Change is (Once Again) in the Air

With change comes opportunity. NCAR has experienced a few staff transitions. We wish each departing staff member (David McGowan, Julie Woodson, Barbara West and Kevin Brafford) the best in their new, and very exciting, endeavors. At the same time we are gearing up for the challenge and motivation that comes with building a new team to serve the members of this outstanding organization. Blair Wilburn, our Director of Business Development has moved into the role of Director of Communications and Marketing. She is bringing huge new energy and creativity to NCAR’s communications and will be spearheading the redesign of NCAR’s website, a redesign which is long overdue. We are interviewing for the other positions and are amazed at the talent NCAR is attracting. NCAR is extraordinarily well respected as an organization for the work that we do on behalf of our members and we are finding that many people want to be part of our efforts. This will allow and encourage NCAR to move forward in a new and innovative direction – always with the best interests of our members in mind.

You may be experiencing NCAR’s creativity and innovation when you see our commercials on TV, hear our ads on radio, and read our ads in the weekly newspapers serving your communities. These efforts are also about change. NCAR supports the efforts to build a better North Carolina for our families and those families choosing to relocate to this great state. We are working hard to ensure that legislative efforts on tax reform support the real estate industry recovery, not hamper or destroy it. We need your help in this effort. Eliminating the mortgage interest and property tax deductions would not be “good” change. Elimination of these deductions will lower property values, cost North Carolinians jobs, and potentially cause the housing industry to slip back into a recessionary mode. There are other legislative proposals being discussed that would equally harm the real estate industry. For example, adding an 8% tax on every service that is utilized when a family buys a home in North Carolina will be significant enough that many move up buyers, or first time home buyers, would be kept from their dream of homeownership. We cannot allow this to happen. Please visit our website www.taxreformfacts.org and sign up to join NCAR’s efforts. Share, tweet and get your friends, colleagues, families and allied business associates to join in. Find your inner activist and challenge yourself to be a catalyst of good change. Fighting the efforts that would harm our industry is not only beneficial to real estate professionals, but all of North Carolina’s citizens.

Finally, I hope that you are all taking advantage of and enjoying the market improvements we are seeing across North Carolina. That is a change I know we can all get behind. Let’s keep the momentum going. Everyone needs to do their part to ensure our industry is protected and that homeowners, potential homeowners, commercial property owners, and real property investors continue to be able to purchase and enjoy the benefits of real property ownership. Let’s keep this positive, yet still fragile, market change going.

Change equals innovation and opportunity. Improved markets lead to more jobs, increased property values, and an improved North Carolina for us all. From my perspective – BRING IT ON!