POINT OF VIEW: From the President

Web of knowledge

Are you looking for answers to clients’ questions about the market? Did you receive an unacceptable radon reading on a listing and you’re wondering what to do? Do you need a guide to teach new associates about antispam law?

Whatever your query, if you haven’t spent time at REALTOR.orglately, I encourage you to wake up 30 minutes early tomorrow and explore. It’s amazing how your association Web site has transformed over the past year to become a real go-to resource.

Just to clarify, I’m not talking about REALTOR.com the site where millions of buyers go to look at listings and find REALTORS®. I’m talking about REALTOR.org,the site that represents the sum total of knowledge available from the National Association of REALTORS® and it’s vast.

Things change so quickly in our business. Just a couple of years ago, we were trying to get our arms around e-mail marketing. Today, we’re reading about social networking Web sites and blogs and trying to figure out whether any of this makes sense for our business. REALTOR.orghelps you evaluate the newest technologies, make sense of the latest market statistics, and understand how pending legislation could impact your business.

There’s a lot of garbage online masquerading as knowledge. We’re fortunate to have such a reliable resource in REALTOR.org.

An enormous amount of energy goes into making REALTOR.orga useful tool for you. Every area of the association has staff charged with keeping the site up-to-date. These are the same folks working on your behalf conducting research, advocating for you in Washington, and so on. I’ve even gotten into the act. I record a podcast twice a month so that you can hear what I’m doing to serve you and all our 1.3 million members.

One of the most incredible resources at REALTOR.organd I hear this from members all the time is the online library. It offers dozens of “field guides” on topics ranging from appraisal to zoning laws. You can also research a topic through the NAR Proquest database and check out e-books.

REALTOR® Magazine Online offers another awesome array of tools for REALTOR.org users, including a residential architecture guide and ready-to-use sales meetings.

Have you ever encountered a situation a potential mortgage fraud, a sticky negotiation, an ethical dilemma and said to yourself, “I know I read about this in REALTOR® Magazine. I wish I could put my hands on that article.” Through REALTOR.org you can find past articles and, in most cases, take your search even further, finding additional resources on mortgage fraud, for example, or reading the exact Article of the Code of Ethics that applies.

I hope you enjoy and benefit from reading REALTOR® Magazine each month but, in some ways, a magazine is a hit-or-miss experience. It may or may not contain topics that matter to you this month. It may or may not cover subjects with the depth you need. The Internet, at its best, gives you an unlimited amount of information on whatever’s most pressing to you at the moment.

As we all know, however, there’s a lot of garbage online masquerading as knowledge. That’s why we’re fortunate to have such a reliable resource in REALTOR.org.If you haven’t already done so, register at the site today. It’s easy and it’s free to you as an NAR member. Once you sign up, I predict you’ll be coming back time and time again.