CFA, which is still in effect, asks members of Congress not to use funds generated from guarantee fees to fund federal initiatives, such as the federal highway bill, that aren’t related to housing. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use the fees to manage their home mortgage credit risk.

On the evening of November 12, Federal Housing Administration Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ed Golding joined National Association of Realtors® President Chris Polychron on stage before a packed ballroom of REALTORS® and industry experts to announce changes to FHA condominium policies.

NAR has long advocated for broad improvements to FHA’s condo rules, arguing that existing policy is overly restrictive and keeps many consumers from buying and selling a home.

To address these concerns, Golding announced that FHA will make changes to its condo policies in line with those requested by NAR. Those include changes to the lengthy and complex recertification process in place today, burdensome owner-occupancy requirements, and limits on the types of property insurance that are considered acceptable coverage under FHA’s rules.

Consumer Advertising Campaign

NAR also unveiled its new Get Realtor® consumer advertising and social media campaign, which zeroes in on the value REALTORS® bring to the real estate transaction.

.REALTOR

At the NAR Board Meeting closing out the conference, Bob Goldberg, president and CEO of the REALTORS® Information Network and a senior vice president for NAR, reported that the .REALTOR top-level domain is one of the ten fastest-growing TLDs in the history of the Internet. NAR will launch the .realestate TLD in 2016.

YOUR ASSOCIATION IN ACTION

Tyler McKenzie, Seattle King County President, held a networking reception to welcome REALTORS® from the region to the annual conference.

Recognitions

The Washington chapter of Certified Residential Specialists was named CRS Chapter of the year in 2015. The chapter receives administrative support from Seattle King County REALTORS®. National CRS Board member Jerry Rippeteau, Windermere NE, received the Presidential Medallion Award for his service to CRS both locally and nationally.


Seattle King County Officers and Directors appointed to key NAR committees in 2016:
Rich Bergdahl – RPAC Participation Council
Sam DeBord – MLS Technology and Emerging Issues Advisory Board, and the MLS Policies Committee
Patti Hill – RPAC Major Investor Council
Russ Hokanson – NAR Finance Committee
Tyler McKenzie – CIPS Advisory Board and member of the 2016 NAR Leadership Academy
Lennox Scott – Data Strategies Committee and Large Residential Firms Advisory Group
Georgia Wall – Young Professionals Network (YPN) Advisory Board

MOU Signing

Seattle King County REALTORS® held a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with JARECO (Japanese American Real Estate Coalition), the associations of Singapore and Indonesia, and California’s West San Gabriel Valley Association. The MOU signing is both symbolic and emblematic of the increasing cooperation between real estate associations around the world, in service to their members, property owners and international business alike. Through these cooperative agreements, Seattle King County REALTORS® hopes to grow the increasing share of international real estate business in the state of Washington, which currently comprises an estimated 8% of all transactions. Seattle King County REALTORS® was awarded Gold status in the Global Business Council Achievement Program for demonstrating exceptional commitment to building members’ awareness of the global and multicultural business opportunities in our local market.