Dear AAR Family,

What a year! As I hand over the reins to Morgan Ashurst, our 2020 President, I want to take a moment to recognize the progress we have made this year as an Association. From creating a new health insurance program to right-sizing the Board of Directors to launching a consumer awareness campaign, we’ve had a productive year! 

One of the things I am most proud of during my tenure as President is REALhealth. Over the last couple of years, we heard from you, the members, about the need for affordable health insurance.  We listened! In April, we launched REALhealth, our new Association-sponsored Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance program. The program allows you to tailor the coverage to your individual needs and budget. We were one of the first in the nation to offer health insurance to our members! Way to go, Alabama! Plans are underway to continue a modified program in 2020 based on recent changes to healthcare laws.

We also worked hard to ensure our Association is working as efficient as possible to keep up with today’s fast-paced real estate industry. After years of research and countless hours of volunteer time from various committees, we proposed a reduction in the number of members on the Board of Directors. The measure was approved and reduced the Board from 213 Directors to a more manageable cap of 95 Directors. We recently held our first election for the new Board and were overwhelmed with the engagement from members across the state! In fact, over 9% of our membership participated in the election, setting a new record!

Hopefully you all are well aware of the new First-Time Homebuyer Savings Account available in Alabama (one of our accomplishments from last year!). To help spread the word to consumers, we launched a statewide advertising campaign targeting first-time homebuyers. We reached over 3 million consumers across the state! We also produced a toolkit for our members to use to download promotional materials to share with your clients. Check them out on the Alabama REALTORS® website if you haven’t already.

Those are just a few of our accomplishments from this year. As you know, my theme was, “Shine Your Light.” We all come from different walks of life and have unique experiences we use to help shape who we are as people and REALTORS®. In January, I encouraged each of you to shine your light and connect with others because you never know what someone may learn from you. I am proud to say Alabama REALTORS® shined bright in 2019!

Thank you all for your support during the last year! I know we will do more great things in the years to come.
 

Stacey Sanders