Event Coverage
Top Speaker Lineup at 2023 SILVAR Economic Seminar & General Membership Meeting
SILVAR CEO Paul Cardus welcomes members to the meeting.
SILVAR's 2023 Economic Seminar & General Membership Meeting took place at the Computer History Museum on Monday. The event, which was the first in-person general membership meeting held since the Covid pandemic, featured a top speaker lineup with 2024 California Association of REALTORS® President Melanie Barker, 2023 SILVAR President Jim Hamilton, SILVAR CEO Paul Cardus, C.A.R. VP and Chief Economist Jordan Levine and C.A.R. VP and Assistant General Counsel Gov Hutchinson.
Barker, who traveled to SILVAR all the way from her home in Yosemite, told members with so much going on in real estate today, such as housing shortage challenges, higher mortgage interest rates, the Burnett et al v. National Association of REALTORS® et al case decision and other court cases, REALTORS® have to stick together and push through with a purpose. She mentioned C.A.R.'s plans for 2024, including building on broker engagement, a roadshow this summer and new C.A.R. forms on the way.
"We are in transformative times. What does 2024 look like? There's the option for us to be proactive rather than reactive. It's also an opportunity to rethink our business," said Barker. "We're very much a human business, not only with our clients, but with each other. We're going to hold each other up to be better."
Hamilton thanked members for their support this year. He thanked the volunteers who stepped up and got involved and he also encouraged other members to get involved at SILVAR.
"There's nothing like the heart of a committed REALTOR® volunteered," he said.
SILVAR CEO Paul Cardus then laid out the following scenarios of what life would be for an agent or consumer if NAR/C.A.R./SILVAR did not exist, in light of just one benefit, that of legislative advocacy:
- Agents wouldn't be independent contractors; they would be employees working for banks.
- Services, including commissions, would be taxed.
- Conforming loan limits might be set at $400K, if they existed at all, instead of $1,149,825 in 2024.
- FHA loans likely wouldn't be available.
- There'd be no capital gains exclusion, mortgage interest deduction or 1031 exchanges.
- The commercial secondary mortgage market, which provides a stable flow of credit, wouldn't exist.
- The liquidity, stability and affordability provided by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the nation's housing finance system would not exist.
- HUD wouldn't employ local agents for sales.
- There'd be no MLS or portals with standardized, reliable listing data.
- Universal buyer representation wouldn't exist, leaving many buyers unprotected in the biggest transaction of their lives.
- Proposition 13 wouldn't exist, making it hard for California's seniors to afford to stay in their homes.
- Without impartial CAR and PRDS standard forms provided by REALTORS® for REALTORS®, buyers and sellers would need attorneys to review and negotiate various one-sided forms for each transaction and be responsible and liable for researching state and local ordinances and codes, instead of using PRDS advisories.
- Flood insurance would become unobtainable.
- Property sales would require multiple point-of-sale approvals, like sewer lateral inspection and repair, from multiple agencies and inspectors. Sellers might have to invest tens of thousands in property upgrades just to sell. Escrows could extend for months or even longer.
- Rent control would be in place statewide, making it challenging to sell a tenant-occupied home or leave the business as a housing provider.
- Opportunity to Purchase programs, like the one SILVAR helped defeat in East Palo Alto last week, would require property owners to offer homes to tenants or nonprofits before listing a rental property on the market and mandate the right of first refusal once an offer is accepted.
- Thousands of other legislative "bright ideas" are blocked or kept in check because organizations like SILVAR, C.A.R. and NAR engage volunteers, coordinate the resources, and hire professional staff to advocate on behalf of REALTORS® and your clients.
"The value and benefits REALTORS® receive through membership are quite the value," said Cardus.
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The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.
The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
For further information, please email or call the SILVAR office at (408) 200-0100.