NAR update from Washington D.C.

I visited NAR convention and it was a great visit. We visited the capitol on Wednesday and spoke to the legislators about our issues. There were 5 main speaking points that NAR wanted us to discuss with them. It was very busy there due to the vote that was going on. The three legislators we spoke with were Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Alcee was not available but we spoke to his assistant and they all were very gracious with their time. The 5 points were.

1. Move the Housing Market Forward and Safeguard Our Communities by:
   
   
   • Restructuring Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac: The federal government must have a continued key role to ensure capital for mortgage lending throughout all mortgage markets and in all market conditions.
   • FHA & GSE Loan Limits: Congress should make permanent the 2008 loan limit formula and loan limit cap.
   • Homebuyer Tax Credit: Congress should expand the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax credit to include all homebuyers at all income levels. 
     
     
2. Preserve the Mortgage Interest Deduction: NAR opposes any changes to current law. The MID is a remarkably effective tool that facilitates homeownership and community stability. More than 75% of homeowners utilize the deduction over the period they own their home.
   
   
3. Enact Health Care Coverage for the Self-Employed and Small Businesses: NAR urges Congress to pass health care reform legislation that addresses the inequities faced by the self-employed and small businesses in the nation's health insurance delivery system.
   
   
4. Adopt Reasonable Approaches to Energy Efficiency: NAR supports commercially reasonable, incentive-based approaches to help our nation's commercial and residential buildings become more energy efficient. NAR strongly opposes energy labeling requirements which are imposed at time of sale or impose undue economic burdens on property owners or managers.
   
   
5. Stabilize and Provide Liquidity to Commercial Real Estate Markets: The freeze in our nation's credit markets has adversely affected commercial and investment real estate. Property owners seeking to refinance existing loans, including land and residential development loans, are finding access to credit limited. Restoration of the orderly functioning of financial markets is essential.
   
   
   • NAR supports an expansion of the duration of loans offered to investors, by the Federal Reserve through the Term Asset-Backed-Securities Loan Facility (TALF), from the current 3-year term to at least five years to better accommodate the longer loan terms of commercial mortgages. (Most commercial mortgages have a loan term of seven to 10 years).
   • NAR supports the retention of current capital gains rates
   • Courtesy of Realtor.org
   These are just some of the main points discussed. Most if not all of the legislators were on board with our issues. They all realize and said it more than once that Real Estate is the way we are going to get out of this recession and stabilize the economy and market.