By Geoff Ramsey, CRS, GRI
President, Greater Chattanooga REALTORS®
Elected leadership representing Greater Chattanooga Realtors recently joined more than 20,000 real estate professionals and industry leaders from around the country at the 2018 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Boston from November 2–5. With this year’s conference theme of “Ready, Set, Boston,” local Realtors® took advantage of new technology and innovations shaping the industry, educated ourselves on the latest market trends and real estate issues, and made new contacts with real estate professionals from across the globe.
With hundreds of information and education sessions featuring more than 300 nationally recognized speakers and industry experts, we learned about a broad range of real estate issues. While these discussions were from the national perspective, they were in line with issues facing the local real estate market – innovation and business technology, affordability issues related to inventory constraints, marijuana laws’ impact on commercial real estate and blockchain transactions, to name a few.
During the meetings, we previewed Commitment to Excellence (C2EX), a program by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) that empowers REALTORS® to demonstrate their professionalism and commitment to conducting business at the highest standards. More than 100 years ago, we defined professionalism in this industry by adopting the REALTOR® Code of Ethics. C2EX takes professionalism to the next level by enabling NAR members to assess their expertise in 10 (11 for brokers) elements of professionalism ranging from customer service to use of technology.
As the most trusted source for real estate information, REALTORS® tirelessly educate and immerse ourselves in the latest trends and developments affecting our industry. This conference was an incredible opportunity for local leaders and me to reflect on this year’s successes, identify solutions to problems facing the housing market in the year ahead, and strategize efforts to keep homeownership and real estate issues front and center on the national agenda. This national perspective is key to addressing issues here at home.