Arcadia Association of REALTORS storm the Capitol in Washington DC to fight for Homeowner Rights!

NAR Midyear

by Ryan Asao

This year NAR Midyear was packed with exciting events as thousands of REALTORS throughout the nation stormed the Capitol to fight for homeowner rights.  The theme this year was Homeownership Matters.  NAR is the voice of its members and the American homeowner and supports the lobbying efforts in Washington DC and builds the relationships we have in Congress. As one of the representatives for the Arcadia Association of REALTORS we met with Congresswoman Judy Chu, U.S. Representative for California's 27th congressional district and Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, U.S. Representative for California's 32nd congressional district.  During our meetings, we discussed issues such as mortgage interest deduction, preserving the mission and purpose of the FHA program, restructuring Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, we encouraged the return of private capital, and preserving other homeownership tax policies.

On top of all our lobbying efforts, we also had a NAR Presidential Race that was narrowly won by Tom Salomone of Florida.  He will be the 2014 NAR First Vice President.  Jim Helsel of Pennsylvania ran from the floor at the Board of Directors meeting on Saturday and was also a well-qualified candidate! As part of NAR’s Strategic Planning committee this year, I was involved in preparing a report for our directors regarding NAR’s new “crowd sourced” strategic planning initiative called REThink the Future of Real Estate (find out more information at rethinkfuture.com).

There was also exciting news about RPAC that week as NAR released a new app called the REALTOR Action Center! Since 1969 RPAC (REALTOR Political Action Committee) has been the voice of REALTORS® on Capitol Hill. This new app was a way for REALTORS to make it easier for them to invest in RPAC, respond to calls for action, and much more.  Look out for our 1st AAR RPAC event coming soon and call me at 626.253.4557 to find out how to get involved in protecting homeownership.  Take care and I look forward to you getting you engaged in our mission "Homeownership Matters!"

*** Real estate question of the day: Make sure to ask your real estate professional if they are a REALTOR vs. a real estate agent?

Stay tuned for my next article on what the difference is between a REALTOR vs. a real estate agent. There are roughly 500,000 licensed real estate agents in California and of those 500,000 agents only 150,000 of them are REALTORS. This could make the difference in having a bad real estate experience versus a great one!

For more educational real estate information go to my website at www.ThinkRELink.com

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Ryan Asao * DRE# 1331834

Not Just Another REALTOR. A Friend For LIFE!

CEO Think RE*Link Inc. a proud Partner of Podley Properties

www.ThinkRELink.com * Cell: 626.253.4557