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John Wendt Honored as the 2021 CAR REALTOR® Of The Year
Select members throughout state also honored for distinguished service
John Wendt III, managing broker at Coldwell Banker Mason Morse Real Estate, in Carbondale, CO, was named CAR’s REALTOR® of the Year.
The award is the most prestigious award given to a CAR member and is a culmination of a distinguished career within the REALTOR® organization— at the local, state, and national levels. In addition to leadership within the association, the REALTOR® of the Year is a person active at the community level and successful in business.
A REALTOR® member for 40 years, Wendt was president of CAR in 1993. He introduced CAR’s successful member benefit program, the “Legal Hotline,” which allows REALTOR® members to get legal information to ensure that home buyers and sellers are getting accurate information and fair treatment.
He served on Colorado’s Real Estate Commission from 2018-2021. “I’m not aware of a commissioner that has had as extensive real estate experience as John,” said Marcia Water, Division Director of the Colorado Real Estate Commission, Department of Regulatory Agencies. “Not only is he a wealth of information about the mountain market, but he provided us with valuable insight regarding the affordable housing issues that Colorado is facing across the State.”
Wendt is instrumental as an educator, often mentoring new brokers in their early years as REALTORS®. Initially, Wendt received his Bachelor of Science in teaching from the Colorado State University. After he became a REALTOR® in the 1980s, he quickly got involved in teaching for the association and developed curriculum for the Graduate of REALTORS® Institute (GRI) accreditation and introduced the Master of Real Estate designation. He’s taught on all subjects at both the state and Evan Boenning, 2020 CAR REALTOR® of the Year presents the award to John Wendt.
national level, including construction, finance, contracts, risk management, ethics, antitrust and fair housing. He served as an expert witness in several cases regarding real estate professional ethics and wrote legislation that both codified agency law and created the duties of transaction brokers.
Wendt founded the Colorado Real Estate Network, a southwest-region Multiple Listing Service that began in Grand Junction, Delta, Montrose, Pagosa and Durango. He also served on the Glenwood Springs Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors as chair in 2009 and 2012.
“He is one of our industry’s most requested educators and mentors,” said CAR CEO Tyrone Adams. “His wealth of real estate knowledge and history is a benefit to Colorado REALTORS®.”
In addition to honoring Wendt, outgoing CAR Chair Robert Walkowicz presented the association’s Distinguished Service Award honoring outstanding contributions to the real estate industry and the association. Kati Harken, Keller Williams Realty-DTC, Greenwood Village Sean Dougherty, RE/MAX Alliance-Boardwalk, Fort Collins Deborah Shipley, REcolorado, Greenwood Village Natalie Davis, The Evolution Group, Greenwood Village Kay Watson, K. Watson Properties, Metro Brokers, Englewood
Other awards included:
Lifetime Achievement Award presented to attorney Kent Levine for time served on the Colorado Real Estate Commission.
CAR Government Affairs Political Service Award presented to Denver REALTOR® John Lucero for his tireless support of private property rights, homeownership, and the real estate industry.
Rebecca Cooper Receives the CYPN of the Year Award from Spencer Hellwig, CYPN Chair. Rebecca Cooper, a REALTOR® at milehimodern in Denver received the 2021 Gus Williams Colorado Young Professionals Network’s (CYPN) REALTOR® of the Year award. She was recognized as a young professionals who strives each day to better the industry and their local community.
Cooper is a leading real estate broker associate and a founder and director of Beloved. The nonprofit’s mission is to assist people affected by sex trafficking through prevention, intervention, and restoration programs. In addition to the award, CYPN donated $500 to Cooper’s other favorite charity, AsOne Ministries, an organization that addresses poverty in rural, underserved communities in Uganda.
“Thanks to Rebecca for her dedication to those who are living in peril and for representing our REALTOR® family,” said CYPN chair Spencer Hellwig, who presented Cooper with the award.
The Colorado Association of REALTORS® CYPN is a group of REALTORS® who are “young at heart or young in age” and lead the way in the real estate industry and their local communities through educational, philanthropic, and social events. They value education, cultivate leaders, and support local communities. For more information, visit www.coloradorealtors.com/colorado-young-professionals-network.
