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! Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or in the Podcasts App on your phone. Never miss a beat from Leigh by visiting The Leigh 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 yo