To PAR or not to PAR

The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors meet in Harrisburg Pa three times a year: Winter, Spring and Fall. PAR meetings may sound like a big snooze fest, but I can assure you they are not. According to their website, the mission of PAR is to protect private property rights, facilitate a consistent and reliable marketplace, and promote the professional, ethical and successful practice of real estate. What possible reasons could it be beneficial to attend the PAR meetings? Read on!

Most PAR attendees feel that the information at the Standard Forms committee meeting had the biggest benefit than any other committee meeting. The Standard forms feedback panel provides a forum for all Realtors® to voice their opinions regarding the forms we use every day. Want something changed on the agreement of sale, sellers’ property disclosure or like almost EVERY Realtor®- the (clear as mud) appraisal contingency? Come bring your questions, comments, concerns and suggestions. You will hear why forms get changed and the origin regarding thought processes to each change. You will hear the lively discussions that go on regarding why one word in a clause might be taken this way or that. Do you have to attend these meetings to make your concerns known? You do not. You can reach out to a local representative that will be attending to bring your comments to the committee. I can honestly say, I have never spoken up at a meeting, but I get so much information from this particular meeting.

Standard Forms committee provides you great information FOR your business but you also won’t want to miss The Professional Standards committee meetings on what NOT to do in your business. This committee is tasked with promoting awareness and education about Realtor® code of ethics and related enforcement policies. Come hear the latest unbelievably unethical practices that sometimes take place in real estate.

District meetings take place during these two days as well. We come together to support those in our district that are on the front lines fighting for our specific concerns for our specific area in our industry. Hear the latest information for our region and meet your colleagues in neighboring communities.

Other committees that meet are Legal Action committee, Legislative committee, Realtor® Political Action committee and Director’s meetings to name a few. Once you attend you may just want to get involved in a committee too!

While all these things provide tremendous value for our businesses, the absolute best thing about PAR meetings is the relationships built with Realtors® all over the state. What’s good about meeting other Realtors®? Networking and Referrals of course… Realtors come from Erie, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, literally all over the state- to attend these meetings because they know it’s important, and how lucky are we here in Lancaster to have these meetings right in our back yard? The next sessions are scheduled for June 5 and 6 with Hill visits on June 7 – PAR Hill visits provide a unique opportunity for PAR members interested in public policy and advocacy to learn more about key PAR legislative priorities and take the Realtor® message to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

In the words of one very active PAR member “If Real Estate is your passion, Politics is your business”. PAR is a political arena, but there is so much more than just politics going on here, and is it really such a bad thing to understand some of the politics that govern your business?

To learn more about PAR and its benefits, you can visit their website at parealtors.org.

Facts, opinions and information expressed in the Blog represent the work of the author and are believed to be accurate but are not guaranteed. The Lancaster County Association of Realtors is not liable for any potential errors, omissions or outdated information. If errors are noted within a post, please notify the Association. Posts represent the author's opinion and are not necessarily the opinion of the Association.