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The role of the REALTOR®, the benefits received from member involvement in REALTOR® association activities, and the importance of organized real estate to REALTORS® and their clients were laid out to members of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) by CEO Paul Cardus at the beginning of the year.
Cardus shared the following scenarios of what life would be for an agent or consumer if REALTOR® associations like the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) or SILVAR did not exist in light of just one benefit, that of legislative advocacy:
- Agents would not be independent contractors; they would be employees working for banks.
- Services, including commissions, would be taxed.
- Conforming loan limits might be set at $400K, if they existed at all, instead of $1,149,825 in 2024.
- FHA loans likely would not be available.
- There would be no capital gains exclusion, mortgage interest deduction or 1031 exchanges.
- The commercial secondary mortgage market, which provides a stable flow of credit, would not exist.
- The liquidity, stability and affordability provided by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the nation’s housing finance system would not exist.
- HUD would not employ local agents for sales.
- There would be no multiple listing service (MLS) or portals with standardized, reliable listing data.
- Universal buyer representation would not exist, leaving many buyers unprotected in the biggest transaction of their lives.
- Proposition 13 would not exist, making it hard for California’s seniors to afford to stay in their homes.
- Without impartial C.A.R. and PRDS standard forms provided by REALTORS® for REALTORS®, buyers and sellers would need attorneys to review and negotiate various one-sided forms for each transaction and be responsible and liable for researching state and local ordinances and codes, instead of using PRDS advisories.
- Flood insurance would become unobtainable.
- Property sales would require multiple point-of-sale approvals, like sewer lateral inspection and repair, from multiple agencies and inspectors. Sellers might have to invest tens of thousands in property upgrades just to sell. Escrows could extend for months or even longer.
- Rent control would be in place statewide, making it challenging to sell a tenant-occupied home or leave the business as a housing provider.
- Opportunity to Purchase (OPA) programs, like the one SILVAR helped defeat in East Palo Alto recently, would require property owners to offer homes to tenants or nonprofits before listing a rental property on the market and mandate the right of first refusal once an offer is accepted.
- Thousands of other legislative “bright ideas” would be blocked or kept in check because organizations like SILVAR, C.A.R. and NAR would not be around to engage volunteers, coordinate the resources, and hire professional staff to advocate on behalf of REALTORS® and their clients.
“The benefits that REALTORS® and their clients receive through REALTOR® membership in a REALTOR® association are quite the value,” said Cardus.
Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® says ... 