By Sam DeBord The U.S. tax code includes multiple incentives for buying and owning real estate. The mortgage interest deduction and property tax deduction are just a couple of the incentives that have come under fire in new “tax reform” plans for their purported special treatment of the real estate industry and home owners. Do we really need tax deductions …
YPN in Washington: #RPCTE Recap
By Rob Reuter, YPN Manager YPN members from across the country converged on the nation’s capital May 12-17 to attend the 2014 REALTOR® Party Convention & Trade Expo (#RPCTE) where thousands of REALTORS® annually meet to address the most recent issues facing the real estate industry. Over the last five years, the number of YPN attendees has increased as the …
The Case for a REALTOR® to Lead Realtor.com®
By Sam DeBord Realtor.com®’s president, Errol Samuelson, has been hired away by Zillow. I’ve met Errol and he’s a nice guy, very smart, and very successful. Business is business. But, naive as it might be, there’s plenty of disappointment from the REALTOR® community. It comes from a belief that we have a common cause greater than just our businesses. Whether …
YPN Rallies for RPAC
Members of the Young Professionals Network stood tall and proud at NAR’s 360 Thursday, waving U.S. flags in the air to symbolize their commitment to “10 for 10” – investing $10,000 to the REALTOR® Political Action Committee (RPAC) over the next 10 years. Christian Zarif with Better Homes and Gardens Kansas City and Matt Case with Coldwell Banker Schmidt Family …
Announcing No. 300
By Rob Reuter, YPN Manager YPN has hit another milestone. On Thursday, Aug. 8 2013, the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association in Florida confirmed the formation of their Young Professionals Network becoming the 300th network of YPN. In addition to establishing its 300th network, YPN also achieved the following milestones in 2013: More than 150 NAR Committee & Advisory Board …
The YPN Wave Continues to Roll in 2012 & Into 2013
By Rob Reuter, YPN Manager Since taking off in 2009, YPN posted a third consecutive year of increased membership numbers in 2012 adding 45 new networks and an estimated 10,000 new members for a total of 272 networks and 30,000+ members. Here are more highlights from the past year:YPN recognized three Networks of the Year in 2012: Seattle-King County for …
NAR in Orlando: My Trip in a Nutshell
By Subhi Gharbieh On Thursday, Nov. 8, my fellow Dallas REALTOR® Joe Atkins and I booked the 6 a.m. flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Orlando so that we could make it to the YPN Advisory Subcommittee meeting that started at noon. Being the responsible adult that I am (not), I tried to pull an all nighter so that I wouldn’t …
Utah REALTORS® Take Their Issues to the Hill
By Chris Nichols Approximately 60 REALTORS® from the state of Utah spent last Wednesday afternoon discussing issues vital to the housing market with their Congressional Delegation. The afternoon started with a state caucus meeting with Jamie Gregory, one of NAR’s chief lobbyists, walking us through the major talking points of the day. Then it was off to Capitol Hill …
The Last About Me Page You Will Have to Fill Out
By Stefanie Hahn I hope that your SocialBios is the last About Me page you will have to complete now that REALTOR.com and SocialBios have fully launched the Hyper-Social(TM) Agent Profile Pages and Hyper-Social(TM) Agent Recommendations. Presented at the Young Professional Network Sub-Committee Midyear meeting yesterday in Washington, D.C., you must understand that this is no ordinary About Me page. …
Duty’s Calling, YPN
By Nobu Hata Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that we’re living and working in a tenuously linked society right now. Hyper-political-mumbo-jumbo is being thrown around to a jaded audience, and we are more polarized and fractured than ever before. That same thing could be said for the real estate industry. Data, IDX, syndication, broker-centric, agent-centric, consumer-centric, …