Charlotte Regional Real Estate Outlook
By Rick Handford
               
Former president Catherine Browning introduced Anne Marie Howard, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association (CRRA) and the Carolina Multiple Listing Services, Inc. Anne Marie graduated from Creighton University with a degree in English and Philosophy, and earned her Law Degree at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C. while working on Capitol Hill. She served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Realtors®, and worked as a lobbyist for two associations. She was the Deputy Executive Director of the Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (REBIC) from 1995 to 2000, and in mid-2000 became the General council of CRRA before being named CEO in 2001.
   
Anne Marie began her talk by qualifying that she is an optimist, and is not an economist, thus raising the spirits of the audience by a considerable margin. She then provided an overview of the CRRA, whose purpose as a professional trade association is to lead, educate, and support the productivity of its 8,800 current members. The Association is owned and governed by Realtors®, and its current membership is down from a high of 10,000, with an expected further reduction of 20% over the next year as the market sorts itself out. She explained that having a real estate license is not adequate to be a Realtor®, which additionally requires adherence to the National Association of Realtors® Code of Ethics and membership in a local association of Realtors®, such as the CRRA.
  
The CRRA owns The Carolina Multiple Listing Services, Inc. (CMLS), which is a for-profit subsidiary that compiles and maintains a database of information on properties for sale in the 10 counties that it serves. CMLS is the largest regional MLS between Northern Virginia and Atlanta. The CMLS is not a public utility, and the information in the MLS, all of which is provided by Realtors®, is used by member Realtors® to facilitate bringing together buyers and sellers in a mutually beneficial transaction. While some of the information in the MLS is provided to select print media and internet outlets at the request of Realtors®, the information to be found in such locations is necessarily less complete and timely than the MLS.
 
The CRRA has a charitable foundation, the CRRA Housing Opportunity Foundation, whose mission is to position and educate Realtors® as leaders, to promote homeownership, and to provide funding to create housing opportunities. CRRA also owns the Mingle School of Real Estate, providing education classes for the public, real estate brokers, and Realtors®.
 
CRRA is also an integral part of the Real Estate & Building Industry Coalition (REBIC). REBIC was established in 1982 by homebuilders and Realtors®, and grew out of the Joint (Legislative) Committee, an organization founded in the mid 1970s by John Crosland Jr. and Allen Tate Jr., who served as its co-chairs. In addition to homebuilders and Realtors®, REBIC also includes and represents a broad range of other trade associations involved in residential and commercial real estate development at many levels. REBIC is unique to the Charlotte region. CRRA also has a Government Affairs department that works on regional public policy issues that impact Realtors® and homeowners. The Government Affairs department works closely with REBIC where their interests are similar.
     
  
Head Table: David Barnhardt, Paul Wyche, Mac McCarley, Catherine Browning, Mike Rash, Joey Godbold;
Invocation: Neil Burkhead;
Visitors & Guests: Matt Joyner; Health & Happiness: Marilynn Bowler; Song & Piano: Thomas Moore: Photos: Bert Voswinkel

• Benton Bragg was front and center in Sunday's Observer as Bragg Financial Advisors of Charlotte was named to the Wall Street Journal's ranks of top performers in the Small Cap Core category; Floyd Davis accepted Leadership Charlotte's 2008 Legacy Award for Community Service provided by Community Link; Bill Constangy was re-elected to his 6th four-year term as District Court Judge; Karen Calder was named to the 2008 class of Women Extraordinaire by Business Leader.
      
• Jim and Gloria Hintz will have the hand-made cards available for sale on December 9th. Please plan accordingly.
     
• Second Harvest Food Bank update: Charlotte Rotarians have donated almost 300 pounds of food, which equates to 200 meals that will feed a family of four for a little over two weeks. Both the food and clothing collection will wrap up next week; Salvation Army bell ringing is set! Thanks to Mark Norman for his leadership in this effort.
      
• Salvation Army Bell Ringing: Mark Norman will kick off the bell ringing schedule next week. Those wishing to volunteer may do so by clicking here.  Questions may be directed to Mark Norman.
 
• In The Community: First Night Charlotte, an alcohol-free community celebration on New Year's Eve, will get underway from 3pm to midnight in the heart of Center City. Admission buttons ($10 - children under 12 free with paying adult) go on sale Thanksgiving weekend; Tickets to Christmas with Amy (Grant) and Vince (Gill) are on sale at Cricket Arena box office & Ticketmaster. Performance will be held December 16, 8:00 PM at Ovens Auditorium and will benefit Charlotte Rescue Mission; Thomas Moore will direct the interfaith choir for the communitywide Thanksgiving service at Friendship Missionary Baptist church on November 25th at 7:00pm (rehearsal 11/23: 2:30-4:30; 11/24: 6:45-8:45 and one hour prior to the 11/25 service).
 
• Host Dinners on deck: 12/06/08 Patrick Gray; 1/24/09 Mary Ciminelli. Click here for the schedule.
          
• December 16, 2008:  Excellence in Leadership Award.  Rotary Club of Charlotte, Charlotte Business Journal and the Charlotte Chamber will present the 21st winner of the Excellence in Leadership Award on December 16th. Nominations should be emailed to Phil Van Hoy by 11/17/08.  Criteria for the award is available by clicking here.

Should you question the eligibility of any nominee, contact the Rotary office by 11/25/2008.

FLIGHT OF HONOR
By: Tom Burgess
 
Charlotte Rotary, with other Clubs of District 7680 are banding together in this project to honor WW II Veterans by flying them to Washington DC to visit their WW II Memorial and other war memorials in our nation's capitol.
 
The first chartered air flight will be on Saturday, April 18, 2009 to take 100 WW II veterans for the one day visit. Each 3 veterans will be assisted by an accompanying helper to assure their safety and enjoyment of their day. Medical staff will accompany the flight and all participants will have been reviewed for their physical and health levels to assure minimal possibility for on-tour problems.
 
Applications are being accepted from WW II veterans and are available at www.flightofhonor.org. Rotarians are encouraged to help get information out to WW II veterans and promote their application. Our Club has committed to funding 9 WW II veterans and three accompanying personnel. Cost for the Flight of Honor is $500 per WW II veteran and $200 per guardian. We are interested in sponsoring this experience for veterans that may not have the means, financially or logistically, to make the trip on their own.
 
Since WW II veterans have passed their 80th birthday, and many a number of years older, this is a most timely effort to have such veterans get to visit THEIR memorial. Contributions and sponsorship of veterans from families of veterans, businesses and corporations are welcomed.
 
Charlotte Rotarians Sandy Osborne and Tom Burgess are representing us as members of the core steering committee for Flight of Honor. More will be presented at future club meetings.