“You don’t do anything by yourself….”
~Ron Phipps
Ron Phipps. That name may not mean a lot to a lot of people, but to those of us actively participating in the real estate industry today, it’s a familiar name. Ron is the current President of The National Association of Realtors. He was the guest speaker at The President’s Luncheon yesterday at The Naples Area Board of Realtors, and I was one of the fortunate attendees.
Here are some of the highlights of Ron’s address that struck me as being important, and note worthy:
First of all, Ron’s passion for the real estate industry was very evident. He was inspirational as well as informative. Each of his stories related to a personal experience, assuring all of us he knows what we do, because he is an active real estate agent. He faces the same challenges and obstacles…he celebrates the same successes, too.
Ron shared with us that The NAR Team has been to Washington and met with members of congress, and “the banks” to discuss and offer suggestions to solve underwriting challenges and appraisal problems. He talked about how the current mortgage requirements have ‘over-corrected’ and he mentioned the term QRM [Quantitative Risk Management], also known by many as “skin in the game.”. He is urging underwriting standards to take into consideration the entire person/family/entity when making loan approvals: reserves, assets, credit…the whole picture. He told us they are taking great measures to protect the mortgage interest deduction. This law has been in effect since 1913. Over 75 million people will be impacted if tax payers lose this deduction. 65% of the people who take this deduction earn less than $100,000! [91% earn less than $200,000.] The 2nd home mortgage interest deduction is also in jeopardy, which could greatly effect an area like Naples Florida, which has a much higher percentage of 2nd homeowners than the national average. I found this to be an interesting fact: the average net worth of a homeowner is $180,000. while the average net worth of a family that rents is $4,700.
Additionally, Ron spoke of several other issues such as flood insurance, a universal approval for condo association projects regarding FHA requirements, international buyers, mortgage caps, short sales and foreclosures.
He closed the program by urging us to be proud of our profession, stating that there are few occupations as pro-consumer as being a real estate agent. There are on average 147 entities involved in the real estate transaction from start to finish….which goes back to Ron’s quote at the beginning of this post. No wonder the housing market drives the economy!
As always, thank you for reading my blog. If you or anyone you know is interested in receiving information about The Naples Real Estate market, please call us today. We look forward to hearing from you, and we hope to earn your business. 239.370.0574
Make it a great day,
The Naples Real Estate Blogger
