RL
Putting a Face on Real Estate since 1995.™
austin
Williamson County Assoc. of REALTORS®
TM
Putting a Face on Real Estate since 1995
President’s Column By Christy Gessler • 2012 President
TREPAC contributions are insurance for your business
I
f real estate is your profession, then politics is your business. That is a simple yet powerful statement. For those of you who know me personally, you know that I am passionate about the Texas Real Estate Political Action Committee (TREPAC) and I am not afraid to have a conversation about politics. For those of you who do not know me personally, allow me a moment of your time to highlight the importance of TREPAC. I routinely hear agents say, “I hate politicians and lobbyists so I don’t want to invest in TREPAC.” I can appreciate that feeling. There are plenty of sleazy politicians and dirty lobbyists out there. However, you should know that we have one of the best, most respected and professional legislative team at the Texas Association of REALTORS. Each legislative year, a team of REALTORS and TAR staff get together and set a positive legislative agenda. They then communicate that agenda to our elected officials through our Hill Visits and many meetings with
legislators and their staff, affecting real change in our industry. While 2012 is not a legislative year, it is an election year. We are in the throws of a heated presidential race—you can’t turn on the television and radio or go online without being bombarded with information on the election— and it’s only going to escalate in the coming months. If you listen closely to these reports or tune into one of the many debates taking place, you’ll hear a lot of talk about the real estate market. With budget shortfalls, many politicians look to the real estate market, and REALTORS, to find sources of revenue. Texas has one of the strongest real estate markets in the nation for several reasons, including carefully crafted home equity lending laws and the absence of a transfer tax on real estate transactions. Why is this? TREPAC! Our association just hosted a terrific TREPAC bowling event at Mel’s Lone Star Lanes in Georgetown. It was a fun time and every lane was filled with our members. It was a great time, raising over $3,000 for
www.myRealtyLine.com
February 2012
TREPAC. I extend sincere thanks to our TREPAC and government affairs committee, specifically Nicole Scott, Loretta Patschke and Lori Higgins for a job well done. If you missed it, there will be other great events and opportunities to invest in TREPAC this year. However, I encourage you to invest today. You purchase insurance for your home, belongings, automobile and health. Why not
purchase insurance for your business? The fair share investment is only $35 per year. That is an incredible value for the benefits you receive. To learn more, visit www.wcaor.org and click on the “advocacy” tab. Investing in TREPAC gives you a positive voice to protect our business and private property rights in Texas, thus keeping our market strong. Speak up and invest today. RL
Upcoming Events Feb. 16: WC Luncheon - Guest Speaker - TREC Administrator Douglas Oldmixon Feb. 17: Fundamentals of Foreclosure Auctions Feb. 17: TREC Ethics and Legal – Cedar Park Feb. 22-23: Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) Feb. 29: Video Creation & Marketing Workshop
Details at www.wcaor.org
Buy photo: RL_021312_F.JPG at www.myRealtyLine.com
Garrett Martin, Tim Stegail and Jimmy Dimanoff, all of MileStone Community Builders, walk the company’s project at Ravenscroft Villas where they hosted a REALTOR VIP Happy Hour.
now two more reasons to join re / max
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in National Advertising1 in Agent Training & Certifications2 in Website Traffic3 in Average Sales per Agent4 in Average Transactions per Agent5 in Sales – Texas & the World4
www.joinremax.com 1 Nielsen Monitor-Plus /A25-54 GRPs Unequivalized; 2 National Association of Realtors; 3 Comscore, Compete.com and Hitwise (6-month period through August, 2011); 4 REALTrends, RisMedia, National Assn. of Realtors; 5 Data of national franchise organizations is based on 2010 data each organization provided to either REAL Trends, Inc, a leading industry analyst, or to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on form 10-K Annual Report for 2010. Prudential data based on REAL Trends estimates. RE/MAX received the highest numerical score among full service real estate firms for home sellers and home buyers in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller StudySM. Study based on 3,861 total evaluations measuring 8 firms and measures opinions of individuals who bought a home between March 2010 and April 2011. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed March-May 2011. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com. Each office independently owned and operated.