The 100th Episode - NAR President Bill Brown - Crazy Sh*t In Real Estate with Leigh Brown

NAR President Bill Brown has been through the ringer for the last
few months, but it hasn’t put a damper on this year’s
Thanksgiving (except that he couldn’t wash down his turkey with a
beer!). Tune in to learn why Bill was extra-thankful this
Thanksgiving, and why it’s never too early to think about the
future. Bill dives into the tax reform discussion and urges NAR
members to participate and be a voice for the people – you DO
make a difference and must ACT when called to do so!


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Brown Experience.
Time Stamped Show Notes:

00:29 – NAR President Bill Brown from Oakland; this is his
first post-presidential interview

01:15 – Who he is, how he came into real estate, his story



01:45 – Second generation realtor, father started in the
business in the 60s

02:24 – Both he and his brother were inspired and Bill knew
what he wanted to do by sophomore/junior year of high school



02:40 – What attracted Bill to real estate



02:55 – The idea of working for himself, enjoys competition,
was good with numbers rather than showing homes

03:44 – Stuck with what he knew – the numbers game – and felt
it was easy if he had the grasp of the numbers



04:15 – Believes anyone can learn commercial or apartment
brokerage with devotion



04:30 – Before, people could do a little of everything, now
you need to be a specialist

04:45 – Concentrate on the product type you do best



04:50 – Bill says he’s impatient but it has gotten a lot
better in the past 3-4 months



05:20 – Broker told him a story about patience 10 years ago

05:40 – A new broker had just graduated from Stanford, but
was told it could take 6-9 months to get his first deal

05:53 – On his 8th or 9th day, he picked up the phone, got a
listing, and made $125,000

06:13 – Guy got BMW, rented new apartment in San Francisco,
but didn’t get another deal for another year and a half

06:28 – You must be smart, especially when just starting out



06:40 – Realtor retirement and investment planning



07:01 – Many realtors make good money and don’t have anything
to show for it at 50-55

07:45 – Bill wants realtors to be thinking about retirement
early

07:57 – He knew a realtor, Tracy Saizan who put away 10-20%
of every deal and has saved a good deal that way

08:18 – Kudos to Sharon Millett who chaired the PAC; members
will be able to take advantage of the partnership with Merrill
Lynch/ Bank of America

08:37 – His legacy will be this basis for financial planning



09:15 – Not all members are making a living: His friend runs
an MLS with 17,000 members



09:25 – Half of the members have not made a deal in a year
and 30% haven’t even turned the MLS on

09:36 – The business is getting more competitive and people
think it’s easy and don’t have the required commitment



10:04 – It’s time for young people to start thinking 10-20
years’ out



10:39 – He’s been a president through some monumental changes
in politics



11:08 – His thoughts on political changes and how it’ll
affect the real estate industry



11:20 – Looks back at 1986 Tax Reform for context: Property
values went down and interest rates up, it’s a very similar
situation

11:45 – He likes the action in legislative changes and was
glad he was president during this time



11:51 – Had a meeting in D.C. with Chairman of Ways and Means
Kevin Brady



12:02 – Brought up what happened to real estate after the
1986 tax reform, and Brady said that the decline in property
values will only last 3-4 years

12:15 – Said that they are looking 10 years’ out

12:23 – They want 80-90% of Americans to fill out their own
simplified tax returns



12:45 – In CA, if you eliminate state/local tax deductions,
mortgage interest rate deductions, home values decrease 21-24%,
it’s hard to find a home



13:05 - $1 million buys you nothing in the area where he
lives

13:14 - $500,000 deduction is useless there, it’s a big deal
to not be able to write off your taxes

13:33 – 35% of Bay area home buyers will rethink buying a
home if the tax reform passes

13:50 – Ramifications of this tax reform are unbelievable,
especially in high-cost states



14:00 – NAR core value is to protect private property rights



14:16 – Back in 1986 they promised to never lower the
mortgage interest deduction



14:35 – If you are a congressman or senator that has gotten
NAR support and you vote for this bill, NAR will be very active
on the other side of the election in 2018



14:55 – CA has 9 Republican congressmen, and 3 voted against
the bill: the other 6 voted against their constituents



15:40 – Tax reform provisions that bother Bill that aren’t
related to property taxes and mortgage interest deduction



16:26 – Tax reform takes away the incentive to buy a home

16:36 – Other side will say that the itemized deduction has
doubled, but the mortgage interest deduction pushes the buyer
over the threshold

17:25 – If a couple gets married, saves, and tax reform hits,
they’ve lost their down payment and years of saving

18:00 – Car wash manager makes $85,000 a year, but didn’t
want to buy a house because of what his friends experienced in
the recession



18:50 – The timing is still fresh for a lot of people who
were impacted by the recession

19:30 – How Bill landed in voluntary leadership



19:51 – He was an apartment broker in 1982 with brother and
father when rent control came on the horizon

20:15 – City council voted it down, but tenants got an
initiative on the ballot and it was going to impact his ability
to make a living

20:45 – He went to the Board of Realtors and volunteered to
help against rent control and became a chair

21:20 – Realtors do help members make money and stay in
business, he decided to get on local association committees, and
became president in 1984

21:57 – Started at committee level, has chaired at pretty
much every public policy and PAC committee at CAR while involved
there, and in 2008 was president of his state association



22:20 – Members need to participate with time and money to
help make initiatives successful



22:40 – When he graduated college, he knew his dad would take
him under his wing

23:10 – Glad he was interested in real estate early-on



23:39 – Why don’t more realtors get involved?



23:50 – We haven’t found a way to get members to understand
the importance of what they are doing

24:08 – Call to Action: A few clicks to flood senator offices
with letters for legislative change

24:45 – Members need to understand importance of their
participation

24:58 – People that aren’t making a living doing it don’t
care, or ones that do figure that others will do it; leadership
needs to work on messaging and members need to know importance of
participation



26:22 – Individuals can get involved and make an impact



26:46 – Only 21% of members sent letter to congressperson for
a Call to Action for the tax reform, but average response for
other trade associations is 3%

27:40 – Coalition of Homeowners – 8 million members willing
to participate



28:30 – Realtors give clients a voice and tools to be heard



29:04 – Realtors vote, have lobbyists in D.C., are active in
their communities, and give voice to the people



29:17 – Last act as president: A fly-in of 78 realtors to
tell their side of story



29:40 – Politicians know that realtors are a strong voice and
know that if they don’t support them, they’ll go after them come
election-time



30:37 – You can’t undo the tax reform



30:55 – Speculation, economic theory cannot promise anything

31:14 – He supports paying lower taxes because ½ of what you
send to D.C. will get wasted

31:44 – If you give a tax break, you take away a tax break
from someone else

32:24 – Don’t make changes on the backs of home-owning
Americans



33:25 – Realtors that talk to officials can make sure they
know what is written in the reform and understand it

35:25 – Bill was sitting in a congressman office and his aid
came in and said he had a vote in 10 minutes; he didn’t know what
the vote was for, his aid told him

36:19 - Jerry Giovaniello won lobbyist of the year, and
seeing realtor faces in their office makes an impact on
congressmen’s decisions

37:13 – What happened to Bill this year



37:35 – Never thought anything would happen to him medically

37:48 – He has a finger operation 2-3 years ago and it got
infected, they gave him vancomycin to take 2 times/day

38:16 – After 3-4 days he felt horrible and it triggered lung
problems

38:52 – He had to go on supplemental oxygen and in and out of
the emergency room

39:15 – In August everything looked different and was turning
white; he thought he was dying and his wife was overseas

39:53 – UCSF got an ambulance to take him to their hospital

40:20 – They found a lung transplant donor very quickly and
he underwent surgery

41:03 – He had a successful surgery but the lung donor had a
MRSA infection in the lung and pneumonia, so they transplanted it
then treated the MRSA and pneumonia

41:41 – Had to be fed through feeding tubes, they were
removed, then fluid was leaking into stomach, had to go into
emergency surgery again

44:05 – A typical lung transplant is in the hospital for 2-3
weeks, then they go to a hotel to be close by while healing; he
was in the hospital for 7 weeks and then was in a hotel for
another 6 weeks

45:25 – It was a very trying time; it was exhausting and
horrible, but got him well

46:30 – He met a transplant patient who gave up after a week
and wanted to go home with pain medication; she ultimately
decided to finish the treatment

47:35 – Nurses want you to get out “as fast as you can” and
inspire patients to get better faster

47:55 – Wants to write the donor family a thank you letter;
hasn’t been able to take a deep breath in 1-2 years



48:40 – Re/Max broker Kynse Leigh Lee has kidney and pancreas
transplant and uses hashtag #dontburygoodorgans and got to meet
donor family

49:56 – Discussing organ-donating outreach for realtors

50:24 – UCSF is #1 in the nation for lung transplants, but
they don’t have enough organs; he was very lucky...(blessed!)

52:50 – This is the first Thanksgiving where he has the
ultimate gift to be grateful for

53:55 – He put his health first; his wife Heather and his
brother Kevin and his wife (RN) were his caregivers for the
entire time he was at the hotel and he is grateful

55:20 – Become an organ donor and take care of yourself and
your loved ones

56:16 – To learn how to get involved, send Leigh Brown a
message on Twitter or any social network

3 Key Points One person can make an impact – Get involved and
make your voice heard by politicians...their votes impact your
life. You matter: Think about your future, your retirement plan,
your family, and your health. Become an organ donor! Credits

Audio Production by Chris Mottram

Show Notes provided by Melissa Valder