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Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 6:35 AM

This Babble Will Never End

Dear Fellow REALTOR®,

For nearly four months, NAR has been working to deliver to you and to our nation a comprehensive plan to stabilize the housing market.

This week, we saw countless hours of hard work pay off – in a MAJOR way – when the federal government implemented NAR’s recommendations to stimulate housing with the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

This bold and unprecedented move to help housing did not happen by chance. Just a few months ago, the auto industry had Congress’ ear. Yet, thanks to countless meetings, letters, phone calls, and public pressure that we – the REALTORS® of America – placed on lawmakers in Washington, D.C., housing emerged as the top priority in the new Administration and in Congress. While some of the items in the Act are controversial and are currently being debated, most of our top priorities were addressed.

Thanks to all of our hard work, America’s homebuyers and homeowners will soon have:

Lower interest rates for home mortgages;

A greater ability to get financing through FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in high-cost areas;

A true tax credit incentive to buy a home NOW; and

Foreclosure mitigation and short-sale standards.

As a direct result of NAR’s advocacy, we hope REALTORS® will see an increase in home sales this year. NAR also continues to make significant progress on our efforts to unclog the pipeline for foreclosures and to address administrative problems with short sales.

Such significant movement on these critical issues is rare. I personally thank and congratulate each and every member of the National Association of REALTORS® for helping to make NAR’s Housing Stimulus Plan a reality. For more information and details on these new laws and programs, visit the Unlock America’s Economy Page on Realtor.org:

http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/gapublic/gses_conservatorship?LID=RONav0023

Make no mistake — we’re just getting started. NAR will continue to push for other important laws and policies that can help you in your business. From keeping banks out of real estate to providing you with affordable health coverage, you can count on the “Voice for Real Estate” to help you gain an advantage in every kind of market.

That’s the power of NAR, and it’s why I am proud to be a member and to serve as your 2009 President.

Once again, thank you all, and keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

Charles McMillan, CIPS, GRI
2009 NAR President

Posted on Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 6:35 AM in Psycho-babble | 11 Comments » | Print Print You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Reader Comments: 11 Responses

  1. Oh god, it was the NAR’s plan? So… it’s doomed to failure then?

    Emmi | February 21st, 2009 at 8:02 am

  2. These people at NAR make me sick to say the least. I wonder if NAR has an office inside the Whitehouse so they can fund all of their pet projects.

    Honestly how many more tax subsidies does the housing industry need to be a viable entity going forward?

    This is really starting to become a joke and taxpapers’ need to be outraged.

    Nathan | February 21st, 2009 at 11:51 am

  3. The worst of it is that they really don’t know what they’re doing. Both NAR and the government are just throwing everything against the wall.

    Then NAR keeps lying with comments like:

    “Lower interest rates”

    “A true tax credit incentive to buy a home NOW”

    “Foreclosure mitigation and short-sale standards”

    Lower rates? Gov’t thinks they might have done something that could cause lower rates, but we’ll see about that. I’m not convinced.

    $8,000 tax credit is “true”? Buzz off.

    The last one doesn’t even warrant a comment.

    Jim the Realtor | February 21st, 2009 at 12:01 pm

  4. The NAR should issue a press release containing one word: “Sorry.”

    Genius | February 21st, 2009 at 1:08 pm

  5. This seems totally obvious, but isn’t foreclosure mitigation terrible for realtors? No realtors split 6% on a loan mod. I would think high turnover plus more houses priced to sell would be very good for RE agents in the short and long term.

    FuturesWatcher | February 21st, 2009 at 3:38 pm

  6. “NAR, Maties”

    Sorry, couldn’t resist. My mom’s a NAR member, but still…

    Former RB Resident | February 21st, 2009 at 6:16 pm

  7. WOW.

    Stephen Waits | February 21st, 2009 at 6:36 pm

  8. Clearly, the NAR is providing the stimulis necessary to increase home sales.

    Blissful Ignoramus | February 21st, 2009 at 6:56 pm

  9. UM….That’s IF people still have jobs left.

    You’re high.

    MADASHELL | February 22nd, 2009 at 10:37 pm

  10. How about NAR implement disclosure rules for Realtors? Much the same as those working in finance and securities must disclose when they own a stock they’re discussing, Realtors should have to disclose what properties they own, or have owned – especially if those same properties are being used to generate the comps for the deal they’re currently working on as a buying or selling agent.

    SanDiegoDave | February 25th, 2009 at 11:56 am

  11. @#5 : sure is terrible for realtors but good for everyone else.

    Realtors will have to find productive employment instead of taking 6% of other people’s house values for … what?

    Interesting that NAR has had to switch sides like this. Their pressure must not be working any more. :)

    artichoke | March 6th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

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