In this episode host, Chuck Kasky, CEO of Maryland REALTORS®, speaks with 2021 President, Dee Dee Miller about the impact of volunteering, creating solutions for affordable housing, and the 2021 association agenda.
In this episode host, Chuck Kasky, CEO of Maryland REALTORS®, speaks with 2021 President, Dee Dee Miller about the impact of volunteering, creating solutions for affordable housing, and the 2021 association agenda.
Let's get real estate. Welcome to the inaugural Maryland realtors podcast. I'm Chuck Caskey, Maryland realtor CEO, and we're excited to explore the many aspects of the real estate profession through our examination of interesting topics. We hope that you will get real estate, that you will understand what makes this a dynamic and rewarding profession and career. We will be talking with successful and influential members as well as professional staff from the national state and local realtor associations. And I promise we will get real about real estate. We will not shy away from difficult or even uncomfortable topics. We'll keep it real. Ultimately, we will also look at how to get real estate by investing, for example, which could be part of your wealth building strategy. So again, welcome, please subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from, like us share us and give us your feedback, especially on topics or guests you'd like to hear from in future episodes. I'm excited to introduce our first guest DD Miller 2021, Maryland realtors, president. Welcome Dee.
Speaker 2:Thanks Chuck. Happy to be here.
Speaker 3:D D let's start with, as president of the Maryland state association is in some respects, a culmination of significant period of time that you've devoted to volunteering at various levels of the realtor organization. How did you first come to be involved?
Speaker 2:Thanks Chuck for having me. I really appreciate it. And I'm excited that I am your 2021 Maryland realtors president it's. It has been a long journey. It's a journey that I honestly, 20 plus years ago, I didn't set out for this journey. It was certainly not something that I got my license and thought, Oh, this is where I'm going to be in 20 years. And the leading the state association at this point. So my story starts back in 1999 and my husband and I were actually stationed overseas in Guam. And I did not have a job when we got there in 98. And I proceeded to decide that, Hey, I'll Ram that myself much of what we've been doing this year during COVID in 2020 and decided that real estate sounded like something that would interest me. And I went and I got my real estate license. And at the time it was a month long class. I went multiple nights a week was actually in hindsight, I think about it. And I think, wow, that was a lot more time I put in then than actually I did when, when we came here initially for the initial licensure period. So I went through the whole class and I signed on with a brokerage there and became a member there. And that's how everything started. Then in 2000 we came back state side and I got my license here activated and I joined my current brokerage where I have now been 20 years. Actually this month on December 15th is my anniversary at my current brokerage. Congratulations. Thank you so long about probably three or four or five years, maybe here in Maryland is when I joined a committee locally at Anne Arundel County association of realtors, whereas my local board and I was asked to be honest that's that was the simple thing I was asked to put in to, uh, apply to be on a committee. And I think I probably put in three or four different ones and I was actually placed on the professional standards committee initially, which is kind of a funny story because it was actually by accident because at the time I didn't have enough of the other credentials to actually be serving on that committee. And in hindsight, they were like, Oh, boop. So, so I ended up on this committee. So I guess even though I was asked to be involved and I went that route, it was a little bit by default and that's where I started on that professional standards committee. And then it's just grown from there.
Speaker 3:So that was the proverbial tap on the shoulder that we hear so much about.
Speaker 2:It was. And, uh, I can, I can put that back to a couple people. And, uh, mainly Tim Blanchfield was one of them. He was involved and he is our office manager where I am. And prior to that, also with him, it was Dean control. So those two were really key in putting me forth in that direction to be a volunteer and to really get involved in the industry that has given so much back to all of us.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Fun fact, there is a Guam association of realtors and they are, they're a wonderful CEO and they are on par with the state associations along with the other territories, Virgin islands, Puerto Rico. And we consider them brethren within the realtor associations. So there's actually 53 quote unquote state associations, including DC and the territories. Maybe people aren't aware of that, but I found that interesting. It is. Yeah. I think what, the reason that I really wanted to talk to you, one of them, aside from the fact that we think alike to a scary degree and that as a top producer and the top producer magazine came out and I looked immediately for you. And clearly you are one of Maryland's top producing agents at the same time, investing with us an enormous amount of time. And so I really want to hear from you how you juggle your incredibly successful business with a commitment to us that we are so much better because of, and the reason I'm asking is because I've heard leaders talk about this as a sacrifice. I live in sacrificed anything we've preferred to think of it as an investment of your time. And I'll get into a little bit about what I believe you get in return for that investment. But I think for people listening, who may be interested in exploring volunteer opportunities and maybe afraid of that time will diminish their opportunities in the business field. How do you do it? How do you juggle your successful business with your volunteer committee?
Speaker 2:So that's a good, good point. Absolutely. The first thing I would say, the reason I do what I do, there's one word, and it's certainly not a sacrifice. It's a passion, this real estate industry that I'm so heavily involved with my business has provided amazing opportunities for myself and my family. And I can't duplicate that somewhere else. So the industry that I feel has given so much to me, it's my obligation to be giving back for me, it is a passion, absolutely 100%. And I'm very passionate about this work and what we are doing and taking the state of Maryland and our association and putting us on the forefront and out as the authority on real estate and being able to convey that to consumers, to our members and really being that resource that people know that they can come to and get the right answer and know what's going on. So first and foremost, it definitely is the passion. So unbeknownst to me, back in 2002, roughly I hired my first assistant and I went through a couple here and there over the years, as we all seem to do. And I didn't realize at the time I was building this business where I would get it to the point that I would feel comfortable knowing the business is going to continue to run, continue to be profitable for me to run and be doing the business alongside doing what it is that I'm doing for Maryland realtors and all my other volunteer work, because certainly in 2013, I was president of the local association at Anna Rundle. And I've certainly served on local national and state committees throughout this entire time period as well, more than one at multiple times, starting back then, and being able to evaluate really at the time where I just wanted the business to go ultimately to free me up a little bit more so that I had more time to start a family, which I have done over these past 20 years, be with my family, continue to also build my real estate portfolios for rental properties and doing rehabs and things like that. It was that foundation that for me, I didn't really realize I was doing it, but I started with that. I was able to build enough of a team that I have a good solid foundation that is still everything's working in the background while I am alongside that also working and being able to volunteer all this time. And I say the words all this time, and it, it depends on your level of what you're looking to do. Certainly this is a time commitment and working at the state level and being the president of Maryland for the realtor association, there are so many opportunities throughout your local, the state and national committees that you can be involved with that are not this time consuming. So I think my advice to the members in thinking about where you might best be suited to start your volunteer path is still look for something that's going to fit within the framework of how you're running your business right now, look for your passion and where that committee might put you. And then you can engage with other committee members, see how much time is actually put forth in certain committees, because there are committees that meet monthly, there are committees that don't have to meet monthly. So there's a lot of different opportunities that are out there. You just need to really those out and look at your own business and see how you can really fit those in, you know, it becomes another arm of, of that, that wheel, where you have all your spokes, you've got your family, you've got your day to day business. For some of you, you volunteer at your church, you volunteer for other nonprofits that you're involved with. And, and this membership, let me tell you is amazing. And, and being in your communities and helping again, it's my passion and volunteering. And the realtor association has just been such a blessing honestly, to me and the relationships that I've been able to garner and, and build. And I couldn't be more ecstatic to have been entrusted with this membership to be in this, this position.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Thank you. That's great. So the first takeaway is have a support system in place.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And not just business support. I mean, you really, you know, you should have that, that family support as well, because certainly yes, there is time away from family with, with bits of travel here and there. Although this year there's not been as much travel, right. So, you know, my installations and things that we've been going through, I've been doing via zoom. So we have that too.
Speaker 3:A little bit of that, that in, in a couple of minutes. So after that takeaway, I guess the follow-up question and you alluded to some of this is what did you get in return for your investment? Because when we ask people to invest their time to make this association even better, the first question they ask legitimately the two questions, what's the commitment which you alluded to. And then I think at least as important, if not more so is I don't want this to sound harsh, but what's in it for me. I mean, to me, if you're going to ask somebody to make an investment, whether it's a financial or commitment of their time, I think it's incumbent upon us to demonstrate that they will actually get a return on that investment. And so one of the things that you kind of alluded to a little bit and that's time management, because we routinely hear from leaders who after their journey is with us, is over, look back on it and say, I did manage to juggle all those things. I actually did manage to keep my business going. And my family life vibrant, even when we were travel. And part of that is because confronted with that, we find ways to manage our time better. So that's one that I routinely mentioned to people as a return on their investment. Are there any other things that come to mind now that we have you, this is your fifth year, two years as treasurer secretary, president elect now president, and next year I have you for one more year as immediate past president. And the end of that, you will have given us six years of your time, which is incredible. What do you think you going to take away from your time? What have you gotten in return for your investment with us?
Speaker 2:So I think from, uh, from that standpoint, the return on my investment of time, there's a couple of things that the thing that ultimately am going to take away that will be lasting and I will cherish more than any financial benefit from a referral is that actual relationship of that person that I have now crossed paths with, you know, I'm, I'm in the general Annapolis area, but the fact that I can pick up the phone and I have folks in Western, Maryland folks over, uh, you know, in the ocean, California, North Carolina, New York, uh, you name it at this point, the return on, on that part of my time investment or the relationships that I have been able to build in this industry that will be lasting relationships and some pretty amazing people across the U S especially. But with that, these folks, they, they learn your work ethic really. And they look at that work ethic when they're communicating with you within the industry and suddenly guess what, they, they have a referral for you and they know how you, how you work. And they know that you have that time management where you're putting all of this in for the industry. And you're so passionate again, they're going to refer you to these folks to help them buy or sell a house because they're in your area. And you know what, so there's your, there's your dollar return on it? Nobody sets out for that. Like, that's not your intent, right? No, it is. And I can go back. I mean, I remember vividly is somewhere along the way. It was one of our state conventions actually, where I sat and I don't even recall who was president at the time, but they were up speaking to an entire crowd and I thought, Oh my God, who the heck wants to do that? Are you kidding me? And might've been around 2005 or six. I don't remember, but I remember thinking that, and I always go back to that every now and again. And I, I chuckle because gosh, now I that's where I am and I'm doing it. But the, the relationships and the folks that I have been able to, to meet and interact with more, especially during these past six years, that's a measurable, I, you can't even quantify that. And to the amount of it, any amount of money too, it's just, it's priceless really at the end of the day.
Speaker 3:So growing your network absolutely is clearly identifiable return on that investment. You did touch on it. I just want to be clear. We, when somebody says what's in it for me, we probably wouldn't say, Oh, you're going to increase your network. And you're going to get more business from it that we hope is not the main reason to volunteer. And I recall when I was the attorney here and we had the old nominating committee, I'll never forget it. I was relatively new here just a few years when I was helping the nominating committee sort through the applications for different positions on the board of directors, maybe even DVP or something like that. And a person, when it said there was a question on the form, the old application form that was submitted to the nominating committee, why are you seeking this position? And the person actually wrote to increase my network so I can grow my business. And needless to say, or I hope needless to say, that's hopefully not your primary reason for doing this, but I'm not afraid to say that it is a very, very good return on the investment of your time, whether it results in increased business or not. It's still a great return on the investment. So I think time management, the growing the network is one that almost everybody tells me that they take away from their commitment here and their time volunteering. Another one that I have seen over the years is public speaking. The practice of getting up in front of groups. There's some presidents who come having most likely been already president of their local association, not necessarily the same opportunities though. You're very comfortable speaking in public, not everybody is, but you're getting that practice. That's got to help. And that's something that is transferrable to the rest of your life and your business. Would you agree?
Speaker 2:So I, I do, I do agree with that actually for the, for the audience listening today, Chuck knows that I actually hate public speaking as a whole and hate to be put on the spot and answering questions. Although hopefully it doesn't come across that way in most cases. But, uh, you know, we do have a lot of opportunity for that. And that is a very transferable skill in our day-to-day business as realtors, because what do we do? We talk to people. I mean, this is what we, we sit down with sellers, we sit down with buyers, we do consultations and for many of us, and I would say, you know, definitely me in that respect, it's, it's a very comfortable conversation at this point in my career to sit down with a buyer or seller and really lead the conversation. But also, you know, in, in learning these skills, it's also good to have those ears open and listening. And really from the standpoint of the association and our work, we do want to hear from you as members and our ears are always open and it, and it is an open channel to pick up the phone, call me, anybody can find my phone number anywhere. And I am always all ears also to hear from you guys for things that you might want to see, that we're not doing things that we are doing, you think we need to do better, whatever that might be.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And it's really different. Isn't it going on a listing appointment and sitting around a kitchen table and talking to a couple or prospective sellers is, is really different than getting behind a podium and looking out at anywhere from 40, 60 back in the day when it was a hundred or 200 or even 300 people to completely different experience. And it's scary to a lot of people. So I always kind of say, Hey, look, this is something that you are going to do. We will help you do it. And I've watched so many people start out very, very uncomfortable. And then by the end of their two years or a year or whatever it is be just amazingly comfortable in front of large groups. So I think that's another big return. And the last one before we move on, I think is media relations. So you've had to already discuss issues with reporters.
Speaker 1:You've been on TV, you've been in print. That's pretty new experience for you too. And, and what kind of takeaway is that from your time,
Speaker 2:Actually, that that's not been a ton of takeaway from the time contributing to these particular reporters or, or even the newscasts that we did a lot of times these reporters will call in and they just want to have a conversation like we're having a conversation during this podcast. And then they're going to have takeaways from whatever their topic might be, that they have decided that they're going to write that next article that comes out. And I I've actually found those relationships to be actually quite nice and they they're getting better at quoting more directly because I know over the years there, there's always a frustration in us working with our media partners, that sometimes they don't always quite get the whole scope of what it was that we were trying to convey. And that does happen. And occasionally, sometimes they're just looking for a quote and they email and then the TV spot that was recent. That was really great. It was, it was zoom. I was sitting at my house, I zoomed in. And I think honestly, that's going to happen more and more with us being able to utilize that technology, to do those types of interviews. And even moreover, when we go into our legislative season coming up and in 2021, that is also going to be a fabulous tool that we're going to be able to implement now and utilize members across the entire state to testify when we need them through zoom, because there's a member out there who may be a greater authority on a particular subject than, than I am, or one of the other leadership team members. And we want that person that we feel is really, truly that expert to talk about that when we need people to testify down in Annapolis. So I think that's opened up a whole new world for us as an industry, utilizing some of this new technology.
Speaker 1:One thing I, that you learned for sure was that when you have a five minute interview with a reporter and they used 30 seconds of it at the most, you have no control over what they actually use that saying a lot. And they used maybe 15 seconds and you have to really be concerned at times about whether you're going to be taken out of context. And so when people do complain about being taken out of context, you have firsthand experience that that's, that's a thing. Once you do that, you can't control what's going to actually make it on the air. So
Speaker 2:The TV interview was definitely that happened a little bit. They used all the statistics. I gave them in the actual report and then did like eight seconds worth of what I said. And then it was like, move on.
Speaker 1:Right? And so we train with that too. So that was also a valuable takeaway. We hope that we do provide media training for our volunteer leaders. And again, that's transferable, you take that with you. We'll never not have that. So we really hope that that's helpful. I want to turn to what you hope to accomplish this year. You took office October 1st, we're recording this in the middle of December. We have already started some of the things, but there are a lot of other things to accomplish. So talk a little bit about what you hope to accomplish this year. What can the members look for from us for the next year?
Speaker 2:So our initiatives for this year to just touch on these a little bit, one of the top priorities which we are doing right now as Chuck has alluded to, is to really, to expand our digital footprint, incorporating more technology into what we are doing, how we're getting the information out to you as the membership. So this series of podcasts that we're going to continue to do throughout the year, and we're going to have different topics. I've already started pulling some of the local presidents of topics that they might want to see discussed during these podcasts. So we're really looking out and hoping that we can bring some great information to the membership through this podcast. And this is certainly not just for the membership. If you have clients that you feel would be interested in certain topics that we're going to bring it out by all means, this is, this is an open, open podcast, other technology items, of course not to harp on zoom, but we have now been able to have committee meetings. So when we go back and we talk about your time investment or for being on these committees a lot over the years that the travel time to come to a meeting in Annapolis has really been a constraint on folk's ability to say, yeah, you know what? I can commit that time because you have a two hour committee meeting and maybe you live out in Garrett County, it takes you three hours to get here. You sit through a meeting and three hours back, that's your entire day. That is a commitment. I mean, that is a true commitment. And you know, we've always had the option to call in. And part of the committee was here in person. And then there was somebody that was calling in and the box we call it, we had this, you know, the magic box hanging in the ceiling con and for these meetings. And you always felt like in the box, you really, you weren't necessarily heard, or maybe you were a little discounted cause you were hanging out in the box because you didn't come to the meeting in person. And, and there was a little bit of a stigma, I think, attached to that over the years. So really expanding the technology and the use of technology to make sure that we have folks from all areas of the state who can be in attendance at these meetings and can collaborate and come together. And you know, there's a number who's hanging out there right now who has a very specific expertise that we haven't even tapped into. And I hope they hear this podcast and they say, you know what? Yeah, I have something to offer. So I definitely need to step up. And in these new formats that we have, they're going to want to really participate and become a member of the committee and get involved. So really expanding the digital footprint is, is something that we've been discussing for a couple of years. COVID kind of catapulted us into that. That's my one positive thing. Here we go. The pandemic has made us a lot more technology savvy in what we're doing. So I think that's a huge bonus. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:The vaccines work and, and, you know, third quarter, second quarter, third quarter, or whatever of 21 that doesn't mean we're going to abandon all this technology and all these new ways of communicating. I think that's an important point.
Speaker 2:It is a good point. And I think looking more towards some of the hybrid meetings where we'll have a few, you know, whoever's able to be in person, right? Everybody else on zoom. And we had that before
Speaker 1:We did, we have you're right. There was a little bit of a stigma to it. And that's a very astute point that is no longer going to be the case.
Speaker 2:We've demonstrated that this year, time and time again with these meetings conducting them on zoom. So, so we're super excited about that. And I think that is going to drive me over to talk a little bit about the governance structure. And we are looking to revamp within our bylaws. We have appointed a group that will be looking at the bylaws this year and really trying to fine tune what's going on to possibly structure some of our governance within, inside of the association. And for those of you who are listening right now who have not been volunteers in the past, or, or don't quite maybe grasp what I'm talking about for our governance structure, we have the leadership team. We have an executive committee that meets generally once monthly. We just had that meeting today. And then we also had the entire board of directors, which is comprised of members, brokers, all the local presidents. And, and this is our board of directors that are the decision making body for the association. So with that this year, we're really trying to incorporate some other groups throughout the state, uh, that are real estate related groups and hoping that we can pull some of those groups and, and have a, more of a diverse cross section for our membership so that we have a larger voice across the state and looking at that. So that's a really big initiative of ours this year as well for the general assembly, as I was just talking about people, being able to come in and talk and zoom and testify and everything as we do during our legislative session, we're really going to be focused on looking for policies that are going to advocate for our lack of housing opportunity. That is right now, we are all in a position as realtor, as working realtors, where we have a lack of inventory that is hanging out there right now, or there's none. There's nothing out there, but there's essentially gross lack of inventory. I think the latest statistic check, you may have heard even more recent 34% decrease in inventory year over year, uh, right now across the U S so this is not just a Maryland problem. This is a problem nationwide for our industry. And, and I know not just in Maryland, but in other States that I'm seeing right now, they are also discussing for ways that we're going to work with our legislators, our realtor friendly legislators to well, all legislators, but we know who our friends are that really kind of back us in, are out there to help us and really help us keep our industry moving in the right direction. But we're going to work with, with those legislators and coming up with policies that hopefully we can open up this crisis and really find some more inventory, get some housing starts going. It gets more affordable opportunities out there for our buyers, our home buyers who are in that roughly 25 to 44 age bracket that we're looking right now. And they're either in a position where they're really, really ready to buy and they're financially stable, ready buy. A lot of which has come from the fact that they haven't been going out and they're saved a lot of money during COVID, but we have no inventory for them. We've got that group, we've got new homeowners trying to get into the world of home ownership, younger first time home buyers, and there's no inventory. And the housing prices have really put a barrier on some of these buyers as well. So that definitely is in the forefront of the associations mind for the coming year for our legislative session.
Speaker 3:Yeah. There are some significant barriers to increasing the housing inventory. And it's really, as we know now, squeezing out prospective buyers of color and who are been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic number one, but also historically been not served well by the real estate industry, the lending industry, et cetera. So as we approach these two issues in sort of parallel fashion, right? So the housing opportunity and the lack of inventory is exacerbating those problems for all buyers, but almost disproportionately on prospective buyers of color. What kind of barriers do you see coming down as far as legislatively or politically, specifically thinking about different land use constraints around the state? It's hard not to notice for example, that virtually every time there's a significant development proposed almost anywhere in the state, not even whether it includes an, a quote unquote affordable housing component or not is subject to community opposition. So, you know, what other kinds of barriers do you see and maybe potential approaches to actually making more housing stock available? Because we know that we are tens of thousands of units short and you're working with on a work group with the state level. That is, that is actually trying to quantify this.
Speaker 2:So I think, uh, some of the barriers that, that we've actually been discussing more specifically within that group that I'm involved with with DHCD one of the main barriers really that we've discussed has been the developers actually obtaining suitable financing and things for their projects. And then you look at the different developments that they're trying to do. And then the zoning regulations that have been placed on top of that. And at some point, some of what they're trying to do, the costs are outweighing the benefit and they're in business to make a profit, these developers, obviously, and then some of the constraints that have been put on us over the years. So, I mean, let's look at, even if we go back to, I can look right here in Anaronda County, some of the fees, the impact fees that are then being imposed, and I don't know all the fees for every County in the entire state, but I know the impact fees definitely have stifled a good bit of what we're trying to do in developing more reasonable housing across the state. So those are some of the barriers that we've seen that we have been discussing in that other group, ways to try to come up with better financing options for these projects to be moving forward on that too, in that same respect, other additional financing options for these first time home buyers to get some relief, some down payment assistance. We have some wonderful programs with the state that are available and they're widely used, but making sure that we don't run out of those resources so that we can help a lot of our entry-level buyers. And I think the important thing to remember if you were in, let's say you're in an upper bracket and you own a house right now, and you've owned this home for 15 or more years, you probably have a fair amount of equity in this home. And at some point you may retire. This may be the home that then you're going to sell. And maybe, maybe you're going to move somewhere where it's warm all year round and sunnier than it might be in Maryland, 365 days of the year. We see it. We know it happens. We're sad to see you go, or the state revenue I'm sure was sad to see you go. But at some point you've got to sell that house no matter what your future plans are. If we can't open up and create from the start, those entry-level buyers with homes that are affordable for those folks to get into that, then guess what those folks then have to get in to the next one that just sold that one and then up to maybe where your house is. So if we can't create that, we've strangled our industry basically. And, and we will be at sheer gridlock, but this is where we may end up. If we don't really start to try to open up the market and get things moving and get more inventory and try to overcome some of the barriers from the local zoning and, and maybe even create some ideas where we could have more regional zoning, where we can have collaborative conversations across County lines about certain projects that may be beneficial to create more of housing.
Speaker 3:It is a real domino effect, isn't it
Speaker 2:Absolutely does. I think the, unfortunately that's the point that, uh, we're we're we have to do a better job as practitioners in this industry to educate our clients, our consumers, these folks that we're working with buyers and sellers alike, that this is what needs to happen to keep our industry vibrant at this point, otherwise, we're going to get ourselves a pigeonhole and we're not going to be able to get out.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So there is things there, there are things we can do at the state level. Some of that has to do with land use and the relationship between the state and local governments that historically have controlled the vast majority of land use decisions in Maryland. It's not necessarily true around the country, but in Maryland and mostly on the East coast, those decisions are almost exclusively local. However, we know that some of those decisions are the reasons we have this crisis. So I think we're really going to have to have a important discussion about the relative and the relationship between the state and the local governments as it relates to land use planning, because if it's working so well, we wouldn't be in this problem. We wouldn't have this situation. So to me, that's one of the big conversations we're going to have to have over the next couple of years in the County, governments are going to hold onto their authority. And we understand that I've already opened the discussions with the Maryland association of counties at a staff level to kind of run some things by them. Some of the things that they were certainly open to discussing when we get to any constraints on local authority over land use, of course that's a non-starter for them. So we're going to have some very difficult decisions and discussions over the next couple of years. It seems to me, and I can tell you, I don't want to scare anybody, but you know, if you go out West, you look at Oregon, for example, has eliminated single family zoning. And is that on the table in Maryland? Of course not. And then at any point in my lifetime, at least is not something that's going to be on the table, but between that extreme and doing nothing, there, there have to be agreements on things that allow us to provide opportunities and housing opportunities beyond what we have today, which means overcoming some objections and maybe even imposing some mandates on my speaking on a policy level here. But those are conversations we're going to have to have. It seems to me
Speaker 2:There's gotta be a way to find the common ground. Yeah. And it's that coming together? And then, yeah, we may not all agree and there's going to be disagreements, but we've got to start now looking down the road. So 10, 15. I mean, I look at my kids and I think what are they even going to be able to afford to buy? I don't know. I don't know what that's going to look like that that's scary actually. Are they going to, they're going to leave. I don't want my kids to leave. They're going to have to go to a more affordable, a more affordable place. Um, but you know, it's not just us. I mean, this is a problem that is common and I'm hearing it from other leaders across the state. And it is a consistent issue practically, everywhere that we go well, that we virtually go on zoom right now, but that we are hearing from our colleagues across the U S it really is a problem with the lack of inventory and with lack of inventory, as we all know that drives prices and the housing stats report, that's going to be produced today. That's going to hit the press is talking about the prices have gone up again. And at some point, you know, obviously we don't want to see another 2006, seven kind of market, and it's not a bubble. We don't want to, we don't want to have to go down that route right now, but we have to start where we are today. So here's where we are. And here's our common ground. And what are our goals? What is this five-year goal? What is this 10 year goal? And I think we need to work with our local legislators as well as the state and try to bring people together to figure out, okay, what does this look like? And come up with key players who really know how to lay these things out and get these strategies out there in a true, actionable piece of legislation. So that we're having a better conversation in five years or 10 years about the situation
Speaker 1:Rising prices are a double-edged sword. It's good for the homeowner. We've recovered the equity for the most. I think almost all of it, if not all of it. And then some from the recession, however, and that's good for the homeowner because they're seeing their equity increase. And that gives them a sense of wealth accumulation, which is a thing on the other hand, fewer and fewer people can afford homes in Maryland now. So that's also another initiative of ours. I want to finish up real quick with talk about financial wellness and that initiative and what we can expect for the next couple of months or few months actually creating hopefully an in-person event. So I'll talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:So near and dear to my heart is really just helping other people feel that they have reached their financial goals and, and that they feel that they have a solid foundation for now, for, in the future, for their retirement, for their generation coming up behind you, their children, and so on and so forth. And it's realtors, we're in a unique position. We are small business owners. Every one of us, we work from 10 99, not W2's generally speaking. And we're one of the few industries that we take a client expecting to hopefully get paid. When we go to closing, I mean, really who does that? That's a leap of faith. Every single time we sit down at that kitchen table and have that conversation and hope that we get this house sold and, and work towards that so that we do earn our living. So some of the things that we're going to be pushing out, we have a series of webinars for the members. First one, starting in February. And that will be in February, March and April. We'll get all those dates pushed out through our social media channels. So you'll have an opportunity to register for those things. And we're going to talk about business planning, business building. We're also going to talk about your investing as a realtor. We may have some offs with investments talking about, maybe you want to invest in real estate yourself and have some rental properties. I know I have some rental properties. We're rehabbing a rental property right now. Hopefully it won't lead to complete chaos at my house. At this point, we're doing pretty good. And it was our first big Renault project that we're doing. And then talking about your own retirement for you as a small business owner. And some of you, I know you have teams out there and you employ admins and you have other folks with you on your team. And really just putting out resources to the membership, utilizing a lot of the resources that are available right now through NAR through their financial wellness path and putting those resources out to the membership so that they can look at where they are right now, look at where they want to be in the future. Look at maybe packaging, this great that you've built all these years so that you can actually retire at a reasonable age, if that's your choice and still reap the benefits and have those residuals you're, you know, for years to come after, you're, you're kind of backing out and you're out, you're out out of the business and have someone else maybe running that business that you've, you've been able to package, have it appraise, sell it out to someone else. These are all things that I think have been overlooked for years in our industry. Other people package and sell businesses all the time, big companies, you know, this is what they do. They package their businesses up. They sell them off. Many of us have clients who have definitely financially had benefits of building a business and selling that business off, especially in the tech world. It seems like that's always an ongoing thing. So I, you know, we need to be that we are small business owners. Uh, we create, uh, you know, our wealth and our businesses, and you need to make sure that in the longterm, you, as a small business owner, you can sustain yourself and you know what, right now, if anything, you have to look at this past year and look at the resiliency of you and your business as a member, what we have been doing our ability to transition into a world that I don't think anybody thought was ever going to happen in our lifetime and, and continue to thrive and conduct business in a safe manner and help our clients as, as we've navigated this very unique and strange year. So we will also try to have a summit in June is our target date. We truly, truly, really hope to have this summit in person with everyone have some really great keynote speakers that were lining up for that particular event. And we'll push out more information on that to come. And that will just kind of tie together the, the webinars and these podcasts that Chuck and I are going to be having ongoing and really pull everything together with that financial umbrella of that topic for the membership
Speaker 1:In June, it says the inaugural podcast get real estate. Chuck Caskey, your host CEO from Maryland realtors. Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so we can deliver these to you as we publish them and stay tuned. We have a lot of surprises in store. When you mentioned the Maryland mortgage program for first time buyers, we're going to have one specifically dedicated for that too. And I'm looking forward to it.