22 February Engaging on What Matters by Jacky Mueck Advocacy 0 0 Comment 609 By Chris Hill Maryland REALTORS®’ 2024 President. On the second day of this new year, I had the pleasure of meeting Salim Furth, Senior Research Fellow for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Salim studies housing policy, land use regulation, and is very knowledgeable about “missing middle housing,” something you’ve heard about from us quite a bit. Salim and I were there to film our parts for Maryland REALTORS®’ latest video—this one about missing middle housing. This is an important topic. I encourage you to watch it and share with your community. As of this writing, this video is pinned to the top of our YouTube page. Follow the QR Code on this page to get there. You can hear more from Salim, by the way, as he is the featured guest on CEO Chuck Kasky’s February podcast, “Get Real Estate.” It’s definitely worth a listen. We’re in the midst of our legislative season, and yes, we remain in a housing crisis. No surprises there, of course, and yet we’re happy to welcome others who recognize this, as well. In January, Governor Wes Moore pushed the issue further by saying, “You cannot continue to have economic growth if we continue to have a housing crisis.” And he’s right. Here’s my question—my challenge— to you: what are you doing as a REALTOR® to engage your community leaders and elected officials on the importance of missing middle housing—duplexes, triplexes, even ADUs—in your community? What tools will you need, to have these conversations? Lobby Day will soon come, then go, but the issues remain of paramount importance. Keep an eye toward future “Maryland REALTOR® Reports” (formerly known as the “HotSheet”) for the State of Maryland Housing Infographic, not to mention complete results from our survey of Maryland voters taken at the beginning of the year. Keep our Lobby Day Talking Point kits handy, as well; they remain a useful, compact tool to communicate our legislative priorities. And then let’s talk about these issues further. Where? We have two Regional Roundtables: March 7 in Cambridge, and April 3 in the Baltimore area. Follow the QR Code to register for a roundtable. These have proven to be insightful, impactful, and lively! This is an interesting issue of Maryland REALTOR® magazine. Maryland REALTORS® works closely with several multicultural real estate organizations. Individually, each organization works hard to support and protect their community— REALTORS® and consumers alike. Collectively, they help all of us to embrace and practice the principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Check out the story, which starts on page 5. And here’s something fun: We asked Maryland REALTORS® IT Director Michael Cunningham to explore the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its intersection with real estate. This story starts on page 8; there are things you can do now with AI to help your business. We’re off to a great start in 2024. There is a lot happening, with more to come. Register today for a Regional Roundtable. We look forward to engaging with you in person. Register for our Regional Roundtables Watch our new Missing Middle Housing video FM24, President's Perspective Share Comments are closed.