Your President's Message:

Our Seat at the Table

This month, as I prepare to go to the Washington D.C. Mid-Year Legislative meeting, I am reminded how serious the situation is for our country. As your President, I will represent our board in scheduled meetings with all of our Arkansas delegates. The opportunity is overwhelming to sit at the table and be able to discuss Arkansas, and Northwest Arkansas issues that affect our Realtor’s clients.
I am sure each real estate office has seen and talked to people about using the $8,000 home buyer tax credit. Let me review a little history and why I think it is so important for each of us to support ARPAC (Arkansas Realtors Political Action Committee).
It is through ARPAC and NAR (National Association of REALTORS®) that we all have a seat at the table. Let’s look again at some of the information that NAR has offered to us as REALTORS®. In 2008, Congress created a $7,500 first time home buyer tax credit. It went into effect April 8, 2008 and was set to expire July 1, 2009. Big problem! It had to be repaid over a 15-year period. People viewed it as a debt and not a benefit.
NAR, working with Realtors across the country, was successful in getting changes made. The repayment feature of the credit was eliminated and the time line to extend the credit moved to the end of 2009. The original amount of $7,500 was changed to $8,000 or 10% of purchase price. The 2009 tax credit does not have to be repaid. For instance, if you only have a $3,000 tax liability you’ll get the balance your credit.
Unfortunately NAR was not successful in removing the repayment of the 2008 credit and attempting to make the credit available to every home buyer. There is lots of difference between a debt owed and receiving a refund back.
NAR is supporting the continuation of the $8,000 tax credit or raising it up to $15,000 and including every home buyer. What would this do to our market, if every one could get an $8,000 to $15,000 tax credit? This would stimulate our economy more than anything, by giving money directly to the people who will use it to stimulate the housing market.
Every REALTOR® has the opportunity to get this information. It is provided to us and we need to utilize it. This information came to us as a power point presentation and can be downloaded and presented to your home buyers or at an office meeting. If you want information on all of this, go to Realtor.org and log in.
State issues: I’m going to repeat my call to people who contribute to ARPAC, it is just so needed at this time. We need a seat at the table. One of the issues that I would like to mention again, every time the Arkansas Legislator’s session opens, there are some of the state legislators who want to tax our commissions. Our seat at the table should keep that from happening. If nothing else, that should be enough to ensure your support for ARPAC and keeping our seat at the table.
Last month I talked about expenses or investment. It is an expense if we don’t use it and an investment if we do use it. In Arkansas we get a tax credit for a contribution to ARPAC. A $50/person or $100/couple tax credit comes straight off our Arkansas income tax. Let’s use it to our benefit.
Local issues: I want to talk about an issue I think our membership needs to know, the issue of BPO or broker price opinion. I know the other side of this is appraisals.
A word of caution from an appraiser, if you don’t have a chance of a listing as an agent, you are not supposed to do BPO's. There have been agents turned in to the Arkansas Appraisal Board; resulting in the loss of their license because they are doing BPO's without a listing potential. You must have a listing potential. It was brought to my attention that there are some groups who are asking agents to do BPO's to establish a value with no intent of giving the agent the listing. Be careful!
It is an honor to go and represent our board in DC. We have scheduled NAR briefings and meetings with each of our legislators. The government has no good plan. With so many interests groups we will not get a 100% of what we need or think we need. But, we will get our chance to voice our opinion, giving us more tools to work with in the market place.
I am hearing about an upturn in the number of property showings. That is encouraging news. Keep it up.
Keep your head up. Northwest Arkansas will recover faster than the nation. When you hear news on the television, they are talking national not local. They are talking about the rest of the world; they are not talking about Northwest Arkansas.
We are buying a seat at the table, not buying votes. Our seat at the table gives us the opportunity to express our opinion for our clients and Realtors.
The “M” in May means Money! Have a great day. This is a good place to live.
Thank you.
Jerry Danehower