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October 2009
Index of all
messages
from the Association President
Year ahead brings “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes”
By David Barber, AAR President
“….With these Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes nothing remains quite the same; Through all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane…”
—James Delaney Buffett
Those of you who attended this year’s Inaugural Celebration in September will know that I have been a fan of Jimmy Buffett’s music since I first saw him in concert at Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus in 1976.
Through the years, many of his verses have brought me inspiration, and as I thought about the theme for this year’s Inaugural, “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” I couldn’t help but think about the state of the industry over the last few years and the ways we are starting to see the tide change. In the past few months we have seen activity increase, inventory decrease and a generally brighter horizon for us all.
As we sail forth into the upcoming year, the greatest challenge many of us will face is a “Change in Attitude”: we will truly go where we are looking and the key to success in this new market will be one eye on the compass and one on the horizon. This year will bring us a renewed sense of success and prosperity. At the same time, we must effect some “Changes in Latitude” by regaining the trust of our colleagues and more so, our community.
The road to recovery runs through AAR
One of the ways we hope to regain the trust of our community is to be proactive in helping heal the wounds the recent market conditions have caused.
On Nov. 7, AAR joins with Congressman Mike Coffman and Congressman Ed Perlmutter to hold “Road to Recovery” at Rangeview High School. At this event we will host loss mitigation specialists from to Bank of America, Chase Home Loans, Fannie Mae and others to provide one-on-one assistance to distressed Aurora homeowners. The Aurora Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP), Colorado Foreclosure Hotline, CHFA, Colorado Legal Assistance, KUSA-TV, Univision and other agencies will provide counseling and educational assistance.
This event is your chance to volunteer to help members of the community in distress – not for the immediate gratification of gaining new clients, but to provide a needed service and to enhance the perception of REALTORS® in the Aurora area. I would love to see each one of you provide a few hours of your time to show the metro area what a great place Aurora is to live.
In the coming year, I look forward to serving all of you as your president, and welcome any ideas you may have to make our organization stronger, better and more valuable for our members. If you know any REALTORS® who are looking for a new “home,” invite them to AAR’s next Friday morning REALTOR® Update meeting and see whether they would like to join the fun! Because as Jimmy Buffett says in one of the many songs of his I love: “…there’s this one particular harbor, so far but yet so near…that one particular harbor sheltered from the wind, where all is safe within…”
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