Phil Mount was inducted into the RPAC Hall of Fame after investing an aggregate lifetime amount of at least $25,000 in RPAC which is truly a tremendous achievement. Thank you, Phil, for your longtime commitment to RPAC, the REALTOR® Party, and the real estate industry.
Watch BRR Director of Government Affairs Cameron Kinzer interview Phil regarding his participation in RPAC over the years and recent induction. Find the full transcript below.
Transcript
Cameron: Hello BRR members, thank you for joining us. My name is Cameron Kinzer, I’m the Director of Government Affairs here at the association and I’m joined by a very special guest – our 2019 Board President Phil Mount. Phil, thanks for joining us.
Phil: Hey, it’s a pleasure to be here.
Cameron: So today we’re going to be talking about RPAC, specifically RPAC Hall of Fame. Phil was recently inducted into the NAR RPAC Hall of Fame and what that means is he has invested at least $25,000 into RPAC over his REALTOR® career and that’s a big amount. Phil, congratulations on that honor. What does it mean to be inducted into the NAR RPAC Hall of Fame?
Phil: Well, I’ve been contributing to RPAC ever since I became a REALTOR® and in fact when I first became an agent back in 2009, I spent a 25-year career in technology marketing and was doing a fresh start with real estate and I realized that I needed to be able to learn about how the industry works as well as the nuts and bolts of you know how to conduct a transaction with real estate and during new agent orientation I was invited to sign up for committees and RPAC was one of the two committees I signed up for and I have been an investor even at a small level really since I started in real estate.
Cameron: So you’re very committed to RPAC, that’s obvious with your RPAC Hall of Fame induction, talk a little bit more about some of the intangibles that you that brought you into RPAC and why you decided to step up to become a major investor because that’s a big difference than investing $250, the major investor levels start at a $1,000 and you’ve been a Golden R consistently for the past several years, so talk a little bit about that.
Phil: So you can see the results of RPAC investments every day when you work in real estate. There is nothing that we do that hasn’t been influenced or been established without RPAC and advocacy by the REALTOR® organizations at a local level, at a state level, and at the national level. And you know, there’s no aspect of our business that hasn’t been influenced by that advocacy and so the more I became engaged and the more I learned about the kind of influence that RPAC and the REALTOR® party and REALTORS® have had with advocacy, the more I’ve realized that this was my best investment in real estate.
Cameron: So did you have like a light bulb moment, was there a key inflection point to when you decided that you wanted to step up to major investor? It sounds like you got the value of it from the beginning of your REALTOR® career but thinking back is there something in the show when you were thinking about stepping up the major investor that was like, “that’s the key, that’s why I should invest at the major investor level.”
Phil: Yeah, as I became engaged in the REALTOR® organization sort of in those first RPAC committee meetings there was another member, Kit Fitzgerald, who’s a past BRR President, who really was the example leader for me in being able to step up. And then Gail Hartnett was another mentor who was actively involved and when I looked at the impact that those two ladies had in the organization and in the industry I was like, okay this, this can mean something. So Kit was the one who first got me to step up to a major investor and in fact, she was the one who convinced me that it was time to become part of the president’s circle and so that’s it’s just because I was tapped on the shoulder.
Cameron: And I’m glad that you mentioned Kit and Gail because they’re also RPAC Hall of Fame inductees and they’ve been investing in RPAC for a long time so we appreciate their investments as well.
When you’re talking to REALTORS® that are on the fence about investing in RPAC, what do you encourage them to check out the programs and what RPAC has done for the real estate industry or what’s your key go-to when you’re talking to new REALTORS® about the value of our pack and why they should invest?
Phil: Typically when an agent is hesitant and particularly an agent that’s been in the business for a long time and just hasn’t stepped up yet right beyond maybe the individual fair share contribution, those folks typically have misperceptions about what RPAC is and what it does. They believe that we are advocates of political candidates and political parties and that it very much is a partisan sort of thing and what I discuss is that actually it’s not about party politics, R’s and D’s and reds and blues, it really is a very purple thing but it’s about advocacy for homeowners and private property rights and being able to practice our business and be able to, you know, impact the ability for people to afford homes and keep their homes, stay their homes. That’s what RPAC is all about and demonstrates what has been done for this industry with RPAC. So dispelling some of those myths is kind of the biggest part of talking to people about RPAC.
Cameron: Yeah, I definitely agree. You mentioned the fair share amount which I just want to give a little plug for that. That’s the thirty dollars that is optional on your dues every year, but we encourage members to invest in that to help us have strong advocacy programs to protect the real estate industry. So you’ll see that Phil and I have our RPAC pins on and this is all designated through the National Association of REALTORS® when you invest at the major investor level starting at a thousand dollars per calendar year you’ll get one of these pins and you’ll see other REALTORS® and other people in our industry that wear these pins that signifies that they’re dedicated to advocacy and keeping the real estate industry strong on the national, state, and local level. And when thinking about some of the bigger wins that we’ve had we’ve had a lot of big wins over the last 25 years but especially this year keeping REALTORS® in business, list when they were listed as an essential business in the governor’s orders at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing them to continue to help their clients buy and sell real estate and keep that portion of the economy moving. Phil, when we look at the biggest wins that RPAC has had just over the last 12 months on all levels what’s the big ones that stick out to you that most REALTORS® should know about and have the biggest impact on the real estate industry?
Phil: So if we just go back to the first of this year, of 2020, we had two major bills that were championed by REALTORS® and in fact, I had the privilege of being able to testify at the statehouse in favor of one of these pieces of legislation and that is the establishment of first-time home buyer savings account. And the second piece of legislation is the elimination of the April 15th deadline to file for homeowners exemption. The deadline of any sort is removed and you can file and receive that exemption immediately as of the 1st of January next year, of 2021.
So those two pieces of legislation going through the statehouse, they were conceived by REALTORS®, and the legislation was championed by REALTORS®, and they were passed and signed by the governor so they are now law and that would not have happened without investment from RPAC and the advocacy work that’s being done by REALTORS®.
The second thing of course is then when the Coronavirus hit and we were in lockdown the fact that in Idaho, REALTORS® were considered essential workers and we were able to continue to let people buy homes and sell homes and comply with CDC guidelines, we adapted our businesses to the conditions, and I think we’ve done an incredible job with that. But the fact that we were able to continue doing business and be able to get people into homes when it was so important when people were on lockdown to be able to shelter-in-place and to be able to have a shelter to shelter in and that was that again was not an accident that was the hard work of the advocacy from the REALTOR® organization so that’s from the first of just this year.
Going back into history the first major impact that I saw with RPAC was during the last recession there was a first-time buyers cashback program that provided eight thousand dollars to first-time buyers of properties. Idaho REALTORS® were able to get legislation passed to be able to utilize that eight thousand dollar grant that normally would come after the closing of the property to be able to use that money as down payment so they’d be able to purchase the property upfront. So be able to use that eight thousand dollars at the beginning of the purchase process rather than getting a check after closing, that was all done by our REALTORS® and RPAC. That was at the beginning of my real estate career 10 years ago and I have seen that kind of an impact ever since.
Cameron: Yeah that especially the two bills that you mentioned and the effort from our colleagues at Idaho REALTORS®, our state association, and our REALTOR® partners that work on advocacy over there you’re one of them so thank you for that. That was very important because if you look at other states some states weren’t so lucky some states did have limited real estate services being offered and that had a big impact on the buying and selling of real estate in certain states but in Idaho, we do have a good relationship with the governor and we were able to work it out so real estate could remain essential business and that portion of our economy stayed strong. We’ve seen the devastating impacts of the Coronavirus and what it’s done to the economy but luckily here in Idaho, we’re able to continue our work in the real estate industry and that portion of the economy has stayed strong so those are some really big key important takeaways that RPAC has played a role in this year and we’re happy to see those things came through.
Phil, I’ve got one more question for you — What advice do you have for REALTORS® who are thinking about investing in RPAC, and what type of advice would you give to those that are either on the fence or not sure about what the program does and how it benefits their business?
Phil: Yeah so again there’s no aspect of our business that hasn’t been influenced by the advocacy work that’s being financed by RPAC. We would not be able to practice our profession the way we do without that advocacy and those investments that I’ve been proud to be part of. So it really is your best investment in real estate and I encourage everyone to make their RPAC investment part of their business plan and just include it do a, you know, easy monthly payment thing if you need to but by all means support your industry, support the efforts of those that are trying to make sure that your clients can buy and sell with a minimum of fuss and that you’re able to practice in a professional and straightforward way.
Cameron: Thanks for that, Phil. I want to congratulate you again on being inducted in the RPAC Hall of Fame, that’s an amazing honor. I also want to thank you for your volunteer leadership and your continued investments in RPAC because I know the real estate industry is a lot stronger with you and other REALTORS® on board that give up their time and invest their money in RPAC so thank you again for that.
Phil: Thank you very much, Cameron.
Cameron: Of course.
