Welcome to our podcast. Our very first. We’re so excited to launch. And today I have with me as my first guest, Addison Russell with Farrah Bates. And Addison is our attorney. And we’re so fortunate to have you. So welcome. Thanks for having me. So I told you it’s my first podcast. Yes, I think it’s your first. Yes. Okay.
Yes. So this is wrong. What could go wrong with us? Okay. So before we start with anything, I think it’d be exciting for everyone to know how you started with Tennessee Realtors. Yeah. I guess just to get a long story, I don’t know if that’s what you signed up for, but I’ll give it to you. I was a political science major in college, and that’s fairly useless.
just in case you’re having kids go to college, don’t get a liberal arts degree. And so my dad said, well, you can go to law school and I’ll pay for it. I was like, oh, anything else to do? So I went to like, this is really instill trust in all your members. but no. So I went to law school and kind of while in law school, I really did take, like, property classes.
my family’s in the real estate auction business, so I was kind of a natural subject matter then, but still had, a real interest in politics. And so after law school started working in the state Senate for my hometown senator and the committee he chaired, and then I went to the Department of Commerce and Insurance, which has the real estate commission.
and that’s when Russ kind of called me and he said he was looking for someone to come on, and work with the realtors doing the hotline and the forms and then on the lobby team as well. So I got that opportunity, and that was, eight years ago, I guess. So I’ve been been here for eight years now and just really enjoyed it.
And Russ has been with us for 38 ish, 38 ish. Right. Long time. Yeah, we’re very fortunate to have the farm and you do a great job for us. And am I right that you are an auctioneer? my auction license is expired. Oh. But yeah. So it kind of kind of. I went to auction school for kicks and giggles, falls and law school.
So I got my real estate license to this. Very, like, civil friendly. Exactly. Yeah. That one is also expired. So we have a lot going on in the industry right now. It seems like we always have something going on. But this this year has been a lot with the Na settlement. So you’ve all been very busy for us and we appreciate everything you’ve been doing.
So just to kind of jump into the deep water right now, that’s what we’re going to focus on today because I know it’s top of mind for everybody. Yeah, top of mind. So just in a nutshell, there’s two main points to this. Can you cover for us for just a second at the two main things that the members are really focused on right now?
Definitely the practice changes that came out of the settlement, that will really maybe impact how our members do business is the removing of offer of compensation on the MLS and then also the requirement to have a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home. And so I think that that’s what most people are being, are focusing on.
And then there are some caveats below each of those. But those are the two big things. Right. And so with the with the commissions out of the MLS, the big question, everybody is trying to figure out how are we going to communicate right now with what are we going to do. And I know a lot of people are, are we do we pick up the phone?
Do we have a forum? What are we going to do? Yes. As an as a millennial who hates to answer the phone, you have to pick up the phone as, as an option. if you’re the listing agent, you can advertise compensation. Yep. You just can’t do it on the MLS. So if that’s on your website, if that’s on your social media post, if that’s on a rider on your side, as long as it’s not appearing in the MLS.
And then if you’re a buyer’s agent, just kind of just picking up the phone and making that call. And what I’ve been encouraging everyone to do is, where cooperating compensation is offered. And you’ve established that getting that compensation agreement filled out and signed, before showing your buyer a home. And then it’s just one less step that the buyer has to worry about in the process.
It’s already taken care of on the front end. Right, which is going to be important when it comes. If there’s ever a dispute or something down the road for arbitrations and that type of thing. I know one of the things that we also hear is if you have it on your website and you’re doing ADX, you can have it on your listings, but you can’t have it display anybody else’s compensations with that ADX.
Yeah, that’s my understanding as well. And I will say the biggest resource for me through this whole time has been backseat realtor. you know, has been such a good job with their fake news about what they’re putting out. And that question is on their, as well as their answer. And so most questions I get, I’m really able to turn there and say, oh, here’s the answer.
Now, when you get to form specific or state law specific, you know, those are not on the website, but, in ours, in a really good job about, I think, any questions that they’re getting, they’re turning into fakes and kind of trying to establish daily data daily. It’s amazing. Probably one of the best things that they’ve done is, is do that website, keep it up to date.
And every question they get, like you said, they’re just totally keeping them. I can’t even express enough how quickly they’re getting those updated. I know, because every time I go back, they’ll be something different. That’s maybe a little more concise to like what they had before. Any follow up question. So if you’re not, if the listeners aren’t going there already, go there, and peruse it.
And then like Angeles, I keep checking, like I said, to keep checking. Yeah. And then the second part of that is with the showing agreement, I know that our group has worked really hard trying to get us showing a group, showing an agreement together. I think my fear is there’s so many showing agreements that are out there from third parties, and I worry that brokers may not even know that their agents are using those agreements.
So tell me your advice there. use our agreements right? Always. but I’m. You start out. We know we talked about the two big practice changes coming on the settlements, but when you looked at forms and the requirement for a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home we’ve always had in Tennessee, we’ve always offered a buyer agents the buyer representation agreement.
And that’s still such a great tool for our listeners to use and to continue to use that. And it should satisfy all things. and then but if for whatever reason, you don’t want to practice agency, you can’t. We did create a form. The forms committee did RF 143, which is the written agreement before touring a home. and it has the option to create a non-exclusive agency relationship.
Or you can act as a facilitator, which will put you in compliance with the settlement. But back to your original question. use TSC Realtors agreements because they are written specific to Tennessee. I think some of the third party ones are not. They’re putting they’re put more out on a nationwide platform. Sure. And with general contracts, you know, contract law, does it really differ state to state?
It’s based more on common law. But where we have like in our buyer rep agreements or any agreement with a buyer about, you know, being a foreign buyer, our foreign ownership laws are different than any other states, and we address that and we make the buyer aware of that. Tennessee has its own fair housing regulations that are slightly different from the national ones that we reiterate in our agreements.
and so just making sure that you’re using something that’s compliant with Tennessee law as well as the settlement agreement is very important. And that’s what the forms Committee has done. and that’s also a benefit to your membership. Like that’s where your, you know, members dues go to is to, to those forms. And so use them and, and just to make it before we jump off them, we’re talking about forms more in-depth.
Just to make it a little more clear about when you say the forms committee, the forms committee, the way we use the forms committee, the forms committee didn’t technically write the forms. So the Forms Committee is more an advisory group to our legal team who does. Right. I was going to say they’re really more of an advisory committee.
and they’re very beneficial because, you know, day to day real it’s real to our members that are using these forms and that are encountering situations. And, you know, how do things work in real life? Because as an attorney, I don’t always have the benefit of knowing how things work in real life. but yes, I and primarily I will write the forms.
We have two other attorneys that serve on the committee and are also very beneficial. they both serve as title attorneys, so they get to see kind of that back end of it to you and put in their benefit or, you know, their information there. But, you know, the forms committee is advising me as I kind of draft, and go through them and others in our firm, look up.
Right, right.
So the video that we mentioned that you did with Cindy, that is still available if someone missed it. Yeah. definitely. And I think that there is a link that should be included here, but, I feel like that’s another great resource for members. Cindy Stanton, the forms committee chair, and I kind of go through there and we talk about each change, something we do every late of every year for it, each form change.
And then so this year was unique because we had a mid-year video. but I hope that that’s a good tool for consumers. And then you kind of we kind of talk about it a little bit. And so it’s rather than just reading it, you get to hear it explain to you a little bit. And so hopefully that’s helpful for our audio learners.
Very helpful. So a link to the forms is available in our show notes. And you can go line by line and actually see the changes that were made. And again, if you’re a visual learner that’s also really helpful because I like Red line. And so what’s red and crossed out are things that have been removed. And what’s blue are things that have been added.
And so you that helps you see the change rather than just getting a 12 page document. That’s all black and white and kind of trying to figure out, oh, why is this one different than, you know, the one last month? So that may be helpful to you for like more visual learners to come up. And then everything’s going to be, uploaded into transaction desk as soon as it’s ready to go.
Yes, I know Andrea is working hard on that with our vendors to make sure that all vendors have it. and actually, you know, while we’re talking about this, if you are using a platform that is not a real tour vendor, then you will be responsible for uploading your own new forms into that platform. and so I think we’ve put out a lot of information on that in the past, but just know that if you’re using one of those that that’s on you to make sure you have all of the new forms so you can be compliant with the settlement when that happens.
Great.
So the other thing, in addition to the showing agreements, I know that you’re getting a lot of questions about open houses. There’s a lot of confusion about now, what do we do with open houses when somebody comes in and I’m and they’re hosting an open house. So what kind of questions are you getting about that?
I get this question via the hotline, which is another great resource. but at least three times a day so far. And, but it’s also really when it’s one of those it’s addressed on back start realtor. So that’s been that’s been a great resource for me to to answer these. but if you’re working with a seller, you do not need a written agreement with the buyer.
So if you’re hosting an open house on behalf of the seller, every buyer that comes through that door, you don’t have to have them sign something that says, hey, this is how I’m getting paid. It’s it’s just not necessary. if a buyer calls you and says, Will you take me to this open house that is not yours?
you know, at that point, you do need something in writing before you tour at home. but if you’re working, if you’re doing an open house or showing your own listing, that is not necessary. And what if a buyer comes into the open house? And that’s where the relationship starts, because they’re not represented and they have a conversation with you.
They want to see that house, but then they want to see other houses. At that point you’re working with them, right? And we need something in writing. Now, if they’re only interested in that open house that you show them and you’re the listing agent, the buyer can remain unrepresented. And you need certain forms that, like the confirmation of agency form that says they’re unrepresented.
And working with a real estate professional. but, you know, if they want to go look at other homes and want you to represent them there, then you you switch to working with the buyer. At that point, we’ve received some questions about what if it’s not my listing? What if I’m in the office and I want to go represent this house for somebody else in my office?
Have you ran across those questions? Yes, I have, and I think that this actually existed. I mean, it did exist. The practice obviously existed prior to the settlement, and I think issues probably existed prior to the settlement as well. there’s nothing wrong with that. But you I would recommend that you, as the non listing agent, have something in writing with the seller that gives you permission to be in their home and showing it, and kind of creates a relationship with the seller, that you’re clearly working with the seller.
That would be my recommendation. And I think that’s going to relieve a lot of liability and a lot of the question marks as to who you’re working with, right? Basically comes down there. Everything is about the communication line, having things in writing, just clearing a lot up, which we should be doing anyway. Always. Yes. Oh, I so let’s go back to the forms for just a minute.
What other types of questions are you getting right now? And since we we you all did a great job with that video. We got a lot of compliments. So thank you for doing that. You and Cindy both. but what other questions have you received since that came out that that we should talk about? So I think one of the biggest forms that was created that people probably need to be aware of is the amendment to the buyer agreement.
because right now it’s not a serial trade. Buyer agreements, allows for Angela, if you were my agent and I, would I give you the authority to negotiate for cooperating compensation, and we don’t really talk about what that amount is. And then, our current agreements say, well, if there’s no cooperating conversation or the sellers are going to come see me, you buyer owe me x x amount or x percent.
but we allow the cooperating conversation to be open ended. And that is not compliant with the settlement agreement. So if you have if a member has a current buyer rep agreement, they need to get that amendment executed. on August 17th. That has that hard, objectively ascertainable amount in it to be compliant. So I think that’s one of the really big takeaways.
the forms committee kind of advise me through, we had several, several meetings. we wanted to get it right. Yes, we wanted it right. And we had several, several different conversations, but their takeaway at the end was, let’s see what like Addison, just make the farms compliant with the settlement with as least changes as possible. and then let’s wait and hear about the feedback from the community and from our membership.
And, you know, and if things really change or don’t change. and so that was kind of what that was where we ended was just, hey, here, minimal changes. and so I think that apart from those questions, I’m not really getting a whole lot of questions because I’m hoping that it’s not like, you know, a big bomb on everyone to really shake up things.
Well, I think everyone was surprised that it wasn’t as much change as they were expecting. Well, I think the good news about that, and I try to say that video is where Tennessee started. and I’m biased, but, you know, and I didn’t do this work at the work happened years and years before me, but we were already in such a good position, that it wasn’t a big change that you had states that didn’t have a buyer representation agreement, and we’re having to create one, in states that weren’t talking about compensation for whatever reason in their agreements.
where we had always tried to be transparent with the consumer. and so I think that we didn’t have to change that a lot. And that was, that was just really good that we I felt we started on third base, and not every other state or local association had that benefit. 100% agree with that, right. so I know we’re hearing just a lot of questions as everybody is trying to implement and get ready.
and I think change in general is just scary. But when you look back over real estate in general, over the years, we’ve been through a lot of changes before. So I think once they get their hands around it, it’s going to be a lot more comfortable. Yeah. To them, it’s just it’s taken a little bit of time.
are there other questions in general that you’re hearing or is that, yes, I can hear a lot of questions. and then a lot of people, I will say, a lot of my questions, someone has like, I have made a hypothetical, like ten steps down the road. And it’s like, that’s so specific that. Right. You know, I don’t know, like, I think that I think those things will shake out.
but I get a lot of those, a lot of open houses and then, compensation. So for instance, if there’s not cooperating compensation offered or if it’s not the amount that the buyer has agreed to pay you, kind of how they handle that and that that can be addressed in the purchase and sale agreement between the buyer and seller.
The buyer can ask the seller to pay their agent. and air has said that that is compliant with the code of ethics, because for a lot, you know, I think and I’ve always preached that it’s not really the best place the purchase and sell agreements, not the best place to discuss that. But if a buyer needs that to happen as part of the deal, then the buyer can absolutely include that.
And, you know, the forms committee and myself put out, a special stipulation on RVT 7 or 7 that will address that. So that’s a question I get a lot too, of, wait, can we put this in the purchase and sale agreement? And yes, if your buyer needs that to happen, it’s another negotiable item within the contract. You’re also getting the questions about the range.
Right. Can I put in there that can I. The range is going to be between x percent and percent. And within the range just make things so much easier. but after talking to r it, the settlement uses the words objectively ascertainable and in R has opined that a range or an up to amount or not more than amount that’s not objectively ascertainable.
It has to be a hard number. Whether that’s a hard dollar figure or a hard percentage number, it has to be just a digit with no no wiggle room. So on either side, it might pinion. Is that when this was announced back in April that as they’ve gone along it’s it’s been a little bit about them having to understand to and figure this out.
So they’re they’ve gotten a little bit more concise on exactly what they are expecting and what is expected of them with this to so their answers are getting a little bit more concise as well. so as, as we move with this talk about the concessions, they are allowed to put concessions in MLA. So you get a lot of questions on, can I use that in some way to indicate commissions or what the buyer will pay toward commissions?
And there’s a pretty strong answer with that too. Yeah. And I’ve actually, recently did a panel with someone from one of the local MLS. and it was like, don’t be creative with the concessions. Feel like, I know, for instance, one of the MLS has a toggle feel that they’re going to implement where you can say, yes, the seller is willing to or, you know, no, we’re not.
And that’s just on concessions. or you can, you know, list a dollar amount there. But I think a question posed to her on that panel was, well, what about if as my list price changes, my concession amount changes? And she was like, if we see a trend that it’s trending toward a percentage point at the lowest price, you know, that will not be allowable.
so she’s like, don’t get creative with how you’re trying to put it in there. and, you know, I think some other things on the concession field was and she’s and this was her opinion, her statement that concessions field is a variety of things. But if you’re only talking about compensation, then don’t mark yes on the concession field.
But if the seller is willing to talk about home warranties, repairs, other items, and compensation, then you can check out some concession field. So I thought that was an interesting that is, you know, in the analysis are the ones enforcing it. So yes. And we get that question a lot to is who’s going to enforce even that going back to those sharing agreements.
And it is the MLS that is responsible for that. So just like they do the listing agreements, some of the other questions that we’ve ran into is can we use some of those third party vendors that we can communicate our commissions through those, like some of them have showing time and different things like that. And so again, other ways to get creative that could get them in trouble.
and so the answer to that that I’ve heard is no, but, you know, anything that’s tied to that, and just like I said earlier, maybe I think, is that you can put a rider on your sign, but you can’t put a picture of the rider on your sign on the MLS. Right. and you can put it on a website, but you can’t direct link just like one page that says Angela Shields is offering x percent and buyer compensation and that be a direct link in the MLS.
You know, so it’s just it’s very much a separation, right. They’re very, very separate. Yeah. we’ve even heard that there’s these garage companies that are starting up for the specific purpose of being a means of communication. That’s this new app. And, it’s it’s very clear that the settlement says that you will not be a part of those third party companies that you’re going to you’re going to have this means to be able to communicate something like that.
So it’s we keep saying to the brokers, you need to be very careful with what your agents are. Yeah. What your agents are participating in. So, it’s it’s, it’s going to be a new world, but it’s definitely agent brokers really need to think about policies for their company right now. I actually had that question too, is like, was a broker responsible for making sure their agents have this written agreement with the buyer before turning out?
And, you know, that’s broker policy, right? Obviously. But I think the brokers need to understand that the buck stops with them as it always has. Right. so I would encourage, you know, as a broker that you’re making sure your agents are being compliant not only with state law, truck rules, code of ethics, but and now the settlement requirements.
so, yeah, just making sure that you’re, you’re being a broker like you’ve always been. You’re right. Always. So I think what I would ask next is, policies is a great segue into it is what advice would you be offering, whether it be to brokers or agents, associations. Yeah. Number one advice is go to facts dot realtor.
Absolutely. Just all the time and familiarize familiarize yourself with the language of the settlement. Because I think that there are so many mistruths out there, especially in the media, and it’s, oh my goodness. that’s nowhere in the settlement. And that just blows my mind. And there’s so many people that are on these speaking circuits that give their opinion, and that’s all it is, is an opinion.
And we have to be really careful with those because it’s great to hear everybody’s, their perspectives and what they think. But like you said, it’s Nar is where we need to turn right now to see what the settlement says, because they were the ones at the table exactly. When they wrote it, they envisioned it. they negotiated it.
She ended it, I guess not right, but negotiated. And so that’s just been such a big resource for me, trying to answer questions. But then, it should be the number one resource for all realtor members. If you have any questions, send them to the hotline. I’m happy to answer those. All those. And like I said, most of them are on in a is in our website.
But if there’s something about a form happy to provide an answer to that or like, how does this play with state law and our agency agreement situation? get involved with at your local, I mean, at your local level and state level and go to all the meetings. I know that pretty much most associations are having roundtables or panels and they’re really talking about it.
and that’s the best way to to keep feeding yourself the information prior to the August 17th deadline. And then just don’t overreact like it’s I really and I hope by now everyone has kind of settled in that, it’s I don’t foresee it being that big of a change in practice. And so, you know, with the scenarios that I’ve been getting, well, I appreciate the thoughtfulness behind them.
It’s just I think people think that everything is just going to be so different. and so just, you know, taking things day by day and step by step and using the forms and the tools provided to you by Tennessee Realtors. But I think that it should be completely navigable, you know, for our membership, particularly for Tennessee, because, like you said, going back to your analogy, we’re already on third base.
It’s not like we’re starting at the plate, hitting the ball. Yeah, missing the ball and then finally hitting it and getting to run. I mean, we are already on the base. And it was just a little bit of a write. Like, I hope that most of our members were already using buyer of agreements. We already had a compensation agreement that will remain in place.
So just keep using the forms that you’ve always been using in the practices you’ve always been using. And the great thing I think about the way we do our forms is it goes back to how you explained the way we operate as we go along. If we see we still need to make some tweaks, we’re going to get that feedback from members and we’re going to be able to move on it.
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. and you know, that’s what I’ve kind of encouraged some feedback I’ve gotten like since that incident. Any ideas you have, whether it’s settlement related or, you know, if you’re doing a transaction and you’re in the middle of transaction or you think this sentence doesn’t really make sense, let the forms committee know. And that can be Andrea Huddleston here.
You can send it to the hotline. and, you know, we’ll look at that because there could be something that doesn’t make sense in the real world. And so just trying to kind of play off that feedback that we’re getting. So speaking about the hotline, I think most members will know how to use the hotline. But in case there’s somebody who doesn’t know how to use the hotline, let’s talk about how the hotline works.
So my favorite method to contact the hotline is actually on Tennessee realtors.com. there is a portal that you can submit a question to you. And then that lays out the terms of the hotline, which I think are beneficial. like knowing that if you submit a question, your principal broker is going to get a copy of it, knowing that the hotline attorney is not your personal attorney.
you know, the hotline exists to kind of help members navigate real estate transactions as a realtor. but they’re like, the hotline doesn’t have the authority to comment on executed contracts of, like, oh, this party gets the earnest money and that party’s in breach. and then that the hotline represents the association and not the individual member.
and so if you go through the portal, it lays all that out and you agree to that. And I think it makes for an easier transition. You can also email hotline at Tennessee realtors.com and your question comes in and then a response should be given to you within 48 hours or 48 business hours, I guess, two business days.
And so we get probably ten ish questions a day. and then there’s been a little uptick I was recently. I would imagine you’re getting more than that right now. And a little more than that right now. But, you know, that’s that’s why it’s there is to help answer those questions. So. Right. And then you also compile the questions that you get.
And then we put those in the digest. so if somebody is is looking to see if we’ve answered a question before, they can actually go in the digest each week. But they can also go to our website and find the questions that we’ve answered to be able to see if that question has been answered before. Yeah. and that’s such a great resource to you that they’re archived.
And so it could save you the time of having to like, wait on a response or send in response. there’s a legal caveat to that that, you know, maybe if that answer was published three years ago and there’s been a law change surrounding it, you may or may not be able to kind of figure that out.
And most things haven’t changed, but, know that that is, you know, a risk if it’s really old, if it’s not a double, you might want to see the question. You might double check depending, you know, depending on the nature of the question obviously. Right. Yeah. So that brings me to kind of a member of value. right now, which is not uncommon when you get members that kind of have something happen like this, you get the, do we have to be a member of Nar?
and the answer is, if you’re a member of Tennessee Realtors, or you’re a member of your local association, you do have to be a member of the National association. You can’t drop one and remain a member of the others. And that that goes along with the question is they want to ask, do they have to be a member of one when they’re a member?
The others? but there’s so much you get at all three levels. And here at Tennessee, the legal hotline is one of the best values of what you get for your dollar. Because I can’t even imagine for the money that you pay to be a member of Tennessee Realtors, what we we pay to be able to call an attorney, right.
Just for simple advice like that. Yeah. And kind of not on the spot, but, you know, a relatively timely answer. yeah. You’d have to find an attorney that was willing to kind of do maybe the one off for the few hours. and then you’re paying for that, like by the six minutes. Yes. But just to be able to answer a question on the form, on the contract, explain what this means or how this applies or or what have you.
That’s that’s a huge benefit. We really appreciate that that you all do it. Yeah. and to take a few minutes, the other thing that you all do for us, you and the team is advocacy and, and great job with that. Sometimes it is with the law of real estate, and sometimes it has to do with private property rights.
It has to do with many number of things. Again, another great member value. what are some of the things that just come to mind? I’m putting you on the spot. We’re changing the subject on here. but what are some of the things that, like, just come to mind that have been, really good wins for us?
Yeah. And I will have always said we represent a couple of trade associations. And I think that advocacy is really one of the largest intangible benefits you can get from a trade association, because you’re just amplifying your voice. it can be the voice of the industry. And then I know just Realtors really prides itself on being the voice of the consumer.
That doesn’t have a voice necessarily, unless they’re calling up their state legislator and getting them to listen to them. Because, you know, a lot of people, they’re getting a lot of calls flooded every day. and so just the power and the unity that’s there, and I think that that’s on great display, like on down the hill with how many members show up for Tennessee realtors down the hill.
it’s just incredible. But it’s really showing like, hey, we are concerned citizens and here are the things we’re concerned about, and we’re acting as a group to voice our opinions on those. obviously, some recent wins for the real estate industry lately has been, principal brokers not paying the professional privilege tax anymore. I, as a lobbyist and an attorney get, formerly, they don’t double charged me.
You only have to pay once, but I still pay that. and so principal brokers coming out of that, I think was I mean, that’s a direct that’s not an intangible of anything anymore. That was a $400 win to the brokers pocketbook every year. and then if you looked when we went through the pandemic and, getting classified as, what’s the word essential, essential things, essential, essential business, you know, again, like lobbyists were an essential I don’t think it mattered.
But, and that came with other benefits, like, not only did you get to work and make money and, you know, support your family, but when they did a lot of the benefits that came down from the federal level, like essential workers got daycare, got childcare vouchers. While if you weren’t deemed essential, that wasn’t a benefit you could grab.
so I think that that was a really big win. And, you know, most of the things that the biggest wins are the things that haven’t happened that could have been detrimental to our membership or to the consumer. Right. and so it’s kind of trying to like, there are a lot of good ideas at the legislature, but they’re not always thought through of the unintended consequences.
And so being the group that gets to say, hey, I think this could be really harmful to the consumer, and here’s why I think this is going to inflate home values and here’s why. Even though you’re not you know, that’s not their intention of like, let’s raise home prices because nobody wants to do that. but just pointing out how those things could end up in higher home values, which pushes more and more homeowners, you know, right.
For potential homeowners out of that right dream. Yeah. And it’s the same on the national level. We’re doing it on the state level the National Association of Realtors is doing on the national level. They’ve done they’ve had a lot of wins as well. And then you have the local associations. And I think that sometimes members forget that they’re fighting on the local level in their cities, their councils, their commissions, even education, they’re doing all kinds of work there, too.
And it really does take that three way agreement to make sure that we’re working all together to keep private property rights at the forefront and make sure we’re protecting that American dream, because so many people, they forget that is the American dream of homeownership. And so we work really hard for that. and then there’s education. You all help us a lot with education and making sure that we are teaching, whether it’s that private property rights, whether it’s the legal updates, I’ll whatever we need, you guys are always there.
And I think that’s where, you know, advocacy and forms, they, they really do collide so often. because, like, a state law will change. I think, you know, this year we had want a change on the property condition disclosure that a seller has to fill out. Well, then that sparks a form change for us, for all these forms that we’re providing to our sellers.
and so it’s just like it all works together and that, you know, you’re you have to be informed that legislative level, whether that’s local or state or national, because, you know, that’s bleeds into your forms, just like I think at the national level. They’ve had some changes. Hill lead based paint. I think that the that we’re going to deal with on our forms that we’re providing to sellers here, it was a minor change, but it’s still, you know, we all have to be like in the know and working together.
Can you imagine if we didn’t have that organizational level, keeping up with it? What? An individual agent. That’s maybe a nonmember. How they would keep up with all that. Yeah. Well, even, you know, from my standpoint, if not having that information come from Nar about the lead based paint thing, you know, I’m not following the EPA at the federal level, like, that’s that’s not my wheelhouse.
and so such a so helpful to have that trickle down and then right, to just be an agent on your own, having to navigate everything and not having to pay an attorney every single time something needs to be changed. Right? Yeah. It’s it would get expensive. It would get expensive. Much more than dues. Yes. Yeah. I mean, that’s a really good point.
Yeah. Because, attorneys aren’t cheap. No, no, they’re not. But, so again, just we could go on and on. I could, I could do a whole segment just on the value of being a member. So there’s so many other things, but, but I’ll bring it back to the settlement overall. I mean, is there anything that we didn’t talk about that you think about with the settlement that that we might want to cover?
I, I’m, I think things will come up and I think that, you know, when the forms coming, when the forms were published, when we kind of finalized on I said, this is where we’re going to go with I knew that that was just the end of that chapter. and I was very glad for that chapter to be over.
But and now I think we’re in the next chapter of, okay, we have we have these tools in our toolkit like how we implementing them. And then I think the next chapter is going to be after the effective day and seeing how everything is playing out in practice. so I think that I feel comfortable with the information that we’re putting out now, and especially that DNR’s putting out on the settlement.
but but I think that we’re going to just continue to kind of figure out things post August 17th and see what that looks like. And if there are things that need to be addressed, then, right. And then just keep adapting. And that’s something Regina Hubbard, our president, she says constantly to people, is that we’re adaptable and that we’ve always been adaptable and that we may people may not like change, but that’s the way you succeed in this business, is that you have to be willing to adapt to the change that comes, and there’s always going to be change.
Well, I mean, if you look at any real estate transaction, how many amendments are executed throughout the transaction, like I you’re I think that’s such a great example that she said that because a real estate licensee is constantly adapting to so many different, like you’re having to amend with a smile on their face. Yeah, right. And in the interests of the consumer because that’s that’s what they’re doing.
And so I think it’s just it’s they probably are used to that because there’s no standard transaction. No transaction looks the same. and so they’re very used to pivoting. They are. That’s a great point. They are. And this is really just a pivot. Yeah. And the way that we’re practicing right now and once it calms down it’ll be the way it is.
Yeah. The way it is. And you’ll forget like these pre settlement days. Yeah. Feel like old school talking about it. Yes. In the meantime we will be here. The hotline will be here. And the forms committee will be here to be able to look at any changes that anybody would like them to look at, just like they always do.
And they do that every year. You all will be doing your November, release, where you go over all of the additional adaptations. And I’m kind of dreading the August meeting because, we, we have been so focused on the settlement, obviously. and then it’s going to be like, oh, wait. And then we have all these other things that we need to look at.
But you had on your original up before this wasn’t and they got pushed back. So yeah, but we’ll we’ll see what that ends up being. Yeah. Well, okay. Well let’s wrap it up with something fun. So let’s talk about, what do you have a fun trip for the end of the year or anywhere fun you’re going I’m going to point clear Alabama.
Well, there you go. And then point clear. I’m sure you’ll be, you’ll be talking about this. Yes, we’re talking about a lot. No, I think what clear will be awesome, though. and then, I guess trip wise for my kids fall break in October, we’re going to go to Maine. And I’ve never been to Maine before. I know, so we’re running a cottage, and we’re going to do that for like a week.
Oh, I love that part of the country. Really pretty all of the, lighthouses. And you know, you’ll enjoy the lobster. And the blueberries were so good that they noted all the things I need, all the recommendations, y’all have any trips going on? just work trips for just plain clear Alabama. Yeah, they are conference here. We’re going to Boston.
Okay. So we’re flying in and out of Boston for the Maine trip. So that’ll be good. Well, thank you so much for helping us kick this podcast off. we appreciate all your information, and you’re always such a great resource for us and work so hard for us. So thank you. My first podcast so well, I think we got through it.
I know for professionals now. All right well thank you. You’re welcome.
