Approves future-focused initiatives, including remote notarization and a five-year strategic framework
Remotely notarized transaction documents could be a reality in the not-too-distant future. The National Association of REALTORS®’ Board of Directors, at its Monday meeting, adopted a policy to support allowing parties to use remote notarization technologies. The association will work with other interested groups and federal agencies to make that a reality.
The meeting closed out the 2018 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, the nation’s largest real estate trade show—a five-day event that featured hundreds of education and NAR governance sessions, as well as more than 400 exhibitors. More than 20,000 REALTORS® and guests attended the event in Boston; it’s the first time NAR visited the city since 1929.
To help ensure REALTORS® thrive in the years ahead, the Board approved an all-new strategic foundation for NAR. The
Strategic Framework takes a visionary, holistic, and business-oriented approach reflective of NAR’s expanding role in technology and other areas critical to real estate.
At the meeting, NAR Past President Sharon Millett reported on a new initiative she’s heading, a sweeping review of the association’s governance structure, launched by 2018 NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall. The
presidential advisory groupMillett heads held two open forums at the conference to kick off what is expected to be a three-year project. Member input will be a key part of the review, said Millett, who
led NAR in 1999.
Weighing in on Tax Policy
On the federal policy front, the Board approved NAR’s support for opportunity zones, which were created last year as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and for indexing the tax basis of capital assets to inflation as a way to lower capital gains taxes as prices rise.
Opportunity zones are economically disadvantaged areas, selected by states and approved by the U.S. Treasury Department, in which investors who sell properties can get capital gains tax breaks if they reinvest their proceeds over at least seven years.
What Happened to My Offer?
The Board amended an MLS policy that will require listing brokers to provide cooperating brokers with written notification about the disposition of their offer. The change aligns MLS policy with the Code of Ethics. Under MLS rules, associations may impose disciplinary action against a listing broker who fails to present either a written notification that the offer was presented or evidence that the seller waived the obligation to have the offer presented.
Internet Domains .realtor and .realestate Take Off
This fall, NAR made a new top-level domain, .realestate, available exclusively to members. Ken Burlington, the chief operating officer of the REALTORS® Information Network, reported that more than 13,000 .realestate addresses have been registered. Beginning Nov. 26, the domain will become available to the public.
The .realtor domain has been available since 2014, and more than 150,000 addresses have been registered.
