President's Letter

President’s Letter

BY LIBBY GATEWOOD

Making a Difference

When I began my year as your 2021 President, I offered up one of my favorite quotes from the acclaimed Jane Goodall: “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” In a year when COVID persisted and it sometimes felt as if we were on a never-ending treadmill of activity, we could all be forgiven if we felt like we had not made a difference. But we have.

I know that you, my fellow REALTORS®, have made a difference in the lives of your loved ones, your clients, and your community. At RAR and CVR MLS, we have sought to make a difference by providing the products, programs, and services that have enabled you to continue to earn a living and help buyers and sellers in metropolitan Richmond realize their dreams. Despite living through yet another year with the pandemic, we were able to accomplish many firsts. We have a record number of users in our ranks—6,500 in CVR MLS and 5,700 in RAR. Accordingly, your RAR and CVR MLS staff responded to more calls and emails seeking advice or assistance than ever in the history of either organization. While we were able to return to in-person classes, we continued to build our virtual education platform—offering a greater variety of training sessions. Your government affairs team and a dedicated group of volunteers raised a record amount of RPAC dollars and secured more major investors and donors than 2020. We also lobbied successfully for an Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance in Henrico, $4 million of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds allocated to affordable housing in Chesterfield, and a dedicated source of funding for the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. In another first, we established a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force to develop recommendations for how we can increase diversity in our volunteer ranks and how we can better educate our members and the broader community about the benefits of fair and equal access to housing opportunities, particularly home ownership, which is the number one means by which we will close the racial wealth gap in our region, state, and nation. I am pleased that this Task Force will become a standing committee in 2022 and beyond. Thankfully, we were able to gather in person, occasionally, this past year. Our spring golf tournament and reception was certainly a highlight for me. And I was thrilled that we were able to hold our first Week of Service effort in October. It was fun and rewarding to volunteer alongside my fellow officers and directors.

Speaking of our 2021 officers and directors, I want to express how grateful I am for their service. Our world and the real estate market seem in constant flux; it takes steady hands to lead through constant change. We are incredibly fortunate to have such committed REALTOR® volunteers and such a talented, dedicated, and hard-working staff. I look back on 2021 with pride; and I look forward to 2022 with enthusiasm. I wish my successor as President, Dare Tulloch, all the best. To all of you, I extend warm wishes for happy holidays and a happy new year.

2021: The Year in Review... and a Look Ahead

BY HANNAH BAUMER

Highlights from a productive year:

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

None of this would be possible without the REALTOR® members who volunteer their time, energy, and ideas through the Legislative Committee and the RPAC Trustees.

BACKED

the historic allocation to the Virginia Housing Trust Fund

$70 million

SUPPORTED

the creation of the Virginia Housing Opportunity Tax Credit Program UPDATED

the Henrico County zoning code for the first time since 1960. RAR staff participated in the multi-year development process and supported its final adoption SERVED

on Chesterfield’s Housing Diversity Workgroup SECURED

a dedicated funding stream for Richmond's Affordable Housing Trust Fund and a one time allocation of $20 million in ARPA dollars to the Trust Fund

ALL MARKETING CONTENT FOR REALTORS’ USE IS HOSTED AT RARealtors.com/ MarketingContent

The 2021 Consumer Campaign focused on expanding the stock photography and video library available to members. The library was expanded this year to include several useful marketing “how to” videos, including topics like:

MAKING A GRAPHIC WITH ADOBE SPARK!

MAKING A VIDEO WITH ADOBE SPARK!

CVR MLS USER BENEFITS

Tech Time with CVR MLS

Every other Thursday | 4PM - 5PM

Tech Time is a bi-weekly webinar from CVR MLS staff that focuses on various topics relating to Matrix and other core products. Tech Time is scheduled every other Thursday from 4PM to 5PM. Questions and case examples are encouraged. Tech Time can be found on the calendar in your Member Hub.

CVR MLS Monthly Monitor

The CVR MLS Monthly Monitor provides Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service users with updates, product highlights, training opportunities, market data, compliance tips, and other noteworthy news affecting real estate professionals in our MLS. This newsletter is emailed to users on the third Thursday of each month.

EDUCATION

RAR offered 192 onsite, virtual and on-demand classes in 2021, 9 designation and certification classes, and 180 hours of pre-broker education.

Members also took advantage of free NAR Triennial Ethics training classes, a New Broker “Open Mic” Series with Attorney Michael Lafayette, and a special digital marketing webinar series with Matthew Rathbun.

192

CLASSES

180

HOURS

of pre-broker education

9

CLASSES

designation/ certification

New Broker Open Mic Series with Attorney Michael Lafayette

TRENDS welcomed nationally acclaimed real estate economists, market analysts, and technology experts to discuss current and upcoming trends. Dr. Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist and Dr. Lisa Sturtevant, VR Chief Economist joined us at TRENDS and discussed emerging economic trends in real estate.

RAR GOLF TOURNAMENT AND SPRING FLING AT MAGNOLIA GREEN | MAY 19, 2021

RAR’s Golf Tournament and Spring Fling Cocktail Reception at the beautiful Magnolia Green Golf Course were great successes. Tournament players competed for prizes and all members were invited back for our Spring Fling reception for beer and wine, appetizers and great music.

VOLUNTEER SERVICE WEEK: REALTORS® GIVE BACK OCTOBER 18-22, 2021

During the week of October 18th, RAR Board members challenged their fellow RAR members and sponsors to get out and volunteer their time for a nonprofit that is near and dear to their hearts. The RAR and CVR MLS Board members spent a day volunteering at Sankofa Community Orchard where they installed border landscaping materials and planted perennials and garlic around the one acre site. The Sankofa Community Orchard is an urban demonstration project that is being completed in phases in the southside of Richmond. When finished, it will feature 80 fruit trees that will contribute to the area’s urban tree canopy.

INSTALLATION RECEPTION AT THE JEFFERSON HOTEL DECEMBER 15, 2021

RAR’s leadership for the following year is installed during this reception. In 2021, we celebrate the installation of Dare Tulloch as RAR and CVR MLS President for 2022. LOCKTOBERFEST OCTOBER 4 – 29, 2021

CVR MLS hosted the inaugural year of Locktoberfest, a great opportunity for agents to return idle lockboxes to win prizes, including the chance to win free 2022 CVR MLS fees.