The
REALTOR® In Your Corner
by Blanche Evans
If
you are buying a home with an federally insured loan
and were able to borrow up to $125,000, you can thank
a REALTOR®. The National Association of REALTORS®
(N.A.R.) lobbyists, among the most powerful in the
nation's capital, successfully fought to have the
borrowing ceiling raised from $87,000 in 1997.
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, which was
instrumental in raising your tax-free net from a one
time gain of $125,000 to giving you the ability to
purchase and occupy your home for up to two years,
sell the home and keep up to $250,000 tax-free, every
two years.
Do you like deducting your
mortgage interest rate off of your federal i.nete
taxes? Once, again, Realtors and their lobbyists are
in your corner. Legislators constantly propose the
elimination of the mortgage interest deduction, but
the NAR and its lobbyists beat it back on your behalf.
So you didn't know that Realtors
put min your pocket? They do. They are dedicated to
protecting you - the home owner, buyer and seller.
Realtors and the NAR spends millions of dollars promoting
home ownership annually in promotional campaigns and
by taking political action. RPAC donates millions
annually to federal candidates and political committees,
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.
In fact, the 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. Thousands of home owners today owe their
ability to qualify for a home, the ability to buy
a better home, and the ability to afford more than
one home to the NAR and its lobbying efforts.
Yet, despite these tremendous
accomplishments on your behalf, the NAR and its members,
are often misunderstood and under appreciated. Only
members of the National Association of Realtors have
the right to call themselves Realtors. Realtors must
be licensed and meet continuing professional requirements
to stay in business. As members of the NAR, Realtors
are held to an even higher code of ethics and standards
of practice. The NAR membership is government-regulated,
unlike the membership of many other organizations
associated with the real estate transaction. Its members
are subject to internal and state-regulated disciplines.
So when you choose to work
with a real estate professional, remember to choose
a REALTOR®.
By hiring a Realtor, you'll
put 730,000 Realtors in your corner.
Published:
May 23, 2000 |