As we loaded into our bus today after the 59 1/2 minute session, much of the small talk was about sore feet and bad backs. It’s no wonder. Of course I wore unfashionable but flat comfortable shoes. No chance mistaking these feet for mine.
Glimpses of Midyear | The Housing Policy Symposium and 59 1/2 Minutes
We arrived late yesterday after an 8 hour drive from New Hampshire and got a little bit of a late start today. After catching up with friends and grabbing a bite to eat we settled in to watch the Housing Policy Symposium and the always popular 59 1/2 Minute session! Rather than tell you all about the session, I encourage you to read Brian Copeland’s excellent post full of all the details… I will tell you however that 59 1/2 was a lot longer than 59 1/2 minutes but it was chock full of good stuff and really pumped people up for the Rally!
Tomorrow- trade show… boy am I glad I brought my sneakers!
Perhaps the most popular session at the NAR Midyear meetings is 59 1/2 Minutes held at the Marriott Wardman Park.
I’ll be taking notes live so read along! (Refresh your browser often, please.)
President Moe Veissi take the stage at 59 1/2 minutes
Minute 1: Moe Veissi
We will have over 10,000 REALTORS® at the Washington Monument.
“One Moment In Time” being sung. (not by Moe, by the way)
Of the 330M of Americans over 50% of the population are home owners and are bearing the burden.
REALTORS® are the fabric of this country.
Minute 15: NAR First VP: Steve Brown takes the stage.
First VP Steve Brown (Ohio)
As REALTORS, we didn’t realize that home ownership would be THE issue of our time.
The Home Ownership Matters bus tour was an extreme success garnering amazing media hits.
My Realtor <dot> org is currently under development due to the outcry from REALTORS for a better site.
NAR announces MVP program. Free product, eProducts, access to NAR event.
Minute 17: 2012 VP and Liaison to Government Affairs Scott Louser
Federal Political Coordinators FPC Service Awards Go To:
Greg Herb
Richard Rosenthal
Lending executives
Matt Vernon (Bank of America)
Pat Sheehy (JP Morgan/Chase Rep)
Joe Rogers (Wells Fargo)
How are you providing access to affordable home mortgages?
Wells Fargo: We’ve remained in the market. Many have chosen to move away from the business. We want to make sure we are serving a broad swab of people who can acquire home ownership. We’ve maintained a broad spectrum of FICA scores. High performance lending. Every thing has been very rule based. We are introducing to our processors and underwriters judgmental underwriting.
Banking segment include JP Morgan/Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Moderated by VP Scott Louser
Bank of America: Agrees on awareness. Credit IS available. It’s different, but we can help you understand that it is available. We have to take the myth out that money isn’t available. SUSTAINABLE Home Ownership Matters. Today’s market is an investor-focused market. The investor should dictate what we should do for all our customers.
Minute 40: Short sales: Could you explain your latest efforts to streamline processes?
JP Morgan: The worst thing we can do is foreclose on a borrower. We are much more interested in a short sale or a modification over foreclosure. We are streamlining our processes. We get to make the rules unlike Freddie and Fannie. Average days from receiving short sale to approval is 17 days. We are financing and incentivizing seller to go into short sale instead of foreclosing. July 2012, going on Equator program (more flexibility and process awareness).
Bank of America: Let’s reach out to work WITH the industry not work against. Build education platforms. Now, it’s time to take that foundational work and optimize the process to deliver even better to our customers and you, our business partners. Investing in more technology (Equator continues). Hiring. We have 50,000 associates in legacy assets servicing division (modification, foreclosure and pre-foreclosure activities). We will continue to grow that staff.
Wells Fargo: We’re listening. We’ve come to listen specifically to REALTORS.
Minute 55: Commercial (new debuted) Moving Pictures (narrated by Ed Harris) VIDEO BELOW
Key Priorities for Congress:
1. National Flood Insurance Program
2. Tax Relief
3. FHA
4. MID and Property Tax Deduction
Invite your member of Congress to the Rally.
Minute 62: Sorry..we’re over 
Gary Thomas
Shannon Williams King and Elizabeth Mendenhall talk about the REThink program with Gary Thomas
reThink the Future of Real Estate (see previous blog from this morning).
Minute 72: Bill Armstrong, Treasurer take the stage
More Rally information
Introduction of RVPs and Liaisons
As a long time Midyear attendee, I know one of the must do sessions is 59 1/2 minutes, as it sets the stage for the whole conference. This year I arrived early to stake out some balcony seats while attending the Housing Policy Symposium as well as 59 1/2 minutes. As you can see the place is filling up fast.
Have arrived in DC to hear President Moe kick off the 59-1/2 minute update by telling us that we might have 10,000 Realtors at the Rally on Thursday! YES!
A quick video snippet from the Housing Policy session. Cutler Dawson, President and CEO of Navy Federal Credit Union.
We tend to focus on NAR’s Midyear Meetings, and the Hill Visits in particular, as a one time event, when in actuality it is a non-stop year-round task that requires EVERYONE’S help. Over the next several days we will be visiting with our Members of Congress to discuss the important policy talking points that are vital to improve both residential and commercial markets. While these are one time meetings, their effectiveness is measured based upon the relationships we have built with that Member of Congress.
NAR has done a brilliant job of developing a system to ensure that we have personal relationships with each of the 535 policy makers on the Hill. As you are at Midyear, look for these pins, worn by FPC’s (Federal Political Coordinators). These are the people that NAR relies on to be sure that our message is heard throughout the year and not just at our Hill Visit this week. Be sure to give these FPC’s a pat on the back and thank them for their service. To learn more about NAR’s FPC program visit – www.realtoractioncenter.com/realtors/fpc/
I was once stopped by airport security because my carry-on bag had, in their words, too much “clutter”. My clutter included a camera and charger, laptop and charger, cell phone and charger, battery back-up and charger, and finally my wifi card and charger. According to security, that was a lot of wires and too much “noise” seen on their scanner.
Technology advances have removed clutter from my carry-on and made staying connected on the road much easier. Now when traveling by plane, I only carry on my 4G enabled iPad and iPhone and a battery back up. I pack my chargers in my suitcase. If my bag gets delayed, I’m told that most hotels have hundreds of chargers left by guests. (Once, at a BNI meeting I attended, a hotel representative showed off boxes of them.)
As a featured attendee for NAR Midyear, I’m blogging by using an app on my iPad and iPhone. (I’m writing this post on the plane.) The camera on my iPhone4s takes great shots and my photo app collection allows me to improve them and be creative. I can quickly post the photos to my blog and social media sites. If I need to access my home office computer for a file or to do something that my iPad can’t do, I simply use the LogMeIn Ignition app.
My carry-on now weighs considerably less and going through security isn’t quite as stressful. Isn’t technology grand?
Nobu Hata (chair, right) with co-chair Rob Mehta
The Young Professional Network sub-committee (YPN) met in the Hoover Room at the Marriott Wardman. Items for discussion included:
- REALTOR.com
- Home Ownership Matters
- Standard Suggests for YPN Chairs
- 30 Under 30
- Leadership Summit
- RPAC Donor Goals
Packed house at NAR YPN meeting.
Ken Burlington from REALTOR.com addressed the group. REALTOR.com is moving toward badging systems for designations to allow consumers to connect more so with the letters behind our names that we understand but they do not.
NAR First Vice President Steve Brown (Ohio) shared a clear vision of how homeownership matters at all levels of generations.
“The notion of America as a land of homeowners came under attack from those who would steer us into becoming a national of renters,” Brown said.
“The idea of of owning a home and property was fundamental to our founding fathers.”
“When we take a stand for home ownership, we are taking a stand for something bigger than what goes into our pockets,” Brown reiterated when speaking about the importance of the REALTOR® Rally.
“It is our job to tell our political leaders WHY home ownership matters.”
“For every home sold, three jobs are created.”
“Don’t EVER be afraid to defend what we do. The National Association of REALTORS® is the only advocate for homeowners.”
“Eight million dollars of media coverage was garnered during the 2011 NAR Home Ownership Matters bus tour.”
54.6 Million Media Impressions
More information on the Home Ownership Matters campaign is at REALTOR.org.
Tiffany Curry addresses the subcommittee
YPN will be a part of Leadership Summit in Chicago this summer. Be on the lookout for that information if you’re an incoming local chair.
“The reason the successful YPNs have been so successful is because they had supportive associations,” Stacey Moncrieff, editor of REALTOR® Magazine, said.
30 Under 30 Factors Evaluated
- Sales volume/transaction sides, including year to year growth
- Business innovation
- Leadership (company and/or association)
- Community SErvice
- Interesting stories
- Diversity (regional, ethnic, franchises, business specialty)
If you can’t make it to to DC for the REALTOR® Rally this week, I want you to feel “in the loop.” Everyone gets this bag with a LOT of goodies inside. Here’s my tour for you!
