The Sign at Realtor Headquarters
Today I went to a talk at TPCAR put on by the New Realtor Council. We were learning about all the new rules and changes to home financing. As I’ve been a Realtor for 4 years, I am not technically a New Realtor anymore, but I still love the classes and I’m on the committee so I totally go anyway.
The Tacoma Pierce County Association of Realtors (TPCAR) is our local branch of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). My friends like to tease me for always over pronouncing RealTOR, when they call me a Re-la-ter. I’m not usually one to get all strict about pronunciation, it’s just that there is a difference between being a Real Estate Agent and being a Realtor.
When you become a real estate agent, you have the option of joining a company that belongs to NAR. When you are a Realtor you are educated in and pledge to follow a code of ethics that normal agents aren’t held to. People do get diciplined, and even kicked out of the Realtors. They mean business. Oh, and it costs like $500 a year, which can be a pinch when business is slow, so you had best like being a Realtor.
So I was at the TPCAR office on 27th & Yakima today. I like to call this building “Realtor Headquarters” but other agents (and the general population) always sort of look at me like I’m a dork when I say this. It’s not a fancy place, but it’s where the magic happens. I just started getting involved this year, and to be honest, still don’t totally understand everything that goes on there. I’m on a couple of committees, and I’m trying to understand all the different work Realtors do in the community and why we make the decisions we make.
We have a Realtor sign store that sells cool signs like this one.
In an association of over 2000 agents we are not of one mind, by any means. The most difficult part of being a Realtor for me is figuring out how to reconcile that the political endorsements favored by my association for the good of my profession are not always in line with my social concience or polical beliefs. This is why I became involved in my association, to better understand those decisions and (if neccessary) work to change things from within.
Anyways. That’s what I did today!
