Three Holiday Wishes From Your Executive Vice President

1. Please stop disparaging or insulting other real estate professionals. I receive so many calls along this line, it is depressing. And, it makes the whole industry look bad, including the conveyor. NAR’s “Pathways to Professionalism” ask that you respect fellow real estate professionals. And, why burn down a bridge that you may need to cross down the road. Also, it may be a violation of our Code of Ethics and subject you to fees and fines. Remember what you learned in kindergarten, “if you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.”
2. Let’s all remember what we learned in Real Estate 101. Especially with respect to advertising regulations, “The Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission’s (SREC) main purpose is to “protect the consumer.” All of its rules and regulations are designed to serve that purpose. They exist for a reason. Let’s all follow these few simple rules before citations start showing up in mailboxes.
3. I wish that many more of our members would contribute to RPAC, the REALTORS® Political Action Committee. This fund helps our advocacy efforts. As an independent contractor, did you appreciate qualifying for unemployment compensation for the only time ever? Do you appreciate Act 133, REALTOR®-driven legislation that makes it easier to get to the closing table? How about our support and advocacy to fix the assessment appeals system? Helping every one of your Allegheny County buyers. It is especially disappointing when I see some of our members advertising that they sold 4,092 properties last year for a grand total of $499,763,512.50 and yet they do not contribute to the fund that helped them accomplish this production.

There are my three holiday wishes, hoping they come true.

Happy Holidays!

John Petrack, GRI, RCE, ePRO, C2EX
Executive Vice President