THE FUTURE'S SO BRIGHT-YOU GOTTA WEAR SHADES....ST JOSEPH MO

Last Thursday was the kick-off for 2010 St Joseph Regional Association of REALTORS®  members in St Joseph.  President Mary Kay Lyle, exciting theme for the event was                                            

"THE FUTURE'S SO BRIGHT-YOU GOTTA WEAR SHADES"

Fellow Realtors®, Bobbie Jo Howe and Scott Mears wasted no time in capturing the spirit of the event.

The highlight of the event, was a presentation by 2001 President of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Richard Mendenhall. Richard is a REALTOR from Columbia, Mo, and is the fifth generation of his family in real estate.  He is the owner of Remax Boone Realty in Columbia.  

During his term as NAR President, Richard spearheaded the establishment of the Realtors® Housing Relief Fund one day after the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.  Mendenhall mobilized the 1,000,000+ member organization in a rapid response to establish funds to help pay mortgage and rent costs for victim's families. The focus of the keynote presentation was Courage.

Richard shared his belief that courage is a common trait shared by REALTORS®.  He pointed out that REALTORS® get out of bed and go to work every day not knowing if they will earn a paycheck or not. This takes courage! He said that average people, like REALTORS®, are the real heroes in today's world.

A few other highlights:    *Highest affordability in 35 years    *Lowest conventional in 40 years   *Approximately 1.2-1.4 million new house-holds each year

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®                                                                                                                   Housing Affordability Index                                                                                                                        *2006 107.6           *2008 134.9             *2009 167.7      *Midwest region 211.8

Richard pointed out that in the fast paced world we live in today some things quickly became obsolete in the last 10 years:

1. Film Development
2. Movie Rental
3. Land-line Phones
4. Long Distance Charges
5. Public Pay Phones
6. VCR's
7. Books, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias
8. Boundaries
9. Loosing Touch

Currently the second Ranking Seach Engine is YouTube 

I-pod applications downloads hit 1 billion in 9 months

The St Joseph Regional Association of REALTORS® , suprised President Mary Kay Lyle with a oversized Birthday cake.  Happy Birthday Mary Kay! 

Richard Mendenhall's presentation for the St Joseph event