I am (your name), with (company name) in _______, Virginia. I’ve been in real estate full time for __ years.
I think my length of time in this business gives me enough credibility to say something to you that some of you may find incredible. It’s this: I don’t think REALTORS need to be in politics.
Let me say it again: REALTORS DO NOT NEED TO BE IN POLITICS.
Did you hear what I said? I am a REALTOR and an RPAC investor, and yet I say that we do not need to be in politics. I believe this with all my heart.
WE NEED TO BE IN REAL ESTATE, NOT POLITICS!
To my way of thinking, someone “IN POLITICS” is a politician; is anyone who has a vote on any issue or policy that effects the public. Think about who those people are.
In my hometown of ___________, we have ____ City Council members, a Mayor, __ County Supervisors. We have zoning; we have taxes; we have transportation and growth policy; and we have education issues.
Add to that the __ members of the Virginia General Assembly. You and I both have representatives in the two bodies that make up the Assembly. Each one of those representatives has a vote on every issue that comes before them. If you count the committee process legislation must pass through in order to come to the floor of the House or Senate, you can even say that each one of them has multiple votes on the issues that come before them – multiple opportunities to help or hinder a piece of legislation. Plus we have a Governor, Lt. Governor and attorney general, each of whom is involved in influencing issues that confront our state.
Then in Washington DC, there are about ___ United States Congressmen and 100 U. S. Senators. Each one of them has a vote – or, as with the Assembly, multiple votes – as legislation winds through the law-making process.
So, here are all these people out there who are IN POLITICS, each one with votes on the multitude of issues that come before them. Some of these issues directly affect my ability to run my real estate business.
So awhile back, it occurred to me to ask myself this question…and since you’re all in the real estate business like me, I will ask you, too:
Since all these politicians’ actions can impact my business for good or ill, what sort of relationship should I have with them?
Do I want these people IN POLITICS to…
…be opposed to me? Do I want them to be my enemy?……………………
Of course not!
…Do I want to be anonymous to them? Surely not.
Does it matter if they don’t know about my business and the contributions I make to building my community? I think it matters. It matters a lot.
…So isn’t what I want is for them to know my interests and to hear me when I have concerns and needs?
Given my interest in running a successful business, in being profitable…it seems to me that what I want and NEED is to be a friend of that person IN POLITICS….not only to be someone they know, but to be known as someone who supports them, someone who has assisted in that person IN POLITICS in getting what THEY what.
A friend of mine tells the story of being passed over when he was younger for a position he felt he had earned. The job went instead to a buddy whose uncle had all the right connections. My friend’s father told him – and he says he’ll never forget it: “Son, sometimes it ain’t what you know, it’s who you know.”
Ever heard that? Do you believe it?
I tell you, like it or not, it is TRUE. And as we REALTORS, we can’t afford to forget it. Being known – building and maintaining trust relationships – is how we achieve success in our business. But I would take it a step further: Having relationships with people IN POLITICS – being their friends ¬– is the only way to protect our real estate practice.
How many of you were in this business in 1986? That’s the year these people with votes in the United States Congress approved a new tax bill.
• It practically did away with capital gains treatment on the sale of real estate. That instantly cut the value of income producing real estate by more than 25 percent. It changed from 7 years to 29 and 31 years depreciation rates for rental properties. One new law did that. Did that impact your income? How many sales did some of us lose because under the new rules, the buyer could not make the numbers work?
• That was the first year they seriously considered tinkering with the home mortgage interest deduction. And now they’re seriously considering doing away with it entirely. What will that do to home sales? To real estate values? To your income?
What happened in 1986 happened because we in real estate were not as influential then as others were. We had friends, but not enough of them. The people with the key votes were indifferent to the interests of REALTORS and our clients who owned property.
And how about the current push to reclassify real estate as a financial, rather than commercial, activity…which would allow BANKS to own real estate companies? Should we small entreprenuers just sit back and let them become competitors – competitors who have an unfair advantage because they have the full faith and credit of the Federal government through the Federal Reserve?
We at similar risk every year in the General Assembly.
• If it’s not rent controls…it’s recordation taxes.
• It it’s not wetlands…it’s impact fees.
And locally…
…restrictions on development…
…proffers…
…zoning issues…
…sprawl…
Look…All I want to do is sell real estate. I want to make an honest living. And in so doing, I hope I enrich my community and state.
BUT IN ORDER TO DO THAT…I’m going to need friends IN POLITICS who who understand the challenges I face in my business…friends who think like I do.
I’m not looking to buy his vote. No. All I want is for him to see my perspective. I want her to listen to my concerns and consider my business’s needs…..before he or she votes on issues that impact me.
I DON’T WANT TO BE IN POLITICS. BUT IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL, I SIMPLY MUST BE POLITICALLY ACTIVE.
And being politically active means making friends of folks IN POLITICS BEFORE I need them.
• It means building a relationship with them.
• It means offering a reasonable, reliable perspective to them, and keeping them informed on issues that affect my business.
• Most of all, it means helping get them elected and helping KEEP them elected.
Fortunately, I don’t have to be the bosom buddy of the dozens of politicians who represent me. I need only cultivate relationships with a few.
…and make my annual investment in RPAC.
Our Virginia REALTORS Political Action Committee is the best friend-making tool we have. When I give to RPAC, I’m investing in our ability as a profession to SUPPORT and ELECT people who think like we do. I’m investing in our ability as a profession to create and maintain trust relationships with our elected officials.
And so from my perspective, an investment in RPAC is a sort of insurance policy. It’s protection for my business at every level of government ¬– from City Hall, to Richmond, to Washington, DC. – because every dollar I invest in RPAC is put to work at all three levels: nationally, statewide, and even here locally. It gets the right candidates elected, and it gives us an open door when we need to share our perspective with those people IN POLITICS.
I told you I am serious about by real estate business, and so I invest my time in it every day. And because I’m serious about PROTECTING my business, I invest once a year in RPAC. I give what I consider to be MY fair share: $____. This business has been good to me, and because I want it to keep being good, I think that investment level is right for me. I know some of you do the same.
But not everyone has to invest at level. If you’re just starting out, your FAIR SHARE investment is $20. If you’re a broker, consider a $99 investment. And yes, some of you should write that check for $1000…because you’ve been at this long enough to be a role model, and you know it’s the right thing to do.
Are you serious about your business? We must have YOUR investment in order to carry on the job of making friends.
There are 37,000 of us in Virginia, and 1.2 million of us nationwide. We must stand together and let our voices be heard by those IN POLITICS, those who have the votes that affect us.
I hope you’ll stay OUT of politics and IN real estate. Help ensure that by making your 2007 investment in RPAC now.