You probably know that Realtors help steer you through one of the largest financial transactions most people will ever have – buying or selling a home. As Realtors, they are members of their local Realtor associations and members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Through their membership they receive valuable training and education to help them enhance your real estate experience.
What you may not realize is that in addition to providing education for your local Realtors, the NAR and its members are also constantly working on a state and national level to watch out for your interests and build strong, viable communities. In fact, the NAR, with the backing of its 1.3 million members, lobbies Congress and federal policymakers on your behalf on a number of issues.
When the President’s Advisory Panel on Tax Reform recommend that mortgage interest deductions be converted into tax credits and that the amount of mortgage eligible to receive tax benefits be significantly reduced, NAR went to work to preserve this important tax deduction.
The panel also recommended the complete elimination of mortgage interest deductions for second homes, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. The NAR believes that housing is the engine that drives the economy and that such a move would likely cause the value of housing to fall.
The NAR is working hard to ensure that 45 million small-business employees have access to the same quality group health insurance plans currently available to union workers and employees of large corporations. NAR wants to make affordable healthcare accessible to Realtors, many of whom have no health insurance coverage, and they also believe that it’s a crucial element in building strong communities.
In March 2006, almost 40 presidents and CEOs of Realtor Associations at the state level met with their U.S. senators in Washington, D.C., to urge passage of the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2006 (S. 1955), which would authorize creation of fully insured small business health plans. That same month the bill was approved by a key committee and is now pending before the full Senate.
The Association is also going before Congress and pertinent government agencies to keep banks out of real estate. Why is this important to you? Banks would have an unfair advantage in the real estate business because they have access to inexpensive sources of capital due to federal deposit insurance and other subsidies that are unique to banks. This could also mean that lending decisions are compromised, leaving home buyers and sellers with fewer choices and higher loan fees.
Those are just a few examples of the many ways in which the NAR works on your behalf. To learn more about what issues the NAR and your Realtors are working on, visit the Sussex County Association of Realtors at www.scaor.com or call them at (302) 855-2300, or visit NAR at www.realtor.org.