11-8 regulatory issues
nar

After a couple rough days in Miami at the MortgageFraudBlog Conference - (you can read all about it here) - I'm up to Orlando for the NAR Conference & Expo. I hope I can make it to the AR party tonight but it's been a helluva a few days with morning to night meetings and I'm fading.

It appears that most of the posts I read here about the NAR Expo focus on the social media seminars and the tech sided of things - and there is plenty of that to go around. As an NAR Director, I frequently don't have the time to attend those seminars so it's great to be able to keep up with them through your excellent posts. But since I don't read much on the governance side of the Expo, I'll try to bring you all some info on some of those issues since that's where I spend most of my time.

Yesterday, for example, I attended the Economic Issues and Residential Real Estate Forum featuring NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yon and noted business trends expert Stefan Swanepoel. Following that was our meeting for Land Use, Property Rights and Environment Committee, followed by the Regulatory Issues Forum featuring NYU Public Service Professor Paul Light, Howard Glaser, President of the Glaser Group and David Horne, Chief of Staff at HUD.

I'll start this commentary on the Regulatory Issues Forum:Transition to a New Administration, People & Policies with future blogs on the other two. Please keep in mind I will be providing what appealed to me as the highlights of 2 - 3 hour meetings, some memorable quotes and a feel for the agenda. These were jam-packed issues that cannot be simply translated into a brief blog post so I'll not even try.

To quote Professor Light: "This Presidential transition will be the most difficult since Abraham Lincoln entered office. Although President-elect Obama is not facing a civil war, he will inherit an agenda of staggering uncertainty as the nation teeters on the edge of economic collapse."  Obama will face three immediate tests that will determine his success in office:
  • First, the speed with which he fills the 3,000 political appointee positions at his discretion and the quality of appointments he makes. You may remember some of the paralysis surrounding Bill Clintons failure to fill more than half of these positions during his first hundred days and the accusation of cronyism that swirled around many of the appointments he did complete. All eyes will be on Obama to measure the depth of his character and his decisiveness in completing this task.
  • Second - he must decide how to decide. Having promised maximum access and transparency, he will soon be faced with paralysis by analysis unless he can discipline himself to act rather than give in to his natural tendency to discuss, form consensus & explore all options. His selection of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff is probably an indication that access to Obama will become very limited very fast, which will disappoint many of his strongest supporters.
  • Third - he must narrow his priorities to a precious few. There is no New Deal or Great Society mandate from the voters. Not only that, many of his options will be severely constrained by the economic realities he inherits. If he tries to shotgun an agenda he will fail miserably. If he presses for a very narrow, focused single shot approach to his primary goals, he stands a much greater chance of succeeding with those hot button items. This will also disappoint many of his supporters to whom he promised a broad stroke approach to address a multitude of issues.
 He needs to be able to say no to many of his supporters and constituents right now because his transition team is being bombarded by applicants and supplicants. As Prof. Light noted, there are more trial balloons being floated in D.C. right now than at a clown convention. He further likened the future to a 'big old freight train coming out of D.C." after the new year. We don't know who all's gonna be on it and aside from the engineer we don't know who's gonna be running it. It'll be loaded down with all kinds of stuff and we don't know what yet. In spite of promising to lighten the load, they're still adding cars right and left and we can count on at least one car loaded down with pork and we know there'll probably be a few bad apples on board as well.

Finally, all three speakers emphasized the greater need for Realtors to be involved in the political process right now. Especially as concerns decisions made on the bail-out and other stimulus programs, Legislators need our input very badly. The insider advice they've been receiving hasn't exactly produced stellar results and has landed us in the mess we're in today - they need the advice of people who know what's happening, who see the results on a daily basis and who have some practical ideas on what will help. That's US.

There is no substitute for the local Realtor talking to his/her local Legislator and providing real life examples of what these policies are doing to others in the district. If you're not already, please get involved. Realtors represent a 1.2 million strong grass-roots movement that reaches from Jerry Giovaniello's office in D.C. right down to your own representatives office down the street from you. Obama's going to have his hands full on a number of fronts - we can have a real voice in shaping housing and recovery policy if we choose. It's up to us (it's actually up to YOU, I'm already trying my best).
Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
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Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.
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' NAR - Regulatory Issues Forum'
THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.
 
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1 Comments on NAR - Regulatory Issues Forum

NOV
08
2008
563,876 Points 17 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Gene - thanks for posting this, I hope Obama reads it, or at least someone that can bring this to his attention without losing anything in translation. However, even now, Pelosi, Reid, et al are scrambling to put together their agenda of what they expect to get passed in the first 100 days and it doesn't look like there is any restraint being planned on their part.
7:08pm • #1

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