Rob Reuter
By Rob Reuter, YPN Manager
Happy New Year and congratulations on an outstanding 2010! YPN has taken great strides in the last year growing to 8,700 registered members in 134 networks across 43 states! We had 500 attend the YPN Fire & Ice Reception in New Orleans during the 2010 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, and more than 80 YPN chairs and liaisons attend a YPN Leadership Retreat last August in Chicago. After a successful year of networking, educating, fundraising, and charitable events, we look to continue the momentum into 2011.
One of the changes we have made moving forward is a revised YPN Startup Kit. While most of the revisions are minor, the most prominent clarification is that we are no longer referring to the term “chapter” within YPN. NAR’s legal team has determined that the term is inaccurate since local and state YPN networks aren’t chapters of the national organization. The suggested terminology can be found in the startup kit, but, in short, the appropriate title would be, for example, the Chicago Association of REALTORS® Young Professionals Network. The clarification should not impact how your networks are currently structured.
Here are several other announcements for 2011:
- The YPN Advisory Subcommittee has two major goals for 2011: Continue reading »
It’s no secret that YPN is on fire. Since the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, YPN has grown from 17 chapters to more than 130 chapters nationwide. Membership has skyrocketed from 2,000 registered YPNers to over 7,500.
With that burst of growth also came increased competition for the 2010 YPN Chapter of the Year. The number of applications this year increased five- fold and included chapters from large and small associations, state and local, new and established. A diverse panel of judges from REALTOR® Magazine and various departments of the National Association of REALTORS® were assembled to ensure unbiased decision.
In the end, the Houston Association’s NextGen REALTOR® Group (or NRG for short) was selected as the 2010 YPN Chapter of the Year.
From left: NRG staff liaison Roz Crew, 2011 YPN Advisory Subcommittee Chair Brian Copeland, YPN Advisory Subcommittee & NRG member Courtney Johnson-Rose, NRG Vice Chair Tiffany Curry, NRG Chair Karishma Asrani, HAR Chair Margie Dorrance, and HAR AE Bob Hale.
A runner up for the 2009 Chapter of the Year Award, NRG is one of the largest local association chapters with an estimated 2,900 members. The chapter maintains its own Web site, Facebook page, and e-newsletter. They provide a consistent and diverse calendar of programs that includes a good mix of social, educational, and charitable events.
One thing that stood out to the judges was NRG’s creation of the “20 Under 40 Rising Stars in Real Estate,” which is mirrored after REALTOR® Magazine’s 30 Under 30 program. They realize the importance of giving incentive to be involved with the NRG Chapter, which was also proven this year when 70 NRG members applied to serve on the Advisory Group of only 25 positions. Continue reading »
Nobu Hata
By Nobu Hata
Hi guys, I originally wrote this post for Conference Live last week, but it bears repeating on Veterans Day. It hits close to home for me with a brother who served two tours in Iraq, then bought a home via DVA loan last year. Thank a Vet. Help a Vet. It’s the least we can do.
There are, as of October 2010, over 39,000 disabled veterans of the Iraq War in the United States. Of those, 20 percent suffer from brain and spinal cord injuries, and 30percent from mental health disabilities. With those sobering statistics, the Equal Opportunity Forum at NARdiGras 2010, kicked off. Those veterans are not only part of the biggest Fair Housing protected segment in the country, but the fastest growing emerging market for REALTORS®. Every state is affected by the military and their veterans, guys, so it’s time we step it up!
Get acquainted with va.gov – and search “SAH” or “Specially Adapted Housing.” Grants are available for folks to build housing, plus retrofit and adapt current housing – even pay down mortgages. Get to know the DVA loan program while you’re there!
Part of NAR’s Game Changers Program is the Heroes Welcome Home program. As a member, this program is an incredible benefit; as an association, it’s a value-add. Free to use, it’s the hub for all things “Heroes” for us REALTORS®. Use it to your advantage!
These returning vets deserve the best that we can provide. Be mentors, not only in housing issues, but in credit, mortgage, and lifestyle issues as well. It’s the least we can do, for so many who gave so much.
Nobu Hata is a sales associate for Edina Realty in Minneapolis, and a founding member of the Minneapolis YPN group, the YoPros. Visit his Web site at www.nobuhata.com.
More than 500 career-driven real estate professionals from around the country came out to network, exchange business ideas, and party at the Young Professionals Network’s exclusive Fire & Ice NARdiGras Reception on Friday, Nov. 5 at The Foundry in the city’s colorful Warehouse District. The 2010 REALTORS® Conference & Expo event was sponsored by HouseLogic’s REALTOR® Content Resource, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Kodak, and DocuSign.
One of the evening’s highlights was the announcement of YPN’s Chapter of the Year Award. The 2010 honor went to the Houston Association of REALTORS®’ NextGen group, recognized for it’s well-organized membership process and its success in getting young REALTORS® involved in leadership. The other bright spot of the night: The Center for REALTOR® Technology’s annual Spotlight Awards, which brings attention to four leaders in real estate technology. Those winners were: Brian Copeland of Village Real Estate Services Inc. in Nashville, Tenn.; Ben Martin of the Virginia Association of REALTORS® in Glen Allen, Va.; Mark Flavin of the Bay East Association of REALTORS® in Pleasanton, Calif.; and Brad Nix of MaxSell Real Estate in Woodstock, Ga. –Kelly Quigley, REALTOR® Magazine
Photos by Kevin Berne
Bobbi Howe
By Bobbi Howe
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock and hadn’t heard, NARdiGras 2010, the REALTORS® Conference & Expo is being held in New Orleans November 5-8. Personally, I cannot wait for NARdiGras to get here as a) I’ve never been to New Orleans; and b) I love getting together with my fellow REALTORS® to network and learn.
As excited as I am for NARdiGras, I am even more excited about an event that will be taking place the 2 days before NARdiGras officially kicks off. I’m talking about the REALTORS® Volunteer Build Days November 3-4. Working in conjunction with the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together New Orleans, we will be working to rebuild and restore homes for deserving families in the New Orleans area.
I would like to personally invite every single member of the YPN family to come out and join us. Let’s come together and do something for the greater good. Experience what’s it like to work side-by-side with your YPN friends and fellow REALTORS® and give back to a community that has had so much taken from them. Our communities are the heart of our business. Let’s show this community what they mean to us. To register, just follow the simple instructions in the link above.
I look forward to seeing you all there! You’ll recognize me with the big smile on my face!
Bobbi Howe is a second-generation practitioner with Coldwell Banker General Properties in St. Joseph, Mo. She currently serves as outreach chair on the YPN Advisory Board and is a co-founder of the Missouri YPN chapter. @bobbihowe
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