If I Were On The RNC Stage: Protecting Homeownership and Property Rights with Leigh Brown

You're listening to Crazy Shit in Real Estate. You'll be amazed at all these wild but true situations that others have found themselves in, because on this show you'll hear uncensored, unbelievable stories from the world of real estate. I'm Leigh Brown. Let's dive right in.

Hey friends, Leigh Brown, and welcome to a special edition of Crazy Shit in Real Estate live from the RMC. Well, actually, it's not live. I'm recording it because I cannot figure out all the technology in this place. But it's so much media here, and I'm grateful to you for wanting to hear what I would have said if I were on the stage for the Republican National Committee. There's one thing that makes my heart a little bit sad is that of all the amazing speakers that have been out here and all of the great leaders that we have, nobody's really talking about solutions in real estate. And real estate, you should know, is the fifth biggest piece of American gross domestic product. That's GDP. We are 1.5 million members of the National Association of Realtors, making us one of the largest groups of entrepreneurs in the country. We are also another million people who are realtors, who practice real estate or have a real estate license. We are in every zip code, every county, every inch and square mile of this country and the territories. So I want to make sure you know what my policy prescriptions would be if I were on the RNC and what I hope one day might be on the platform as we figure out how to find common-sense answers to things that hit every single American's life. So here's where I want you to start. We had the Teamsters here on the first day of our convention for the first time ever. And he talked about the American workers. I want to support American jobs, too. But some of those American jobs are realtors. We are micro-businesses, y'all. And when you hear people call us a cartel or a mob or a mafia, we're not. We're a bunch of really tiny businesses who choose to work together to find common sense answers to property rights, which are wildly being attacked right now. And if you think I'm being hyperbolic, look at the news from just this week where the current president, Joe Biden, has announced a plan for national rent control. Now that's going to set up some really interesting fights here in the Republic because in North Carolina we have a constitutional prohibition of rent control. So who's going to win, the feds or the state? My bets on the states. But we shouldn't even be having this conversation, y'all, because rent controls are bad for tenants because it reduces housing opportunity. They're bad for landlords because in an inflationary era, how are landlords supposed to continue paying for maintenance, upkeep, and property taxes? You need to be, regardless of party, loud and proud to fight rent control. This is coming from the people who don't understand how housing works. And there are white papers that go back for decades in every city that has tried it. It fails every single time. And if your policy won't demand that information, reach out to me. What I want you to know is that there is very little clear and concise message from the National Association of Realtors. This is happening because there are so many attacks going on in real estate, friends. You should know that when you hear about real estate in the headlines, it's often about the lawsuits. But there is an underlying problem. Those lawsuits are driven by, well, first of all, greed. We know it's a money grab by the lawyers. But second of all, there is pressure from the Department of Justice to break the realtors, to get the realtors out of the way of the transaction. And the DOJ is being driven by a part of our government that needs to be shut down. That's the NGOs. The non-government organizations that receive your taxpayer dollars to mess with your rights. The one that is behind all of the DOJ stuff, and this goes back over 30 years, friends, you can look it up, I got receipts, is the Consumer Federation of America. I do not know, you've hurt their feelings once upon a time, and maybe they had a bad phone call with the realtor, and now they're determined to destroy homeownership. The Consumer Federation of America supports 100% Democrat politicians. For me, I like looking at organizations that are not driven solely by party, but are driven by very smart policies, which is why I find myself in the Republican Party. I may not agree with everything, but those are the policies that closely mirror my foundational beliefs and that support my profession, which is organized real estate, and that support the homeowners who want to have their own piece of the American dream. The Consumer Federation of America also receives a lot of money in grants, and that's coming from your federal government, friends. The NGOs need to be stopped. I've heard a lot of talk from powerful leaders like Vivek Ramaswamy. I've heard Ben Carson. We've heard Ron DeSantis. We've heard— let's see, Sarah Huckabee Sanders was— now, wasn't it? She's amazing. We have J.D. Vance tonight. We have President Trump tomorrow. They're all talking about how the administrative state needs to be stopped in its tracks. But we can't stop with the administrative state, y'all. The NGOs have to go. So I'd like to see that happen. To save real estate. There is no reason for any NGO or government letter agency. So not the CFA and not the DOJ. They're trying to put in price controls, y'all, not just on rent, but on homeownership. And where do I get that? They want to tell you if you're selling a house, how you can and can't incentivize buyers. Sellers should have every choice in the world, which they've had for a long time, because the realtors have always supported choice. If you're watching this and you've been reading the headlines and you think there's one set commission rate, you are sorely misinformed because just in my market in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, I can tell you that there are as many business models as there are realtors. And one of the things that we love is having a conversation with the consumer and allowing them to figure out what they want to do. That's changing right now, and change isn't necessarily bad. We're going to explain it differently. That's fine., but we have to have support from the government agencies who are the backing of our loans. You should know that 80% of mortgages are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and those are government-owned entities, the GSEs. They need to be reformed. This platform needs to look at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and figure out where the money is going and how it can be more efficient on behalf of the American consumer. Now, while we're talking about government-backed loans, there are some people who love to troll me on YouTube. Hey trolls, what's up? Y'all keep telling me that nobody should be financing commissions into their mortgage. What I will say is that if a consumer wants to take out a loan, they should be able to wrap in their mortgage, their closing costs for their loan, the refrigerator, the fenced yard, whatever they want to wrap in that is attached to that property should be allowed. And that includes commissions if that's the desire of the American public. So I'm really hoping that the next administration is going to make permanent the VA rule that allows veterans to have the same choice as every other American citizen. And to make sure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not in the way of consumers who may want to hire professional representation but don't have a ton of cash. Now, I want you to know a little bit more about this government backing, because if you're tired of inflation, raise your hand, say hey in the comments. What's up? The problem with inflation is that it's driving up the cost of everything. The current president, President Biden, said that housing is more expensive because realtors charge commissions. Y'all, that is a lie. The cost of housing is up because of supply and demand. But I want you to notice something. Every time this administration does something about real estate, they add to the demand side, not to the supply side. We have a supply side inequality. President Trump was quoted in Bloomberg as saying he wants to work on reducing regulations and the permitting costs that are stopping housing from being built. We need to figure out where the smart growth policies are. And guess what, President Trump, please put some realtors into your close group of advisors because we understand smart growth. You say yes sometimes, you say no sometimes. I also want you to know that a new scheme is being hatched. It's going to make inflation worse. And I know y'all are not ready for inflation to be worse, but guess what, friends? The government is now offering to do a federal-backed stop on second mortgages. Here's what that means. You can have a house with a heck ton of equity and you want to access it. Right now, those home equity lines are not backed by the government, so they're in secondary position. The interest rates are really high. When the government wants to back them, it's going to drop the interest rates. That's going to look really good to you, so you'll have access to your house. Friends, Your house is not supposed to be an ATM. Anytime the government backs these second mortgages, it's going to add more money to the market. And that's what causes inflation. It's an oversupply of money. Now, here's why I think they're doing it. And just put your, your thoughtful face on for a minute, because I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm just hyper-informed. Pay attention, y'all. One of the worst tax proposals that keeps coming back up by the Biden administration is to tax unrealized gains. That means if you are a memo that's in a house you paid $100,000 for 30 years ago and now it's worth $1 million, that money, that $900,000 they gain, the government says they ought to have some of it.

Why?

Because they cannot control their spending. And I sure wish the Republican platform said, we pledge to stop this crazy spending that we've been a part of too. Because my complaint with all the parties is you people did not know how to live on a household budget like the rest of us do. And what's happening is they want your money. They're going to get it, friends. And if they make it easy for you to get a second mortgage, they're going to make it easy for you to pay that tax when it comes due, that's going to overburden you in the house and possibly kick you out of homeownership, which for most people is the way they have access to financial security in the future. So I would like the Biden administration to, first of all, stop it. But the Trump administration, if this happens, you got to roll it back on day one because it's a terrible financial policy. The last thing I want you to know is this: housing matters. If you're talking to elected officials and giving us a debate on housing, If you're in real estate, educate them. If you're in real estate, you don't know how to educate them, reach out to me or to somebody else in there. If you are an elected official or a field that you don't know this stuff, reach out to me or anybody else because you should know how big this is. This affects every American and that's why it matters to me. Not because of my business, but because of those awesome things. And that's you. I'm working on your thing.

As always, I'm so super thrilled that you joined in for more crazy shit. And if you're a realtor, investor, inspector, lender, or just a regular human being who happens to have an unbelievable story that you need to tell the world about, or frankly, you just need to one-up the story you just heard, then make sure to DM me on Instagram @leithomasbrown or tweet me @leighbrown, or frankly, any social network where you hang out. I'm there. And if you had some fun, then you totally want to subscribe so you don't miss out on any future episodes.