Having worked as a realtor in Houston for close to 20 years now, I’m obviously quite familiar with the numerous benefits of the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). For those not working in real estate though, it may be hard to fully appreciate the significance of HAR in our local housing market.
Sure, most Houstonians seeking to rent or buy a home these days have probably searched through HAR.com at some point, but their HAR knowledge may not extend far beyond that. Because it is such a strong organization, and one that has a profound effect on Houston real estate, I wanted to share with you just what makes HAR so special.
You’ll find Multiple Listing Services (MLS) all over the country, but HAR undoubtedly has one of the nation’s most robust MLS systems and is one of the few that not only centralizes an entire region of listings but makes it all public and searchable to you. Believe it or not, even in some other major metropolitan cities, comprehensive and user-friendly listing data is hard to come by, which has made way for the Zillows and Trulias of the world. HAR serves as the definitive listing portal for Houston, however, and offers the sort of local expertise that their global competitors simply cannot, and Houston home buyers and sellers benefit from that local touch every day!
In addition to its first rate MLS, HAR’s outstanding public portal provides a lot of consumer tools that simply aren’t available to buyers and sellers in other cities, from information on schools to historic districts and beyond. If you’ve ever bought or sold a home in Houston, you might be surprised to know that you were empowered as a customer in a way that is pretty unique compared to many parts of the country.
HAR is now made up of 36,000 realtors, which means it’s not only the largest association of its kind, but also the largest professional association in all of Houston. The organization offers excellent training for new realtors as well as top notch continuing education courses for more experienced agents.
At Boulevard Realty, we remain committed to “redefining the value of a realtor,” by providing an exceptional level and scope of service before, during and after each sale and constantly doing whatever we can to make our neighborhoods and city a better place to live. This is what I find to be so notable about HAR, because even as such a large organization, it in itself is “redefining the value of a realtor.” HAR promotes a strong code of ethics and spirit of engagement among its members, and one that encourages cooperation and community involvement.
This spirit of exceptional community engagement is embodied by their John E. Wolf Community Service Award, which annually honors one HAR member for outstanding contribution to the community, primarily outside the scope of the real estate industry. This can include leadership and service in charitable organizations, service organizations and special service organizations.
I am quite proud to say that earlier this month, HAR recognized my work in the community by honoring me with the 2016 John E. Wolf Community Service Award. It was truly rewarding to have so many different opportunities to give back to Houston this year, from restoring Mecom Fountain to its original splendor to serving on Mayor Sylvester Turner‘s Planning Commission, and everything in between. It’s always a humbling experience to receive an award, especially for work in the community, but because of my great respect for HAR as an organization, this award meant so much more to me.
I am filled with joy when I look ahead to 2017 because I’m excited for another year of playing an active role in our community and for another year as a member of a class organization that recognizes and appreciates those efforts.
This entry was posted in Recognize, Rediscover- HAR
- Houston Association of REALTORS®
- John E. Wolf
- John E. Wolf Community Service Award
- Mayor Sylvester Turner
- Mecom Fountain
- MLS
- Multiple Listing Service
- Sylvester Turner
- trulia
- Zillow