Before I started my term as president of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, I decided I wanted my theme to be “Tomorrow’s Future Is Today.” Some of my colleagues scratched their heads. “Isn’t that a bit redundant?” they asked. Not really.

My message is that we need to look beyond tomorrow at the future we want—and begin today...

"Traditional” is a term some in the industry have used to differentiate established real estate companies from new models. But the term has taken on an unfortunate connotation recently as individuals within government and the media use it to characterize our industry as one that’s closed to innovation and competition. Could anything be further from the truth?

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When asked to violate the federal fair housing law and his own sense of ethics, Troy Brown literally walked away. Last year, Brown, 38, an associate with Weichert, REALTORS®–Columbus Associates, outside Raleigh, N.C., was working with a relocating buyer who asked for information on the racial makeup of a neighborhood in an effort to avoid the “high crime rates...

We all know how important it is, and how challenging it can be, to explain agency issues to consumers. Well, a recent report by nationally syndicated columnist Ken Harney—highlighting the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ own data—shows we’re not doing a good enough job.

Harney cited the 2005 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, a survey of...

What’s holding you back from being the person you want to be? What’s holding your company back from performing the way you want it to?

We rarely take time to ask those questions of ourselves. When we do, we often focus on external factors—“The market’s not good.” “My spouse isn’t supportive.” “We don’t have...