On Tuesday April 12, 2011 the Texas House and the Senate recognized Realtors in their Chambers.  I don’t know the exact number of us who attended, but I can tell you we will be remembered.  Since most of us endured bus trips of 3 hours are more, our number one priority was in getting to the bathrooms.  From the minute we arrived at 9:30am till we left at 3:00pm the lines to the bathrooms stretched halfway across the building. 

With our blue circle patches identifying us as Realtors we were a force to be recognized with.  Each Realtor^® had an appointment with their state representative and state senator.  Those of us who were lucky got to met with the legislator.  The unlucky ones met with the chief aide who may or not have known the issues. 

I cheated a little and added another state senator to my list.  After all Houston is a large metropolitan area and we need to be heard.  My talent from taking a body language course was put to the test in Austin.  I quickly noticed the shuffling of feet and the downward look when the tough questions were asked.  I saw a star or two who rose to the occasion and smiled when answering the questions.  This legislator actually gave out additional information on Real Estate issues that we were not aware of. 

Lunch was served in a parking lot adjacent to the Capital.  The line to get your lunch looked a lot like the bathroom lines, the line stretched two city blocks.  I  have avoided lines this long since registering in college and had no desire to start now.  I and my partner on the trip Christine waited till the last minute to get in the line for food.   The only thing we missed out on was soft drinks. 

Christine and I spent our time at the capital observing Democracy in action.  It reminded me of a turtle race or perhaps a slow motion movie.   The Texas Senate spends 30 minutes waiting to pass a bill where everyone congratulates the other.  Does this sound a little like our county commissioners?   Truthfully this may be the only day at the Capital where the lobbyists were outnumbered. 

 
Proposed Texas Real Estate Transfer Tax

Given the state of our economy, legislators are looking for additional sources of revenue.  There are three bills out there which would enact new taxes on Real Estate transactions.  The Texas Real Estate Association strongly oppose any bill which would add a fee onto the purchase of Real Estate.  The Association feels these fees would be harmful to the Texas consumers and our overall economy.

I left Austin confident that our main concern transaction fees on Real Estate deals will not be allowed.   The legislators seemed to agree that paying a fee to a builder every time a house changes hands over 99 years is almost criminal.   If we did nothing else we at least let our legislators know we will be watching out for the public’s interest.  Our other issues were mostly Realtor^® related, one that will affect the public is in making the Real Estate Agent and Brokers license tests more comprehensive.    Our goal is to raise the bar on our standards and ethics in insuring the homebuyer and seller receives first class representation. 

Email Bill Edge at bill@billedge.com  or call 713-240-2949 to see Houston Homes in 24 hours or less.