If you are buying a home with an FHA loan and were able to borrow well over last year's ceiling of $87,000 you can thank the National Association of REALTORS®. If you were able to sell your home last year and keep up to $250,000 of the money tax-free, again, you can thank the NAR. Do you like deducting your mortgage interest rate off of your federal income taxes? Once, again, you can thank the NAR, who lobbies constantly on this issue, that you still can.

You may think the world's largest trade organization is just out to promote its own membership, but you'd be wrong. The NAR and its members, REALTORS, have often been misunderstood and underappreciated. The focus of the organization is instead on its consumers.

The NAR spends millions of dollars promoting home ownership annually in promotional campaigns and by taking political action. For the entire 1997-1998 election cycle, NAR's RPAC donated nearly $2.73 million to federal candidates and political committees alone, making it one of the top twenty-five most influential lobbying groups on Capital Hill.

Lobbying to protect homeowner rights is the number one legislative focus of the NAR and puts the NAR at the forefront of many economic issues. Most recently these issues have included raising the FHA cap on loans so more people can qualify for government-backed loans successfully passed at the end of 1998; beating back the tax reform movement to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction (this issue was on the legislative table in 1995 but it is still ongoing) ; and the Tax Relief Act of 1997 that raised the limite on capital gains, enabling more homeowners to turn properties without tax consequences and stimulating the move-up, second home and vacation home market.

NAR is the only trade organization whose purpose is to watch over the rights of homeowners, buyers and sellers, and the only organization to actively lobby to protect those rights.

The NAR membership is self-governed and government regulated, unlike the membership of many other organizations associated with the real estate transaction. Its members subscribe to a code of ethics and are subject to internal and state-regulated disciplinary actions for infractions.

REALTORS® are self-employed. The real estate industry is one of the few professions in which its members pay their own expenses and are paid by the client only at the conclusion of the transaction. There is no deposit, no retainer fee, no draw against commission, no bridge fee, and no hourly wage. They are paid for their productivity and often are not paid at all for their work.

If you work on a salary, this may be hard to understand. How can they do it? They love to sell homes. Realtors are in the business of delivering the American Dream - the dream of home ownership.

Sharon Millett, president of the National Association of REALTORS® gave an inspiring speech when she was inaugurated in November as the organization's 1999 president.

Millett asked the question, "Who really cares if the Realtor Association succeeds or fails? Sometimes we can find the answer from someone on the outside who is looking in. Step back in time to 1986. You may remember that Yelena Bonner, wife of the famed Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov came to this country for heart surgery not available in what was then the USSR."

"As she was ending her convalescence and pondering her return to rejoin her husband in exile, she wrote about a house ... a house that lived only in her dreams."

"The founders of our nation understood the importance of private property ownership. What was clear to them then, is still clear to us today. That owning real estate is the basis of stability, the foundation of values, and the source of personal freedom," continues Millett.

If you don't understand what the Realtor does for you as a buyer, seller, or homeowner, think about the words of Yelena Bonner, and remember that the NAR and its members are your first, only, and last defense of the territory of property rights. If you are considering buying or selling a home, interview a few Realtors, and choose the one you feel will give you the most professional treatment.

Give a REALTOR® the opportunity to help you achieve the American dream.

Published: February 1, 1999

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