In This Issue…
Dates & Deadlines
Sept. 25: AEI Year-Round Session “Virtual Hang Out: Catching Up with Your Peers”,11:00 AM CDT/ 12:00 PM EDT
Pop Quiz: What’s the number one item association professional staff miss about gathering for meetings? Networking with peers! You asked for it, and we are bringing it to you, virtually! Based on YOUR survey suggestions, we are dedicating an entire session to several small, facilitated breakouts on the topics you rated highest in the recent AE Professional Development Survey. Think ‘tips for tough conversations,’ ‘building strong relationships with incoming leaders,’ and ‘how to engage members to get involved.’ This session will be hosted and facilitated by AEs for maximum peer interaction. We hope you can join us to share ideas and take some back with you too! REGISTER HERE.
Sept. 30: 2020 President’s Circle Deadline
All four President’s Circle rounds have launched for 2020! The full $2,000 investment is due by September 30, 2020! View the current President’s Circle Roster online. Contact rpac@nar.realtor for President’s Circle questions.
Oct. 15: RPAC Major Investor Recognition Deadline
Make sure you and your members are recognized as RPAC Major Investors in time for the 2020 REALTORS® Conference & Expo! RPAC investments must be submitted to the NAR Finance Office no later than Thursday, October 15, 2020 to meet this deadline. Click here for more information or contact Jackie Zaporowski
Nov. 15: Community Outreach Grants Extended Deadline
The final deadline to apply for a Community Outreach Grant – Smart Growth, Housing Opportunity, Fair Housing, Placemaking and Community Rebuilding Grant – in 2020 has been extended from October 15 to November 15, 2020. After November 15, applications will not be accepted until January 2021. Need ideas on how a grant can help fund your advocacy effort? Search success stories or sign-up for a 30-minute coaching session to brainstorm ways to address affordable housing challenges, community planning and development issues, revitalization opportunities and fair housing education using a Community Outreach Grant. For more information, contact Christine Windle at 202-383-1135.
Advocacy News
The Campaign Services team would like to give a shout-out to all of the new GADs and AEs who attended our New GAD/AE Orientation last week. Thank you for your participation and time spent learning about the many resources NAR has to offer your association’s advocacy program. As a reminder to all of GAD Nation, check the closed Facebook group and HUB page frequently for information and updates. Our next ALL GAD CALL is October 15 at 3:00 PM EST.
Last Call for Candidate Campaigns
LAST CALL! Election Day is only a few short weeks away. If you want mail or online ads to help a candidate, please reach out to Mitchell Norton as soon as possible to discuss campaign options for supporting REALTORS® and REALTOR® Champions.
State Member Voter Profiles Now Available
The State Member Voter Profiles provides political and demographic information regarding REALTORS® in their state. These reports are developed by the NAR Campaign Services Program, working with our data provider, Real Strategies, to assist states in identifying areas where voter registration programs for the membership can be launched, as well as providing some demographic data that can be useful for advocacy and strategic planning purposes. If you have any questions regarding the State Member Voter Profiles, please contact Jim MacGregor.
2021 Issue Campaigns
If you need NAR assistance to help you hit the ground running on an issue campaign in early 2021, the 2021 NAR Issues Mobilization Committee will consider grant requests at its first meeting on December 2, 2020. This meeting provides the first opportunity to request funds to be spent in 2021. If you’re interested in submitting a grant request for consideration at the December Committee meeting, please connect with us as soon as possible. For more information, contact Joe Maheady at 443-690-8201 or John Winston at 804-398-8780.
State & Local Legislative Priorities Survey
It is time for our annual survey on legislative priorities! For the last several years, we have had a 100% response rate on the state level to this survey and good rates for local as well so we hope to continue that trend this year. Thank you in advance for your participation!
The surveys will remain open for 10 days, so submit your responses before October 1, 2020. Results will be made available in November during the REALTORS® Conference and an electronic copy will also be distributed to you. As an extra incentive, those who complete the survey will be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card! If you experience any technical difficulties, please email surveys@amstrat.com
Housing Stabilization – A Guide for Collaboration and Initiatives
This new resource assists REALTOR® associations with creating a Housing Stabilization Task Force to help homeowners, renters, and landlords manage the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The guide offers tips on organizing the task force and suggests a variety of activities the task force can consider. The guide also encourages associations to include outreach and education for potential home buyers as part of the task force’s stabilization efforts. For more information, contact Wendy Penn at 202-383-7504.
ICYMI The Stabilizing and Revitalizing Neighborhoods in the COVID-19 Era Webinars
This four-part webinar series explored the roles of REALTORS® as partners with local government to prevent property vacancy and abandonment as communities develop strategies to navigate the aftermath of COVID-19. Read the REALTOR® Magazine coverage NAR’s New Webinar Series Focuses on Preventing Vacant, Abandoned Properties; What History Can Tell Us About Commercial Vacancies; Enforcing Building Codes Can Prevent and Reduce Vacancies;and How Land Banks Can Help Stabilize Neighborhoods With Vacancy Problems or visit realtorparty.realtor/transforming to view the recordings. For more information, contact Wendy Penn at 202-383-7504.
ICYMI How the Land Use Initiative Lends ‘Horsepower’ to Advocacy Webinar
Re-watch ways to explore how to submit a local land use related proposal that does harm to real estate for expert analysis and talking points, recent issue trends and local association success stories. Listen to the recording and visit the Land Use Initiative page for more information. For more information, contact Holly Moskerintz at 202-383-1157.
Take the Lead on Expanding Housing Opportunities in Your Region
Support efforts that create or improve systems, programs, and policies that expand access to housing that is affordable in your area. Housing Opportunity grants up to $10,000 are available to associations to support a wide range of housing opportunity initiatives, including housing symposia; home buyer education or housing fairs; counseling and financial literacy efforts; housing needs studies; and REALTOR® affordable housing education. View the Expanding Housing Opportunity – A Toolkit for REALTORS® and Associations for success stories and practical tips and examples for a range of activities. For more information, contact Wendy Penn at 202-383-7504.
RPAC Update
Flood Insurance in my Congressional District
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides necessary coverage and protection from flooding, the most costly and common natural disaster in the United States. Look for shareable Congressional District Reports underscoring the importance of flood insurance to property owners across the U.S. to be posted on nar.realtor soon. The following information highlights the NFIP’s importance to this district and underscores the need to periodically extend its insurance writing authority.
Properties at Risk
Every home in the district has some flood risk; wherever it rains, it can flood. According to CoreLogic, however, a substantial number of homes are high risk, including many located outside of FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), where flood insurance is required for a mortgage. When combined with moderate risk properties, the share of properties at greater risk is sizable.
Importance to the District
NFIP provides vital flood coverage that is not available in most home insurance policies. Unlike FEMA disaster aid, NFIP is funded by policyholder premiums and any borrowing in catastrophic loss years must be repaid with interest.
Benefits to Constituents
In the district, the average NFIP claim payment is $30,988. FEMA aid is typically much less if a major disaster is declared under the Stafford Act. While major flood disasters have recently been declared for nearly all counties, not all declarations include Individual Assistance (IA).
District Risk is Increasing
According to the First Street Foundation, the number of homes in a SFHA is expected to grow by 12.9% to 72,354 in 2050 (from 64,080 in 2020), based off projected potential environmental conditions.
Notes:
- Single-family and multifamily homes are included in the calculations.
- Properties in high or moderate flood risk are located in zones A,V and Shaded X/B.
- NFIP Policies as of August 31, 2019.
- NFIP Claims since 1970.
- FEMA Individual Assistance (IA) payments since 2000.
- Major Flood Disaster Declarations with IA since 2005
NAR’s Economic Outlook
| ★ | New Unemployment Claims Decreased to Their Lowest Level Since the Beginning of the Pandemic New jobless claims totaled 790,021 in the week ending September 12, a decrease of nearly 9% from the previous week. Compared to late March, the number of weekly claims has come down substantially stabilizing below 1 million for the seventh straight week. |
| ★ | Landlord Statistics from the 2018 Rental Housing Finance Survey Understanding the profile of landlords is important because any policy pertaining to renters also impacts landlords and their ability to provide rental housing supply. |
| ★ | Characteristics of the Unemployed Across the Country From the beginning of the lockdown in mid-March to the latest week, there have been nearly 58 million Americans who have been laid off. |
| ★ | Households’ Perception of Being Able to Make a Debt Payment is Improving The unemployment benefits that about 29 million people receive have provided a boost to household incomes, enabling them to stay afloat and pay their debt and bills. |
| ★ | Top 1% Work from Home Counties The coronavirus pandemic period has shown that workers can work at home productively given the state of technology that enables workers to access their work files from anywhere, collaborate, and stay connected. This means that working from home or remotely is likely to become part of the workforce culture. |
Kelli Starrett
GAD Chair
New Orleans Metropolitan Association Of REALTORS®
Fall is here, friends. It’s my favorite time of year since we get to welcome cooler weather (except in the south), football (sort of), and the adrenaline rush of being knee-deep in campaigns. While we may still be 40 or so days from the big elections, our own quasi-campaign wrapped up last month when we closed the application period for GAD Advisory Group. Thank you so much to everyone who applied! I was really encouraged by the sight of the large stack of applications we received, and I hope the enthusiasm to serve continues to grow.
Please join me in congratulating the members of the 2020-2021 GAD Advisory Group:
- Brad Ward, Vice Chair (S) – Michigan
- Julia Parenteau, Immediate Past Chair (S) – Texas
- Liz Peetz, 2021 Host – Colorado
- Samar Jha, 2022 Local Host – Philadelphia, PA
- Sherri Martin, 2022 State Host – Pennsylvania
- Josh Dix (L) – Charleston, SC
- Marta Golding Brown (L) – Ventura, CA
- Charlie Hinderliter (L) – St. Louis, MO
- Theresa Kuhns (L) – Hughesville, MD
- Bo Patten (L) – Long Island, NY
- Betsy Schultz (L) – Eugene, OR
- Darin Watkins (L) – Spokane, WA
- Maggie McShane (S) – Indiana
- Mary Lawson (S) – Virginia
- Brad Mock (S) – Georgia
- Taylor Shanaman (S) – Oregon
- Beth Wanless (S) – Ohio
- Katharine Wendt (S) – North Carolina
- Clarke Wise (S) – Mississippi
The GAD Advisory Group will be working on many exciting projects this year, in addition to planning our 2021 GAD Institute in Denver. We’ll be reactivating the GAD mentor program after our COVID hiatus, working more closely with GADs serving on NAR committees, and continuing to try to solve the policy issues that confound us (like short-term rentals) while exploring the newer challenges that have come up in 2020.
Speaking of mentoring new GADs, NAR held its first virtual New GAD/AE Orientation earlier this month. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new colleagues, more than 40 people who I can tell will be tremendous assets to GAD Nation. Watching the orientation reminded me of when I started as a GAD: trying to navigate the new job and needs of my membership, and then leaving orientation in DC with my head spinning with thoughts of community outreach grants and candidate campaigns. It was a lot to take in, but I quickly learned that the network of GADs from around the country had my back. The new class of GADs and AEs are working through all of this during a pandemic and election season, but I know they are up for the challenge. We are delighted to have you all as part of GAD Nation and are here to help you in any way we can as you navigate these new waters.
Whether you are a new GAD or a little more experienced, our monthly all-GAD Zoom meetings are a great resource. Mark your calendars for our next meeting on October 15 at 3 pm EST. I hope to see you then!
SAVE THE DATE
- 2020 REALTORS Conference & Expo
When: Nov 13-16
Where: Virtual Conference. Virtual Meeting details to come.
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