Nobu Hata
By Nobu Hata
Working away in cramped cubes at the D.C. REALTOR® headquarters are the NAR Staff behind the REALTOR® Political Action Party. John, Chris, Bethany, Mica, Jay, Claire and crew, not gleamingwhitetoothed Politicians – or even REALTORS®, mind you; they’re regular, politically-charged folks working on our behalf on Capitol Hill, for our livelihood.
Brian Copeland, YPN/RPAC Liaison Mike Oppler and I had the opportunity to meet the people behind cause, and I can tell you that it was a humbling experience. There’s only a handful of these guys dealing what are direct affronts to the covenants of home ownership: Mortgage Interest Deduction, GSE reform, Flood Insurance issues, the list goes on and on.
Issues that aren’t red or blue.
Issues that our clients will grapple with, sooner or later.
Issues that – let’s face it – we neither have the time, nor wherewithal to deal with.
Make your next YPN event this March an RPAC Awareness Event. New Jersey is having a Dareoke event, Tennessee is fund-raising, Minneapolis will be taking part in their state’s Legislative Impact Day, Colorado and Texas will be rallying at “the Hill!”. What will your network do this March?
Web: realtoractioncenter.com / Facebook: www.facebook.com/realtoractioncenter / Twitter: @realtoraction
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.
Nobu Hata
By Nobu Hata
I’ve never had the stomach for the political end of things during my years in the real estate industry, and for those of you who know me well, my left-of-center views didn’t exactly mesh well with the political climate that has made up the bulk of my tenure. It was always my opinion that politics was best left for the folks who know how to play the game. My contributions consisted of pressing “Send” on the e-mail call to actions.
But the one realization I’ve made the last couple years has been with RPAC, our political action committee. These folks, based in the incredible NAR offices in D.C., have fought the good fight, not only for us, but our current and future buyers and sellers and the legislation that affects them; plus our industry initiatives locally and nationally regardless of politically party currently in power. Recently, our national PAC has kept the banks out of the buy/sell facet of our industry and kept the tax credit going, among other things I’m missing – shelving your personal opinions of both for a sec, you have to admit that those two issues alone was for the greater good of our industry.
Locally here in Minnesota, they’ve helped my clients by protecting the mortgage interest and property tax deductions, helped to ban private transfer fees, and defeated several attempts to increase recording fees and an attempt to increase the state deed tax, plus passed legislation to increase industry professionalism. That’s a ton of consumer protection in a very bipartisan town.
That’s where you come in. Wednesday is National RPAC night, where local groups get together and raise funds for the coming year. Why don’t you attend? Inform and educate yourself by asking your AE about what RPAC means to your business locally, ask your peers (YPNers Aaron Wheeler and Brian Copeland are major donors) what RPAC means to them first hand.
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.
About 200 young real estate professionals attended the REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo networking event at The Gibson on May 13 in Washington, D.C. The event, “Speaking Easy with YPN,” was sponsored by the REALTORS® Political Action Committee and the REALTOR® Party.
YPNers had the opportunity to meet with NAR leadership and mingle with other young professionals from throughout the country. Several YPN members also took part in committee meetings and events during the week.
Midyear was particularly significant for YPN this year as its Advisory Board received official Subcommittee status (under the Communications Committee) by NAR’s Board of Directors.
For more information on how to get involved with YPN, or how to start a chapter in your area, visit www.realtor.org/ypn.
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