REALTORS® Launch Waterbury (CT) “Front Porch Day” with Housing Opportunity Grant
The city of Waterbury, Conn. had been facing a growing epidemic of neighborhood blight for decades. Some properties had been abandoned; others harbored criminal activity. Porches, lawns, and sidewalks along entire streets had fallen into disrepair. Leaders of the 650-member Greater Waterbury Board...
San Diego Association Helps Three REALTOR®-Champions Win Most Votes in Jungle Primary
It’s a jungle out there in San Diego; in fact, in all of California, where the ‘Jungle Primary System’ applies. In the jungle system, all candidates are in the first round which, technically, is a non-partisan race, although candidates can accept endorsements. Fifty percent plus one vote wins...
Virgin Islands Association Takes on Historic Preservation With Issues Mobilization Grant
The price of living in paradise is occasional rough weather – and when storms the like of Hurricanes Hugo [1989] and Marilyn [1995] battered the U.S. Virgin Islands, the damage to property proved too much for owners of many of the islands’ historic homes. Over the years, the resulting...
Oregon REALTORS® Step Up to the Plate to Ban Transfer Taxes
Oregon’s REALTORS® came out in force in May of 2012 to let the powers that be know exactly what they think of the possibility of a new real estate transfer tax. In an energetic campaign to get a measure on November’s ballot opposing any new taxes on real estate transactions, the 12,000-member...
Illinois Association Advances Smart Growth Newsletter With Game Changer Grant
The Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) is using its $19,000 Game Changer Grant to help support a new bi-annual smart growth newsletter -- On Common Ground in Illinois. Loosely modeled on NAR’s On Common Ground smart growth magazine, the IAR publication specifically addresses issues of...
Oklahoma Association Goes Beyond PAC Contributions to Help Elect Two REALTOR® Champions
The 8,325-member Oklahoma Association of REALTORS® (OAR) has long had one of the state’s strongest Political Action Committees. But this spring, having received the maximum allowed PAC contributions from OAR, two of its strongest advocates – one in the State House (Marion Cooksey) and one in...
Texas REALTORS® Put Their Grassroots to Work in Statewide Primaries
“When Texas REALTORS® vote, Texas REALTORS® win.” That’s the slogan on the Texas Association’s web site -- and it’s also exactly what happened in the statewide primaries this year. The 80,000-member Texas Association worked with their 89 local associations to endorse 99 candidates...
Twin Falls (ID) REALTORS® Succeed in Ballot Initiative: Small Board Makes a Big Difference in First-Ever Campaign
In its first-ever experiment with political involvement, the 250-member Greater Twin Falls Association of REALTORS® proved that you don’t have to be big to be effective. The city of Twin Falls needed to expand its waste water treatment plant, in order to support the growth and attract new...
SW Florida REALTORS® Promote Free Homebuyer Education
The REALTOR® Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, Inc. is working with the Lee County Housing Development Corporation to provide free Homebuyer Education classes to the communities it serves. Course materials are provided by NeighborWorks® America and include topics such as...
St. Louis Association Makes Great Strides Toward Walk-able Communities
The St. Louis Association of REALTORS® (SLAR) combined U.S. government resources and an NAR Smart Growth Grant to produce a two-part program on walk-able communities -- one that it hopes may serve as a national model. Tapping the expertise of a national “walk-ability expert,” the 7,000-plus...