Directors also elected the 2008 officers: Dick Gaylord of Long Beach, Calif., president; Charles McMillan of Irving, Texas, president-elect; Vicki Cox Golder of Tucson, Ariz., first vice president; and James Helsel Jr., treasurer. McMillan, who ran against Chris McElroy of Fort Collins, Colo., for the president-elect spot, will be the first African-American president of NAR.

Read the complete report about the board of directors meeting on REALTOR® Magazine Online.

The candidates, Chris McElroy, CRS®, GRI, with The Group, Inc., in Fort Collins, Colo., and Charles McMillan, with Coldwell Banker Residential, in Irving, Texas, also joined in support for the $16 national dues increase proposed by the NAR Finance Committee. The increase—if passed, the first national increase in 14 years—would help fund an array of initiatives designed to maintain the association’s leading position as an advocate for communities and home owners through NAR’s second century.

This year's International Forum Chair Emil Mongeon, CIPS, closed the "Serving the Inbound Foreign Retiree in Your Local Market" session by randomly drawing Carte's business card. Attendees submitted business cards at the beginning of the forum for the chance to win free registration to the largest international second-home expo. NAR is a key collaborating organization of SIMA, which is held every spring in Madrid. The 2008 dates are April 8-12.

So, how does one act the part? Here are some key rules:

The proposal has become especially controversial in certain circles because it raises questions of economics, immigration, and security, all flashpoint issues on their own. Some opponents consider a specific provision that would curtail those visa-holders' U.S. taxation to only their U.S. income an unfair advantage, as permanent U.S. residents have a tax liability for income they earn worldwide. Proponents feel the U.S. is being left behind by countries like Panama and Mexico, which have become increasingly aggressive and accommodating in their efforts to court foreign investors, and a retirement visa attracting wealthy foreign nationals could boost America's commercial real estate and other investments, job growth, and economy.

NAR members on both sides of the issue have agreed to conduct further research on the topic.

If you don't recognize this wizard of whatever-it-takes real estate, this sultan of shady professional tactics and questionable ethics, check out the "Taxes and Eminent Domain Threaten REALTORS® Everywhere" entry from Tuesday or REALTOR Magazine Online's story REALTOR Slimy Real Estate Agent Drives Home Value of Ethics or Ted's hilarious quiz atTed Truitt, Real Estate's Greatest Legend.

• Rethink and retool your business, so you’ll be ready for the next boom.
• Deal with “uninformed perspectives,” such as the belief that REALTORS® aren’t necessary or that everyone is moving to alternative models. The numbers don’t support these conclusions.

"Trying to catch up on some restaurants: Teaism (a teahouse), 2 Amys (for pizza), and Ching Ching CHA (for Chinese). It's in Georgetown, but you feel like you're in China." -- Former area resident

"The Smithsonian museums on the mall are all fabulous -- and free!" -- Northern Virginia REALTOR® who's given lots of tours to out-of-town visitors

"Take in a Nationals baseball game." -- Sen. Chuck Hagel (R.-Neb.) to the REALTORS® delegation from his home state

2. Have you ever neglected to keep in touch with clients who are great sources of referrals? To reconnect, DeLuca said, come clean: "I'm sorry I've been so busy fielding your referrals that I've neglected to stay in touch with you. I promise to do better beginning today."

Lieberman thanked REALTORS® for their support, which he credits as helping him in his 2006 re-election campaign, and vowed to continue pushing for FHA program reform and protecting consumers from predatory lending. He also said he'll strive to find bipartisan compromise to get affordable health care coverage to small businesses. About 28 percent of REALTORS® don't have health care coverage.

Broker to Broker: Management Lessons From America's Most Successful Real Estate Companies, by Robert Freedman, and 1,200 Great Sales Tips for Real Estate Professionals,
by Mariwyn Evans, offer a wealth of information for brokers and sales associates, respectively.

And don't forget that Thursday, May 17 is NAR's first Broker day, with several broker-related sessions, including the RES forum and the Power Broker session.