REALTORS® Get Involved, REALTOR® Party Success Stories and More View e-mail in browser December 11, 2014 REALTOR® PARTY | for REALTORS® | RPAC | for ASSOCIATIONS     NAR President Chris Polychron NAR CEO Dale Stinton Let's Get Every REALTOR® Involved! NAR President Chris Polychron and NAR CEO Dale Stinton urged participants at the REALTOR® Party Training Conference in Ft. Worth, TX last week to get every member involved in advocacy and community outreach efforts.  “Imagine the impression we could make in City Councils, State Legislatures and the Nation’s Capital with one million fully engaged members,” Polychron said... READ MORE   By The Numbers   6th of January Date the 114th Congress begins its first session next year.  Tax reform and ways to ensure a strong and healthy mortgage finance market are among the many issues on the REALTOR® Party’s advocacy agenda in the Nation’s Capital.  Stay on top of these and more at the REALTOR® Action Center... BOOKMARK THIS   378 Votes Number of “yes” votes that helped the REALTOR®-supported “Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act” pass in the U.S. House.  Now, it’s before the U.S. Senate and we urgently need ALL REALTORS® who haven’t already done so to respond to NAR’s Call for Action asking Senators to pass this legislation before they go home for the year... ACT NOW   28 Percent Percentage of REALTORS® who invested in the REALTORS® Political Action Committee last year.  NAR President Chris Polychron is asking REALTOR Party leaders to help bring the RPAC participation rate to 50 percent in 2015.  The REALTOR® Party offers many RPAC fundraising tools to help state and local associations do just that… REad More   46 Counties Number of counties where limits for loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will rise in 2015.  For most areas, the conforming loan limit for a single-family home will remain at $417,000. In 46 counties, however, jumbo loan limits will rise, because these areas are experiencing higher-than-average price increases, says the Federal Housing Financing Agency… REad More   From the Nation’s Capital   Act Now on Two Calls for Action Before Congress Goes Home  If you haven’t already, it’s imperative that you respond to two Calls for Action before the 113th Congress ends this week.  REALTORS® are asked to contact their U.S. Senators to vote in favor of “The Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act.”  (The House passed the bill earlier this month.)  At the same time, REALTORS® are asked to urge members of the U.S. House to support the “Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014.”  Act now before it’s too late! ACT NOW   Success Stories   Highlighted here are a few of the many REALTOR® Party success stories across the nation. These and others are cataloged in the Success Stories section of the REALTOR® Action Center.   San Francisco Association Pulls Out All the Stops to Defeat Housing Tax When the 4,000-member San Francisco Association of REALTORS® (SFAR) learned about an additional transfer tax proposed for the city's multi-unit properties, it launched into action.  With the help of an Issues Mobilization Grant from NAR, the association successfully got the proposal defeated.  One element of the campaign was outreach to the city's Chinese-speaking community, which constitutes one-third of the population... REad More   New York State Association Helps Elect One of its Own to State Senate In the 2014 general election, the New York State Association of REALTORS® was determined not to let its champion, a REALTOR® and homebuilder in New York’s Capital District, be defeated again in his bid for State Senate.  With the help of an Independent Expenditure Campaign that included direct mail, a Get-Out-the-Vote video, online advertising and a door-to-door field effort, the 49,800-member association helped George Amedore (R) win this time – by 11,000 votes… REad More   New Orleans REALTORS® Bring Life Back to Beloved City Landmark With “Better Block” Redevelopment Project When thousands of REALTORS® descended on the Crescent City for NAR’s Annual Conference last month, the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of REALTORS® decided to show them how a Better Block redevelopment project can make a difference in the still-recovering city.  In an event featuring music, art and plenty of fun, the 4,400-member association showcased the work of a Smart Growth Grant that is giving hope to the desolate block—home to the historic Dew Drop Inn… REad More   Charleston REALTORS® Help Shape a Common-Sense Historic Preservation Code The city of Charleston, SC has the oldest historic district in the nation, and the area's REALTORS® well understand the importance of historic preservation.  When the Charleston County proposed overly restrictive amendments to its Historic Preservation Code, the 4,150-member Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® couldn’t support it, so they tapped into NAR’s Land Use Initiative… REad More   Resources & Opportunities   Partake in Placemaking: Check out the “Spaces to Places” Blog Get details on what Placemaking is and how to get started at NAR’s “Spaces to Places” Blog.  Learn about Placemaking in action across the country, including within the REALTOR® Community. Take a look and start making changes in your community.   READ MORE   It’s All in the New Resource Guide You don’t have to wait another minute to see the new 2015 REALTOR® Party Association Resource Guide. Get brief descriptions of each REALTOR® Party Association Resource including grants, campaign tools, polling services, toolkits and more. It’s all available for you to download as a 1.6M PDF. DOWNLOAD   Bring the “REALTOR® Party Look” to Your Next Event Order REALTOR® Party t-shirts, sunglasses, beverage napkins, coffee cups, fans, bumper stickers, Vote/Act/Invest pins and balloons and more from the REALTOR® Team Store. Shop Now     Send us examples of how your association put NAR’s REALTOR® Party resources to work to implement a successful advocacy or community outreach program. Email your stories to: realtorparty@realtors.org See more than 100 stories documenting how REALTOR® associations around the country put REALTOR Party Resources to work at the REALTOR® Party Success Stories page. This newsletter replaces the NAR Weekly Report for this week and the second week of every month. The REALTOR® Party News will publish next on January 8, 2015. If you missed a previous edition check out the REALTOR® Party News Archive. Headquarters: 430 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 DC Office: 500 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001-2020 | 1-800-874-6500      This message was sent to . Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop receiving this e-mail in the future, click to remove yourself from this list. NAR maintains a separate email system to communicate our national news and programs. 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