Disease For Sale By Owner... Or At Least Foreclose On It And Get It Out Of Our Lives

Every year the National Association of Realtors has its mid-year meeting in Washington, DC, in May. It's like the ALSA advocacy conference and day except it's bigger, and, well... they're Realtors. This year they'll be hungry Realtors.

In the past ALS advocates have sometimes hit Capitol Hill on the same day as the Realtors. Those highly tagged, badged, and pinned brokers and salespeople are not a shy lot. They are there in droves. They fill up elevators and legislators' offices. They know how to make sales, and they seem to be driven to get to legislators at all costs. They glance at ALS advocates' nametags, but the cause is hard to read. They see people in wheelchairs and think about that accessible property they have back in Anytown, USA.

You may wonder why in the world Realtors want (and seem to get) so much face time with our legislators. You may wonder why Realtors approach legislators so aggressively and relentlessly. What could they possibly have to talk about? We have a matter of life and death to discuss. What drives relentless Realtors to Washington?

Take a look at the stimulus package. That answers the questions. There are some incredible incentives to get the housing market moving and to sell that accessible property in Anytown. Cha-ching.

The people in the wheelchairs at the backs of the elevators need to be heard, too. The competition is stiff. The Realtors got what they wanted.