mortgage interest deduction: National Association of Realtors® Issues Brief: Mortgage Interest Deduction, GSE Loan Limits & National Flood Insurance - 08/12/11 12:40 PM
This is the most recent Issues Brief issued by NAR. In one page summaries it outlines the major talking points the Association is following for in-district meetings with our Congresspeople. They're on vacation right now you know, exhausted from the crippling mano a mano over the debt ceiling. Will Rogers used to say "The only difference between death and taxes is that death don't get any worse every time Congress meets."
The next 100 days or less is critical to housing. Both higher conforming loan limits and the National Flood Insurance Program are scheduled to expire on September 30. the NFIP … (2 comments)

mortgage interest deduction: Will Homeownership in America Become Out of Reach? - 05/20/11 06:13 AM
 
Will Homeownership in America Become Out of Reach?
According to recent studies, it is widely perceived that we Boomers will be the first generation in this country to pass on a less prosperous and bright future for our children. I’ve just returned from a week in Sacramento followed by a week in Washington DC and nowhere is that prophecy more clearly demonstrated than by the current attack on the future of housing in our country.
As National Association of Realtors (NAR) Chief Lobbyist Jerry Giovaniello phrased it, “We are facing a perfect storm which, if brought to fruition, will bring … (8 comments)

mortgage interest deduction: Realtors®! Please answer your Call for Action. - 03/31/11 10:30 AM
Stay Active. Answer the CFA!, Posted by Vince
Posted: 30 Mar 2011 07:18 AM PDT
Doctors consistently tell us that we can keep ourselves healthy if we stay active. Without consistent exercise, our health deteriorates.
It’s the same in politics. If REALTORS® continue to stay active on Capitol Hill, we can help bring our industry back to health and maintain its health. If our participation slides, our businesses slide.
We sent out a Call for Action on Monday to all REALTORS® on the mortgage interest deduction. It tells Congress not to trim the MID one bit. It also asks members of … (4 comments)

mortgage interest deduction: How can you lose something you never had to begin with? - 10/29/10 08:04 AM
How can you lose something you never had to begin with?
That's the question that comes to mind when I read the Administrations continuing attack on housing. In Monday's Wall Street Journal, another front page article states 'Key Tax Breaks At Risk As Panel Looks At Cuts'. First sentence 'Sacrosanct tax breaks, including deductions on mortgage interest, remain on the table...' The article goes on to say '...these and other breaks cost the government about $1 trillion a year'. (emphasis mine).
But if the government never had these revenues to begin with, at least in the case of the MID, how … (6 comments)

mortgage interest deduction: White House Conference debates 'Value of Housing'. - 08/19/10 11:31 AM
I suspect many of you have been following the blowback from the White House Conference on Housing held earlier this week. I haven't had an opportunity to talk with former CAR President Vince Malta, who was NAR's rep at the event, nor have I seen any quotes from him in the press. Most of the quotes seem to be from Mark Zandi and his comments about how 'we can't afford housing subsidies any longer'. Hmmmm, I don't recall Zandi mentioning that the last time he addressed an NAR crowd. Could it be he modifies his comments and his beliefs depending on … (7 comments)