Inside the WRA
Inside the WRA with Bill Malkasian
 The WRA officers journeyed to Washington, D.C. in mid February to visit with our Wisconsin Congressional delegation on issues impacting the Wisconsin and national real estate industry.
I thought you might be interested in the topics that NAR has chosen of significant importance for the next Congressional session. I attended a two-day planning session in D.C. in late January with other NAR leaders for the purpose of creating this list.
- NAR is developing recommendations to address the lack of property and casualty insurance. Many states have massive pullouts of insurance companies, which insured residential and commercial properties, leaving a huge need. NAR has created a very aggressive workgroup to study the issue and make recommendations back to the NAR board in May of this year. Stay tuned, because I think it's an issue that will come home to Wisconsin in time.
- NAR will work to have Congress enact a homeownership tax credit that is currently part of the president's FY 2004 budget proposal. This credit would be a boon for developers in urban areas of Wisconsin. My impression is that if passed it would most likely be implemented by WHEDA. Final details are being worked out.
- Expect a RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) rule revision this year from HUD. NAR is moving aggressively on this issue with a study group. Congress will be holding a special hearing on this issue on Feb. 25. We are lucky to have Congressman Mark Green involved. His extensive real estate background has been very helpful. Questions, contact me.
- The campaign to keep big banks out of real estate continues into 2003! NAR was successful in getting bill language that would prevent the Treasury from funding any enactment of this proposal into the 2003 appropriations. The prohibition is through Sept. 30 of this year. NAR has reintroduced legislation to prevent banks from entering the real estate industry. This issue may go away for a while but could surface after the 2004 presidential election.
- Reducing the depreciable period of leasehold improvements from the current 39 years to 10 years. There was great response from our congressional delegation on both sides of the isle on this issue. Congressman Paul Ryan who sits on Ways and Means has been very helpful, as well as Jerry Kleczka from Milwaukee. If we can find the money, expect something this year.
- The enactment by Congress of the president's American Dream down payment program would help potential first-time homebuyers become homeowners. This would be another great housing package for Wisconsin citizens.
REALTORSŪ interested in meeting with their Congressman should plan on attending the NAR mid-year legislative meetings held in Washington, D.C. on May 13-17. The Wisconsin hill visit day is Wednesday, May 14. Check with us if you want to participate. Also, the Wisconsin
REALTORŪ and Government Day is May 22 in Madison. I'm often asked, why do the WRA/NAR set the dates for these events during the busiest time in real estate? The dates are based on critical times when lawmakers are finalizing their thoughts on issues before a vote. Timing is everything in politics ... just like your business.
Turning back to Madison, the WRA staff has been in a new "meet and greet" mode at the Capitol. As the new Doyle administration gears up, there are hundreds of new faces filling key positions throughout the many agencies. With the introduction of a new state budget, the task at hand is getting the word out to legislators and agency leaders on the critical issues for the real estate industry in Wisconsin. Record sales in 2002 point out that the real estate sector plays an important role in job creation and economic recovery. It's an important sell.
In the upcoming months, the WRA staff and leadership hope to be out and about the state to update you on what's ahead here in Madison. In the meantime, keep your eye on your email and fax. We will keep you updated and if necessary ask for you to contact your elected officials on issues that could impact your business.
I realize that each of you is extremely busy ... but your effort on selected issues may cost you less in the future.
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Chairman's Corner with Bob Weber
In keeping with WRA tradition, Corky Hellyer, Kitty Jebwabny, Dan Lee, Bill Malkasian, and myself journeyed to Washington, D.C. in February to visit with our representatives about real estate issues. The trip began with a six-state Regional Caucus meeting. The states included Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and, of course, Wisconsin. We shared information regarding the challenges faced by each of the leadership groups and learned alternative solutions to aid in remedies here in Wisconsin. We shared state legislation issues, learned more about federal issues, and we were updated by Terry McDermott, CEO of the National Association of
RealtorsŪ, as to the issues facing NAR.
The next day, we strapped on walking shoes and visited Capitol Hill. The day was filled with walking from office to office, with appointments set by the hour. We were able to speak with nearly all of the Wisconsin delegates and share our ideas and concerns. During these discussions, we expressed our interest in such issues as a new homeownership tax credit, the American Dream Down Payment Fund, improved depreciation of leaseholder improvements, national disaster insurance, and the preservation of the separation of banking and commerce. We also shared ideas on RESPA reform and the future concerns regarding the availability and cost of homeowner's insurance. The debates were lively at times and resulted in a definite education of our issues with legislators. It was an experience of the process in action and worthwhile time spent.
On another note, congratulations to all real estate practitioners for selling more houses in 2002 than ever before! Real estate sales in Wisconsin exceeded 2001 by over seven percent and the median price rose by almost six percent. Driven by low interest rates and relatively low unemployment, the state excelled in home sales, despite other stressed economic conditions. In keeping with the last few years, let's support Wisconsin's economy again in 2003!
Respectfully,
Robert R. Weber
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Seven Principles To Successful Real Estate Goal Setting
by Dirk Zeller
Your ability to plan, set goals, and create action plans to accomplish your goals is the mark of someone who is truly successful. Acquiring the skill to set goals is a life-long endeavor. It is a habit that must be cultivated daily for a lifetime. This single activity can have the greatest impact on your life over any other achievement skill.
To be disciplined in setting goals is to sit down with paper and pen and make a list of things you want to acquire, attract or accomplish in the next several years. Earl Nightingale said, "The problem with people is not achieving the goals we set, it is actually the process of setting them in the first place." We are all goal-seeking organisms. Your subconscious mind will work on the goal you give it until it is accomplished. You must only set this vast powerful computer in motion by setting the goal.
To achieve a well-rounded, joyous life we need to beworking toward our goals. When it comes to goals, the journey is almost better than the destination. Success was defined by Nightingale as the progressive realization of a worthy goal. You become successful once you set the goal and work towards it. Success is not found only at the attainment level, but also in the striving toward attainment.
You need goals in all areas of your life. It is not good enough to set your sights on your business or commission earnings, transaction sides. You need goals in family, spiritual, physical, financial, and mental areas of your life. This is the only way to achieve balance. Organize your goals in all areas based on priority. Put the most important ones on the top.
Our overall goal for our life should be to be a continuous goal setter. We need to become so focused and clear on what we desire that every hour and every day we are doing the things that are moving us in our direction of choice and toward our goals.
Studies have shown that you will save ten minutes in execution for every minute that you invest in planning or goal setting. What an incredible return on your investment of time. How often would you invest in an investment that you put in a dollar and got ten dollars back?
Seven Keys of Goal Setting
- Your goals must be specific, detailed, and clear. You must invest the time to put them in written form. There is a direct link between your writing the goal, seeing it being written, and burning it into your subconscious mind. The goals you desire must be specific, not vague. To set a goal to be rich or be happy will not draw you to it. Well-written goals are like magnets that will you to your desired result. Your goal must be concrete and tangible. Highly defined goals are attained, fuzzy goals are forgotten.
- The goals you set must be measurable. How can one truly measure happiness? You have to be able to analyze and evaluate your progress and your results in a tangible way. Many people have a goal of being rich. You need to know specifically how much money rich is. You need to know the specific time period you want to achieve it by. Now that's a goal.
- The best goals have deadlines. They have a time by which you need to accomplish them. They also have interim steps along the way that can be monitored. These sub-deadlines or schedules are critical to success. There are no unrealistic goals; there are merely unrealistic timeframes.
- Goals need to challenge you to capacity or beyond your current capacity. They will stretch you and mold you into a new person. Jim Rohn wisely said, "It's not the money that makes the millionaire successful; it's what he had to become (as a person) to earn a million dollars." If you took the money away from that millionaire, that millionaire would make it back twice as fast as before, because he learned the skill to make it in the first place.
- Your goals need to possess congruency with your values and beliefs. Your goals also have to be harmonious with each other. Let me give you an example, I want to lose 40 pounds, but I also want to eat Dreyer's Rocky Road ice cream every night before I go to bed. One of these goals will need to give way to the other. They are not congruent with each other. There is no way I can achieve both at the same time. You can not achieve goals that are actually contradictory.
- Your goals must have balance between your personal life, family, financial, spiritual, physical, mental, and business goals. Just as a wheel needs balance to rotate properly; we need balance to get anywhere in life.
- The largest most difficult goal in life is to define your purpose goal. We all have one goal that is at the core of our being. Our life moves to greatness when we decide upon a definite purpose or focus for our life.
I can speak from personal experience. When I determined my "core purpose" was to make meaningful impact in the lives of all the people I come in contact with, my perspective changed dramatically. My enjoyment of my day to day "work life" increased.
Fortunately for me, I get to live my "core purpose" daily by helping people such as yourself reach their fullest potential and joy in life.
Copyright(c) 2003, Dirk Zeller. All rights reserved. For information about Dirk's Keynote presentations, contact the Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email
susie@frogpond.com; www.frogpond.com
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College Scholarships Available
The selection process is now underway for the 2003 Wisconsin
RealtorsŪ Foundation REALTORŪ Children's Scholarship program. This program awards college scholarships to children of WRA members. The Wisconsin
RealtorsŪ Foundation is offering seven scholarships in the amount of $400 each. The deadline for submitting an application is March 14, 2003. The application is available on line at :
www.wra.org/pdf/resources/childrens_scholarship_appl2003.pdf
or by contacting Sandy.
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REALTORŪ Magazine Seeks Good Neighbor Nominations
REALTORŪ Magazine, the official publication of the National Association of
REALTORSŪ, is seeking nominations for its fourth annual Good Neighbor Awards. The program recognizes
REALTORSŪ whose extraordinary commitment to community service has helped make their communities better places to live.
In November, five winners will be announced in REALTORŪ Magazine and will be recognized at the 2003
REALTORSŪ Conference & Expo in San Francisco. The winners will receive travel expenses to the convention, a $7,500 grant for their community cause, extensive coverage in
REALTORŪ Magazine, a crystal trophy, and more. In addition to the winners, five honorable mentions will receive $1,500 grants for their cause.
Eligible activities include work on affordable housing issues, educational programs, youth-related activities, or anything else that helps improve the quality of life in a community. Entry form, rules, and judging criteria are available at
www.realtormag.com/rmodaily.NSF/pages/goodneighborhomepage?OpenDocument. Deadline for entry is Wednesday, May 28, 2003.
For more information, including logos, photos, and sample stories for your publications, contact
Jennifer Reihl,
312-329-8459.
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GRI Scholarship Winners
The Wisconsin RealtorsŪ Foundation would like to congratulate the following 2003 GRI Scholarship recipients:
Darwin D. Scoon
John Carlton, Tri-R Realty
Marcelline Jost, Adashun Jones Real Estate
Cindy Koutnik, Century 21 Conlon REALTORSŪ
Pat Morrison, Coldwell Banker Brenizer
Jill Schneider, Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group
Al Petrie
Scott Bauer, Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group
Otto Bytof-REALTORSŪ Association of Northeast Wisconsin
Mark Getzlaff, Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group
Otto Bytof-Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group
Cheryl Heale, Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group
Waupaca-Shawano Board
William Hamann, Jr., Country Aire Realty, Inc.
Shawn Kabble, S&L Realty, Inc.
Tanya North, Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group
Don Hovde
Sandi Bremer, Yellow House Realty
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