ST. PAUL, Minn. – Arizona Sen. John McCain vowed to stand up and fight for the country to keep it safe from global threats and help rebound from a sagging economy, as he accepted the Republican party’s nomination for president of the United States here tonight.
“These are tough times for many of you,” McCain told the crowd at the Xcel Center. “You’re worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way. And that’s just what I intend to do -- stand on your side and fight for your future.”
During his speech, McCain said he found the right partner in his vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, to help him shake up Washington, which drew cheers from the crowd, who had been won over by Palin after her energetic speech last night.
“I fight for Americans,” McCain said. “I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market.
More than 200 Republican and about 100 Democratic delegates at the 2008 Republican and Democratic National Conventions are also REALTORS®. Why did they decide to take on this role in our country's election process and how has it helped them in their real estate business? We caught up with several REALTOR® delegates during the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Watch the video and hear how their political involvement has helped them.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Watch video footage from REALTOR Randy McKinney, a Republican delegate from Alabama, as his state casts its delegate votes for the presidential nomination of Sen. John McCain.
Republican Convention: Keeping the Focus on That First Rung of the Housing Ladder
Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- As the political excitement at the Republican National Convention entered its third day, much of the attention among politicos and the media was on the upcoming speech of vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. But about a mile from the Xcel Energy Center, where the festivities are taking place, NAR President-elect Charles McMillan paid a visit to Ravoux House, a high-rise public housing project with several hundred elderly and disabled residents that’s everything critics and supporters say public housing should be: safe, decent, and affordable.
“There are still people who cannot afford the American Dream and in the current environment that’s becoming even more difficult,” said McMillan, who went on to praise the work of the St. Paul, Minn., Housing Authority for its success with its Ravoux community. “But we must do more to help not only those struggling to get on the bottom rung of the housing ladder, whether that’s ownership or shelter through rental programs, and we must do more to preserve homeownership for those who are threatened with losing their homes.” (Watch a video of McMillian's remarks.)
Inside the Xcel Center, amidst all the political speeches, some 2,000 delegates and tens of thousands of other convention-goers heard that same call for homeownership preservation.
“Today, Americans are concerned about keeping their jobs, about keeping their homes,” said Carly Fiorina, former chairperson and CEO of global technology giant Hewlett-Packard, who spoke on the convention floor that evening.
The core of any plan to stem the mortgage crisis and ramp up economic growth must start
Watch video highlights of NAR President-elect Charles McMillan, and REALTOR® and Nevada Republican delegate Jack Woodcock talk about the real estate and politics at 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Republican Convention: Service Is Showcased, REALTORS® Show the Way
Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
ST. PAUL, Minn. — When Bill Gross was at the podium in the Xcel Energy Center Tuesday evening, the second day of the Republican National Convention here, he moved many of the delegates and other convention-goers with his stories of the farmers helped by Farm Rescue, a nonprofit group he founded. The group doesn’t step in with money; rather, it deploys volunteers — often other farmers — to help plant, maintain, and harvest crops for farmers who’ve suffered a disabling injury and need time to recuperate before they can get back to their fields.
As Gross put it, “We give them an opportunity to continue their livelihood during an unexpected crisis.”
Shortly after Gross made his remarks, the convention heard from Ashley Gunn, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania who launched a nonprofit that turns abandoned houses into affordable homeownership opportunities for indigent households.
What struck me as I was listening to these stories is how much they resemble the kind of work REALTORS® do every day in their communities and that are showcased each year in the REALTOR® magazine Good Neighbor Awards. As a frequent judge for these awards, I know that the winners and runners-up represent just a fraction of the hundreds of entries submitted each year. Without a doubt, for REALTORS®, every day is “service” day.
That’s a message NAR and the hundreds of REALTORS® serving as delegates to this and the Democratic convention last week have been sharing with lawmakers and others involved in the
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The scene of protestors on Kellogg St. outside the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul was chaotic but for the hundreds of REALTORS® here attending as delegates to the Republican National Convention the focus was on the Gulf Coast.
As they did when the Gulf Coast was struck by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, REALTORS® stepped up with donations to the REALTOR® Relief Fund. But in this case, they were opening their wallets even before it was clear what the full impact of Hurricane Gustav would be.
“It was extremely moving to see how quickly REALTORS® came forward in this time of need,” said NAR President-elect Charles McMillan.
While Gustav was making landfall, NAR and another group, the Creative Coalition, were hosting a joint forum to hear from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development staff on the recently passed housing bill at a restaurant across the river in Minneapolis. The Creative Coalition is the social advocacy arm of the entertainment industry, and the group, along with NAR, also hosted a joint meeting at the Democratic National Convention in Denver the previous week.
Official activities at the convention were curtailed because of Gustav, with First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- the only two keynoters on Monday. However, convention-goers stayed busy with a phalanx of meetings and forums outside the convention hall.
More than 200 REALTORS®, representing 44 states, were in town as delegates to the convention. They’ll be joining more than 2,000 other delegates this week to vote on the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska for vice president and John McCain for president.
For the REALTOR® community, they’ll be communicating the importance of REALTOR® issues
DENVER - REALTOR® Michael Eaves, a broker specializing in commercial real estate investments for Long & Foster REALTORS® in Bel Air, Md., is one of nearly 100 delegates who are REALTORS® at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Eaves serves as a delegate in Maryland.
Watch some of his video reports from the convention floor on Wednesday.
Melissa Dittmann Tracey, Associate Multimedia Editor, and Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
DENVER – No matter who comes out on top in the presidential race, several REALTOR® issues are likely to be at the forefront of the national legislative agenda, NAR Chief Lobbyist Jerry Giovaniello said at the 2008 Democratic National Convention here yesterday. (Hear it in his own words: Watch video highlights of Giovaniello talking about these key REALTOR® issues.)
During a housing reception hosted by NAR, the National Association of Home Builders, and the Independent Community Bankers of America, Giovaniello predicted small business health care will be one of the first orders of business in Congress.
“Whichever party is elected there’s going to be a lot of resources devoted to coming up with a workable, bipartisan health care plan,” Giovaniello said.
The government will also take a closer look at modernizing the financial system for housing. By early 2009, lawmakers will have a clearer picture of what needs to be done based on the
DENVER - It’s too dark to see clearly in Osteria Marco, one of Denver’s trendy bistros, but the person sitting against the back wall is definitely Spike Lee, the famed movie director, and in the center of the room actress Susan Sarandon. And not far from the two of them is Henry Cisneros, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during President Bill Clinton’s first term.
These three and others have gathered in this restaurant about half a mile from the national democratic convention center to participate in a town hall meeting about the other housing crisis, the one hitting low- and moderate-income renter households (Watch some video highlights.) More than six million renter households must pay more than 50 percent of their monthly income for rent, leaving them little for food, transportation, and health care.
Cisneros, who now heads up a company that develops housing for working families, says lawmakers in 2009 must address the homeownership slowdown without ignoring the ongoing, yet far less visible, crisis in the rental world.
Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, another participant, agreed that the challenge for housing advocates is to keep him and other lawmakers on top of both problems at once, an admittedly tough task given the primacy of the homeownership market to the overall U.S. economy.
“Housing is the economic crisis of the country,” he says. “But you need to keep us honest. We need to stay focused on rental housing.”
It might seem incongruous to have a discussion about low-income rental housing at a swanky bistro but this incongruence is part of what makes the town hall discussion effective; it’s bringing together the high-profile world of Hollywood and New York City with the high-power
The median number of transactions completed by REALTORS® in 2007 dropped to eight from 10 the previous year. However, brokers and sales associates who brought a combination of experience and hard work to the table were rewarded, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 2008 Member Profile.
The median gross income before taxes and expenses for all REALTORS® was $42,600 in 2007, but REALTORS® with 16 or more years of real estate experience had a median income of $69,500. In the same vein, REALTORS® who work 60 or more hours a week grossed $80,800. The median years of experience in 2007 was eight years, up from seven in 2006. The median number of hours worked was 40.
Watch for more details from the new Member Profile in the July issue of REALTOR® magazine.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Arizona Sen. John McCain vowed to stand up and fight for the country to keep it safe from global threats and help rebound from a sagging economy, as he accepted the Republican party’s nomination for president of the United States here tonight.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- As the political excitement at the Republican National Convention entered its third day, much of the attention among politicos and the media was on the upcoming speech of vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. But about a mile from the Xcel Energy Center, where the festivities are taking place, NAR President-elect Charles McMillan paid a visit to Ravoux House, a high-rise public housing project with several hundred elderly and disabled residents that’s everything critics and supporters say public housing should be: safe, decent, and affordable. 
Inside the Xcel Center, amidst all the political speeches, some 2,000 delegates and tens of thousands of other convention-goers heard that same call for homeownership preservation. 
DENVER - It’s too dark to see clearly in Osteria Marco, one of Denver’s trendy bistros, but the person sitting against the back wall is definitely Spike Lee, the famed movie director, and in the center of the room actress Susan Sarandon. And not far from the two of them is Henry Cisneros, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during President Bill Clinton’s first term. 
Subscribe to this blog's Web feed