Where the money goes

This is an expensive business. With advertising, fuel and membership fees, all necessary to serve our clients, Realtors make a significant investment each year. This time of year, with holidays and gifts that each of you budgets for, Realtors must also budget for annual dues. This year we face an increase in dues and may lose members who are just not able to pay them. Many other members bite the bullet and pay their bill, but wonder, "Where does that money go?"

The National Association of Realtors is one of the nation's largest lobbies. As Realtors we are all members of NAR and as such are committed to the preservation and promotion of private property rights and home ownership. Although many deem it unfortunate that it takes money to pay lobbyists to get laws passed, that is the way the system works. Some of the impact our Realtor dues have had this year:

• Restructuring the Secondary Mortgage Market - In 2011, two comprehensive bills that include some level of government participation in the secondary mortgage market were introduced. H.R. 1859, the "Housing Finance Reform Act of 2011," sponsored by Reps. John Campbell (R-CA) and Gary Peters (D-MI), was introduced in June 2011; H.R. 2413, the "Secondary Market Facility for Residential Mortgages Act of 2011," sponsored by Reps. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), was introduced in July 2011. While NAR worked with both bill authors and supports both bills, H.R. 2413 was directly derived from the principles and recommendations developed by the NAR.

• Covered Bonds - The creation of a covered bond market could provide an additional source of capital and improve liquidity for the commercial and residential real estate industries.

• FHA Condominium Rules - On May 6, 2011, a coalition put together by NAR, including the Community Associations Institute (CAI), the Institute for Real Estate Management (IREM), and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), sent a letter to acting Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner, Bob Ryan. The coalition recommends changes to FHA's condominium rules to provide greater liquidity to this sector of the real estate market without causing additional risk to the FHA insurance fund.

On July 1, 2011, new condominium rules were implemented for mortgages insured by FHA. The temporary measures on owner-occupancy, FHA concentration and presale were made permanent, which NAR and the Coalition believes are good first steps in addressing the lack of liquidity available for condominiums. NAR is working with the Coalition for more enhancements to the condominium rules.

• FHA, Fannie and Freddie Loan Limits - NAR successfully fought proposals to roll the Fannie and Freddie conforming loan limits back to a single $417,000 nationwide standard. This proposal would have reduced loan limits in 124 counties in 21 states.

On Thursday the Congress voted to re-instate the prior, higher loan limits for FHA, not Freddie and Fannie and the bill was sent to President Obama to be signed into law.

• FHA Reform - NAR worked with Congress and the Obama Administration to protect the affordability and availability of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance. Specifically, NAR successfully fought proposals to increase FHA's down payment requirement to 5 percent. FHA estimates that such an increase would have eliminated 345,000 borrowers in the last year alone.

• SBA Commercial Property Refinancing Program - The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced in February 2011 that it would start accepting refinancing applications for commercial real estate mortgages maturing by the end of 2012. In response to an NAR letter and those from other small business groups, the program was expanded to loans maturing after the end of 2012.

Realtors have always been about more than just houses. Our annual dues and our voluntary contributions to our Realtor Political Action Committee (RPAC) ensure the continued flow of capital into the real estate market, preserving residential and commercial property ownership and protecting the business interests of its members.

Trust an expert... call a Realtor. Call your Realtor or visit www.cdarealtors.com to search properties on the Multiple Listing Service or to find a Realtor member who will represent your best interests.

Kim Cooper is a real estate broker and the spokesman for the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors. Kim and the association invite your feedback and input for this column. You may contact them by writing to the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors, 409 W. Neider, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 or by calling (208) 667-0664.