Utah County REALTORS® Share Why They Care

Chris Nichols is a REALTOR® at Prudential Utah Elite Real Estate, President-elect of the Utah County Association of REALTORS® and 2010 NAR Leadership Academy Participant

UCAR members work to enhance the public perception of REALTORS® through a new web site WhyREALTORSCare. They can proudly highlight one of their members who has made extraordinary commitments to improving the quality of life in their community.

One of the cornerstones of NAR is political involvement. As a member of the Government Affairs Committee at the Utah County Association of REALTORS® (UCAR), we spent many hours in the fall of 2009 reviewing local candidates and making decisions as to who we would endorse and support in the November elections. We developed a new Statement of Policy (SOP) to serve as the guiding document for these decisions.

The Association’s main concern focused on Provo, the county seat and largest city. The challenge we faced was a popular mayoral candidate and a 12-year city council member; who’s record of actions and votes adversely impacted property rights.

UCAR leadership publicly endorsed three city council candidates and a new mayoral candidate based on their alignment with the SOP. When the results were tabulated, the endorsed mayor as well as all three council candidates was elected.

But these victories came with a price: grassroots and neighborhood backlash spreading concern that REALTORS® played too active a role in the election and were only motivated by greed. Some association members even questioned our actions.

Thus the idea was developed to educate and inform the public, as well as association members, why we got involved. The result is Why Realtors Care, a website whyREALTORScare.com and Public Relations campaign to highlight how UCAR members actively participate in their community through service and outreach to make a positive difference.

The site covers UCAR efforts to create housing opportunities, community service projects, and political involvement efforts by using the Preamble of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics, as our foundation for protecting property rights.

This year we were fortunate that UCAR member Greg Adamson was selected as a 2009 REALTOR® Magazine Good Neighbor Award winner. Greg created a foundation in 2004 called Utah Heart 2 Home, which completes home make over projects for families in need. The site includes video showcasing how two Utah Valley families had their lives changed for the better through Greg’s efforts. The stories are heart-rending and compelling but are great examples of how REALTORS® make their communities better places to live.
It’s my hope that this site will continue to grow and develop as we add more examples of local and national efforts to make our communities stronger, make housing affordable, and encourage the political efforts of REALTORS® for years to come.