Call To Action: ‘Do No Harm’ To The Greatest Comfort There Is: Home

2013 Message from NVAR's CEO, Christine M. Todd, CAE

2013 is off to “rocky start.” While we managed to avoid going over the fiscal cliff on New Year’s Eve, the road ahead is still a bumpy one. It sometimes feels like we move from one crisis to another. Everyone is sitting on the edge of their seat, waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Between the roller coaster ride of the Redskins season, the  agonizing wait for the opening of NHL hockey  or Congress battling over budget cuts and new revenue, all I want to do is go home, crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head. Enough! I’ve had enough. I want peace,  quiet and everyone to play nice in the sand box of life.

I don’t know about you but the only place I can get away from this madness is in my home. Home…. where we go after work, school and play. I can find serenity in my home as long as I fight the temptation to turn on the 24-hour news channels.

As our country slowly digs its way out of the Great Recession, with housing and new job creation leading the way, it’s time to send this message to Congress: “Do no harm to the housing recovery.”

Everyone living in this great country, especially in Northern Virginia, wants members of Congress to balance the budget and restore fiscal responsibility as the new normal. We all need to do our share and pay the price. However, if we pile too much on the back of the housing market, we will only prolong the pain and hamstring the economic recovery.

That is why REALTORS® nationwide are lining up to tell our elected officials that tampering with tax policies and incentives that encourage responsible home ownership is dangerous. Preserving the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID), the capital gains exemption on the sale of a primary residence and the deduction of local and state property taxes is a must.

Throughout 2013, REALTORS® will be asked to to respond to the NAR CALL TO ACTION campaign, give generously to the REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) and take an active role in promoting the value of homeownership, even in turbulent or recovery times.

NVAR members will also need to promote our market to consumers, too. Our region did great last year. We ended 2012 with nearly 12 percent more houses sold than the whole year before! That is a clear sign of an improving real estate market. Our annual average sales price, was up nearly 4 ½ percent, too.

The work of our members and our association for this year is clear. We need to help educate consumers about the solid facts of our market and help solve our low inventory dilemma.

I agree with Dorothy, “There’s no place like home.” You have my word, that we, at NVAR, will do our part in making sure it stays that way!