Create professional development programs that help REALTORS® strengthen their businesses.
Protect private property rights and promote the value of REALTORS®.
Advance ethics enforcement programs that increase REALTOR® professionalism.
Protect REALTORS® by providing legal guidance and education.
Stay current on industry issues with daily news from Illinois REALTORS®, network with other professionals, attend a seminar, and keep up with industry trends through events throughout the year.
Importance of the American Dream
“To help people achieve the American Dream, I have to have the ears to listen to what they want. Growing up in both Japanese and American cultures, I also appreciate when I can learn more about my clients‘ backgrounds because cultures can influence how they make their buying and selling decisions.”
“I believe everyone’s dream is different. For example, it may be someone’s dream to have a quaint little house on a lakefront that’s easy to maintain. It may be another’s to buy multi-family buildings and grow their portfolio into a rental empire. Listening to our clients and being resourceful, fast and transparent are the biggest factors to happy, closed transactions. We help our clients realize their dreams.”
“Educating my clients on the options and possibilities to buy their own home is my way of contributing to the American Dream. It’s shocking to me how many consumers don’t realize the variety of options they can use to buy a home, including little to ‘no money down’ loan programs, grants and seller-paid closing costs. The myth of needing large down payments can scare away many qualified buyers.”
“As a REALTOR®, I guide clients individually based on their current circumstances. I build trust and listen carefully. I stay up to date on buyer programs to better guide each client and connect them with lenders that can assist with the qualification process. I am with them step by step all the way to the closing table. It is always rewarding when I hand over the keys to someone’s new home – it’s the American Dream.”
“I help my community understand how REALTORS® help people achieve the American Dream. I educate them on how this goal can be achieved. With the many obstacles that can occur throughout the process – even during the initial steps – I continually provide reassurance that I am with them to the end.”
Homeownership is a financial investment that allows people to build equity, generational stability and wealth. Homeownership also is a way to build neighborhood stability, economic opportunity and educational achievement. But for too long that promise of homeownership and all that it can mean haven’t been available to all Americans equally.
What is the American Dream of Homeownership?
The phrase, and the principles behind it, will be the guiding force behind everything Illinois REALTORS® does this year, from political advocacy efforts in Springfield to fighting to end discriminatory appraisal practices to increasing diversity and inclusion within the industry. The American Dream also builds on the association’s program foundation of ROI (Revitalize, Opportunity and Influence).
Illinois REALTORS® is working to create the opportunity for everyone to achieve the American Dream of homeownership. Illinois REALTORS® will be working to increase affordability and equity in housing throughout Illinois so that EVERYONE has the opportunity to own a home regardless of where they live, their socio-economic background or their ethnicity.
REALTORS® are the key
As we work to expand the American Dream to everyone, REALTORS® are essential to making that happen. You aren’t just the voice of real estate in Illinois, you are also problem solvers who want to make a difference. Working to make sure everyone can find a home of their own is at the heart of everything REALTORS® do.
In 2019, the National Association of REALTORS® launched its “That’s Who We R” campaign and showcased REALTORS’® role helping Americans realize homeownership. With “Everyone Deserves the American Dream,” we also champion REALTORS’® role as dream makers while resolving that we will work to eliminate all the historical barriers to that dream becoming a reality.
