Traverse (MI) REALTORS® Put Three Smart Growth Grants to Work
With just 625 members, the Traverse Area Association of REALTORS® (TAAR) is a small but mighty force in northwest lower Michigan. Decades ago, it helped develop the database system that is now the heart of the electronic Multiple Listing System. Now, with no fewer than three NAR Smart Growth...
White Mountain Board (NH) Begins Quest for Affordable Workforce Housing
Leaders of the 125-member White Mountain Board of REALTORS® (WMBR) knew from the moment they learned about NAR’s Housing Opportunity Grants that they could put one to good use in their rural region where many jobs do not pay enough to cover housing within a reasonable commuting range. The WMBR...
Beverly Hills/Los Angeles REALTORS® Help Elect Champion to City Council
The 6,000-member Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of REALTORS® (BHGLAAR) was fairly certain that five of the six candidates it was supporting for the Los Angeles City Council, would easily win this year’s election. But one of those REALTOR® Champions, Mitch O’Farrell, was up...
Minnesota REALTORS® Defeat Sales Tax on Real Estate Services
A proposed state sales tax on real estate services would have added $1,500 to the cost of buying and selling a $250,000 home, and the 17,000-member Minnesota Association of REALTORS (MNAR) was determined not to let that happen. Political strategists at NAR helped the state association use an...
Santa Fe REALTORS® Launch Broad Effort to Elect Property Rights Candidates to Public Office
When the mayor of Santa Fe announced that he would not be running for re-election, the 750-member Santa Fe Association of REALTORS® (SFAR) recognized an opportunity. Not only would this be a prime moment to affect change in its city leadership, but it also signaled a chance to take its...
High Point, NC REALTORS® Take Lead in Cultivating Community Pride and Planning for City’s Future
The 20th century was very good to High Point, N.C., the capital of America’s furniture industry. For decades, though, thanks largely to overseas competition, its population has been contracting and the city itself is...
Louisiana REALTORS ® Suggest a Better Plan Rather than Higher Property Taxes to Fund Schools
“Plan First, Tax Second,” was the rallying cry of REALTORS ® in Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish this spring, in response to a proposition by the school board to quadruple property taxes. The local Bayou Board of REALTORS ®, while fully supportive of education in the Parish, and mindful of...
Illinois REALTORS® Show that Cross-Cultural Business Savvy Matters
As industries across the board are ‘going global,’ the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) knows that real estate is no different. IAR doesn’t just recognize such trends, it helps its members stay ahead of them. For the past four years, the 41,000-member association has been using...
Georgia’s West Metro Board Uses HOP Grant to Showcase Ongoing Neighborhood Stabilization Work
For years, the 230-member West Metro Board of REALTORS® (WMBoR) has helped support the Neighborhood Stabilization Program administered by the City of Carrollton Housing Authority. By rehabbing abandoned homes and selling them with down payment assistance to qualified buyers, the program has been a...
Billings Association Puts REALTOR® Party Resources to Work in Long-Time “Quality of Life” Program
The 600-member Billings Association of REALTORS® (BAR) has a long-held belief that REALTORS® do much more than sell houses – they build communities. And, their actions prove it. Launched 10 years ago, BAR’s Quality of Life Program raises nearly $40,000 for local charities like Dress for...