![\"bar\"](\"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/bar.jpg\")
\nCurrently, members of the National Association of Realtors are in Washington DC for the 2017 Realtor\u2019s Kick off Legislative Meeting & Trade Expo conference. During this conference, realtors will attend events and speak with members of Congress to learn about legislative efforts that impact their industry.<\/p>\n
An ad? Bold move<\/h2>\n
During this conference week, the NAR is running an ad campaign targeted at members of Congress to make their opinions known. According to a source from the conference, \u201cWe [the NAR] are running the ad in select editions of The Hill, Politico and Roll Call.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ad asks Congress members them to reconsider the elimination of certain national, state and local tax deductions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Specifically, the ad focuses on the home mortgage interest deduction and like-kind exchanges. For over a century, homeowners could write mortgage interest off their taxes, as long as the mortgage didn\u2019t exceed the cap of $1 million for married couples and $500,000 for individuals filing as single.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a popular selling point for buying a home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to a report by CNBC<\/a>, Trump\u2019s head of the Treasury Department, Steven Munchin, said, “We’ll cap the mortgage interest, but we’ll allow some deductibility.”
\nThe ad goes on to explain that \u201creal estate accounts for 19 percent of the GDP\u201d and is a significant driver of wealth building for the middle class of America. Basically, they don\u2019t want Congress to remove tax deductions and favors that make real estate wealth lucrative for Americans.<\/p>\nTaking a stand<\/h2>\n
This is a rather bold move by the association. Usually, the debates are saved for the conference floor, not for ads running in online publications.<\/p>\n
In that sense, it\u2019s a pretty good indicator that realtors are very concerned about the direction in which these legislative initiatives are going.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It could also be a result concerns about market conditions for first-time homebuyers, which we have covered before.<\/a> In that same CNBC report, William E. Brown, president of the National Association of Realtors, said \u201cWe\u2019re living in a time of tight credit and low inventory, with homeownership rates hovering around a 50-year low. Doing anything that would make it harder for buyers to enter the market is a fundamental step in the wrong direction\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"nar](\"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/nar-ad.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n