I thought in observance of MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY, just how profound these words have become:

If we look back over the last 40 years, or most of my lifetime, we've come quite a long way.  Most of us have never known segregation.  We have African-American and Female Presidential Candidates.  Hell, the Berlin Wall fell almost 20 years ago!

We truly live in the greatest nation on earth and enjoy freedoms and liberties that some countries and nations can still ONLY DREAM about.  These rights and privileges, that I believe are largely taken for granted today, came (and continue to come) at a heavy price; men and women that have paid for our freedom with their lives for over 200 years.

What does this all have to do with real estate?  One of the greatest privileges we all have the ability to enjoy is that of HOME OWNERSHIP; which is still at an all-time high!  NAR consistently sites the "New Immigrant" as the largest growing segment of home buyers year after year.  Yes, the AMERICAN DREAM is still alive and well despite all the negative press, and yes, we shall overcome and help today's buyers realize that dream!

Thank you Dr. King and, thank you, the men and women of the Armed Forces, who continue to put themselves in harms way so we may continue to enjoy that which we take for granted!

Jim Flanagan, GRI, e-PRO