Chris Nichols

By Chris Nichols

At his inaugural, NAR President Ron Phipps, issued a challenge to the members. He said, “We shouldn’t merely be the voice of real estate; we should be its architects and engineers.” I remember hearing those words and thinking about the responsibilities that architects and engineers have in the building process. Both refer regularly to a set of blueprints to accomplish the task of building.

As REALTORS® we have a set of blueprints that we need to refer to regularly. That set of blueprints would be the local real estate statistics for the market in which we practice.

Our clients are being bombarded by a barrage of negative statistics. Time Magazine’s September 2010 issue chose to attack the value of homeownership. The headline read, “RETHINKING HOMEOWNERSHIP: Why owning a home may no longer make economic sense.” This was the cover story they decided to focus on instead of the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

In response to this attack, NAR has quickly and effectively launched a public awareness campaign to combat the misinformation being spread by the media. It’s called the Home Ownership Matters campaign and you are at the core of its success. Please visit Realtor.org and download the flyer and learn about the facts of home ownership and how you too can spread the word. Home Ownership Matters to People… to Communities… to America! Continue reading »