realtor one

REALTORS® Woke Us Up to Stark Housing Reality

The REALTOR® voice is moving the needle on Capitol Hill as the housing inventory and affordability crises come into clearer focus and lawmakers realize they must support legislation to boost homeownership. “Be encouraged because you are making progress,” Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana) told REALTORS® last week at the NAR Policy Forum in Washington, DC “And we continue to make progress with your help.”

The forum, which brought together economists, housing analysts and policymakers, highlighted several pieces of housing legislation on the table in Congress and backed by the National Association of REALTORS®. The proposed More Homes on the Market Act, for example, would increase the capital gains tax exclusion and incentivize longtime homeowners to sell. Other legislation is under consideration for tax credits that would attract private investment to rehab owner-occupied homes and convert empty office buildings into residential properties.

“The National Association of REALTORS® is working tirelessly in Washington to ensure that the next generation and those who have historically been shut out of homeownership have access to the vital wealth-building opportunities that are created through homeownership,” said NAR Vice President of Advocacy Nate Johnson. “Our advocacy work has scored a number of important wins. For years, NAR has

Iowa Association of Realtors leader says proposed national settlement is a good thing

A proposed settlement of a lawsuit by the National Association of Realtors with home sellers clarifying sale details has drawn a lot of attention. The President of the Iowa Association of Realtors Shaner Magalhaes said the settlement will provide more clarity to transactions.

For example, there has always been a required disclosure statement for the seller, and the settlement would now require one for the buyer. “To just make it absolutely clear when I sit down with the buyer. I say, Okay, let’s go over this form. Here’s my responsibility to you. Here’s what I expect out of you in the process. And here’s how the compensation will work,” he says.

Another issue in the settlement is the practice of the agents for the seller and buyer sharing the commission on a sale. Magalhaes says that this is done to bring in more potential buyers, and some reports have incorrectly said that the practice will go away. “And that is absolutely not part of the settlement whatsoever. The settlement doesn’t say that they can’t continue to do that, it just has to be completely transparent and disclosed about how that system works,” he says. Magalhaes says the settlement will not