Lisa Sorg’s story in the July 2 issue (“$10 million in spin“) questions the N.C. Association of Realtors’ support of affordable housing and takes us to task for a $10 million commitment our 43,000-plus members have made to a special advocacy fund. What she fails to mention is that our advocacy efforts to successfully defeat a proposed real estate transfer tax in 19 counties over the past eight months have resulted in a $55 million savings to taxpayers in those counties. That’s private dollars leading to public savings, which helps keep housing affordable.
Further, it should be noted that the National Association of Realtors contributed more than $10 million to Hurricane Katrina relief. In fact, 51 homes were constructed in the Gulf Region by Realtor state associations, including a “North Carolina home” built in part by Realtors from our association during a week of construction work in Slidell, La.
Kevin Brafford
Greensboro
The writer is the director of communications for the N.C. Association of Realtors.
