Ways & Means

Yesterday was jammed with programs and my flight arrived just in time. Scott Rieter gave us all a great update on RPAC and the NAR PAG. Rick Miller's large broker involvement program is set to kick off soon. Joe Molinaro explored all the opportunities available in the Housing Opportunity Program....

I am sitting at my desk getting ready for the Government Affairs Directors (GAD) Institute which begins tomorrow. Normally, we GADs are a pretty solitary bunch. Lobbyists by trade, we are the men and women who put a face on your political issues. Focus your grassroots programs and, often, the one...

This post is really a response to Jim Crawford's blog post a few days ago. Crawford was really honked off at agents who do not know, or don't care to, fully complete a sales contract. This set me to thinking about how we handle that at our Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS®. I spoke with two st...

I'm working on sign codes, Ugh.In a recent post I invited Realtors to leave comments about sign codes and I've had a few comments. MORe has invited local brokers to comment and to be honest, the response has been underwhelming.Three Activerainers left me pretty good comments and I'm posting my re...

I have never seen a police speed trap like this one before.I was tooling down North Avenue through Carol Stream this week and noticed a guy sitting on a lawn chair in the grassy median.  On occasion there have been city crews mowing the grass or tending the flowers and shrubs that beautify the me...

All Illinois waits as the Governor, the Speaker, and the President are still deadlocked over the budget. Realtors lobbied the legislature earlier this year on the GRT, license law, and a host of other important issues, but the legislature is still mired in budget talks.  Now normally the legislat...

Today we celebrate the anniversary of our independence. An independence that has been celebrated for 231 years, through good times and bad, war and peace, prosperity and depression. With each generation comes a new appreciation for who we are as Americans and what our particular American freedoms...

`OK, A local village has asked Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS to help them rewrite their residential sign code. Of course, I will be working with my Government Affairs Committee, brokers, and MORe leadership. But I'd like to get a broader perspective. I want your wish list. We can edit and s...

At stake here is the right of an owner to sell their property without getting some sort of permission slip from the village.  Westchester is taking the same position that we have seen in a few other towns; they believe they can hold up the sale of a property until they get either an inspection or...

Today's Washington Post included a great editorial (http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070626/EDITORIAL/106260011/1013) from Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House. You may love him, or you may hate him, Newt is never ignored. Realtors should be reading this editorial simply because he ...