REALTOR Caucus of 2007

Last week I attended the AAR Realtors Caucus in Scottsdale. This is a state meeting open to all Members that helps formulate the legislative policies for the upcoming year. There were approximately a couple hundred Members in attendance this year.

Many of the attendees are familiar faces to me by now after the many years I have been at state meetings.

One of the speakers this year was Mary Peters, the US Secretary of Transportation. She talked about improving roads and highways, and because of the recent bridge collapse in Minnesota she also touched on infrastructure needs. I would have liked to take a few notes while she spoke but she was the speaker during lunch that was being served (and the lunch was fantastic).

The underlying theme from the feedback from various regions of the state was to set the bar higher to obtain and keep a real estate license in Arizona. I've actually been hearing stuff like this for many years now but is used to be a more quiet voice. There was no misinterpreting the message this time. We'll see what happens.

Another hot topic involved water resources. Readers from the Mohave County area let me just say this... make no mistake... the folks in Phoenix are looking to other parts of the state to draw water to their area. Rural Arizona is clearly in the line of sight here, especially if rural Arizona is not using enough of their own water resources.

One bit of good news though was the recommendation that the state Association support an initiative at the Capitol to begin a real conservation effort. One thing that I'd like to see is that if a community or even a county begins such a conservation effort on water that their water allocation will NOT be affected. In talking with some folks it seems like if a conservation effort is successful it could mean that the allocated water resources would be reduced and allocated to somewhere else. To me... that is not real conservation.

Last little tidbit. There is a growing concern that Members are taking their eye off the ball when it comes to legislative policy that could affect private property rights and means of taxation. Both could vastly affect the Realtor industry in Arizona. If an apathetic Membership allows a policy or two go by the wayside, we could be harming every property owner's ability to buy and sell real estate. (This is also a concern that I have for the local Realtors as well)

It is time to get our heads out of the sand and see to it that everyone's property rights are protected before more statute's and ordinance's hinder the freedom of our clients. We owe it to our clients, and of course owe it to ourselves.