It was good to see so many of you in Chicago this past week. There were over 350 Missouri REALTORS® in Chicago for the National Association of Realtors® Annual Conference & Expo.
It was incredible to see Missouri’s own Elizabeth Mendenhall installed as 2018 National Association of Realtors® President. Our state and region came together to honor her in a big way.
The entire country was talking about this hysterical video based on "The Office" that was unveiled at Elizabeth’s installation.
Photos from all of the major events of the week are organized in galleries by date and can be accessed for free at this link: photo galleries.
The Conference ended with the Board of Directors meeting. Here is a Special Report outlining what took place at that meeting. One of the major highlights, though, was a vote to implement a new policy that eases MLS participation requirements. Again, you can find the details on this “MLS of Choice” issue in the Special Report.
There was also a great deal of discussion regarding the tax reform plan moving in Congress. Here is an excerpt from NAR titled What the Legislation Would Do:
- Caps the mortgage interest deduction at $500K for new mortgages
- Cap applies to new mortgage debt (but not refinancing) incurred after November 2, 2017.
- Limit is not indexed to inflation causing its value to even further diminish over time.
- Increases the standard deduction
- Puts homeownership tax incentives beyond the reach of more than 90% of American families.
- Limits the exemption on Capital Gains Tax from the sale of a primary residence
- New rules would require homeowners to live in their home for 5 of 8 years before a sale to qualify for the exemption, versus just 2 of previous 5 years today. This will create a hardship to homeowners who have to move inside that five-year window.
- Exemption phases out for single filers with incomes over $250K ($500K for joint returns).
- Eliminates the deduction for state and local income or sales taxes.
- Eliminates the Mortgage Interest Deduction for second homes.
- Eliminates the deduction for moving expenses.
- Eliminates the deduction on interest on student loans.
- Eliminates the deduction for medical expenses, even for the elderly.
You can read more detail and take action on this issue at NAR’s Tax Reform portal.
Next year's NAR Conference and Expo will take place in Boston in early November. Be sure to mark your calendar for it and all of these 2018 events!
- January Business Conference · January 17-19, 2018 · Jefferson City, MO
- April Business Conference · April 25-27, 2018 · St. Charles, MO
- NAR Realtors Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo · May 14-19, 2018 · Washington DC
- THE SUMMIT · July 22-23, 2018 · Lake of the Ozarks, MO
- Commercial/Economic/Global Day · September 18, 2018 · Kansas City, MO
- September Business Conference · September 19-21, 2018 · Kansas City, MO
- NAR Realtors Conference and Expo · November 2-5, 2018 · Boston MA
John SebreeCEOMissouri REALTORS®