Glenn Cobb, RCE
Chief Staff Executive

The 2014 NAR Conference and Expo was a huge hit.  Over 15,000 REALTORS® from all over the country, as well as Canada, Mexico, many European nations and scores of others descended on New Orleans for education, an excellent expo and, of course, lots of networking.  Thanks to Curtis Leonard, Stephen Long, David Burroughs, Lou Baldwin and Treasure Faircloth for their hard work in representing WSRAR so well.  There were two major steps taken by the NAR Board of Directors and Delegate Body that I wanted to make sure you are aware of as we close out 2014 and look forward to a very exciting 2015.

First, REALTOR.com has been purchased by News Corp.  CEO Steve Berkowitz spoke to the General Session and reiterated their intent to position REALTOR.com as the #1 source for on-line home searches.  For more information about this exciting development, click here:  Background

Second, the Board of Directors directed NAR to develop a new Code of Excellence with the intention of raising the professionalism of REALTORS®.  How to continually raise the bar and, thus, the confidence of the general public in using a REALTOR®, has been a topic at NAR for decades.  This step will add a new code of professionalism that all REALTORS® are expected to follow.  This code is not yet written so you need to stay engaged in the discussion as the code is developed.  There will be more to come as talking points and drafts of the code become available.  For more information on the new Code of Excellence, click here:  comprehensive summary

I hope all of you have a relaxing and joyous holiday season, but still stay plenty busy helping your clients meet their housing needs during the holidays.  It has been a pleasure for all of us here at WSRAR to serve you in 2014.  We look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead in 2015.  In this holiday season, your gift from NAR is a free year of your own .REALTOR domain.  Don’t forget to sign up to claim your free .REALTOR domain if you have not done so!