Dear Fellow REALTORS®,

My term as president is coming to an end as rapidly as the upcoming holiday season is approaching. Before the holiday hustle arrives, I want to thank all of you for embracing the Better Together theme of my term. As a united organization, we have overcome the lingering pandemic obstacles of 2020 to see amazing activity in our industry. Despite masks, vaccinations, variants and spikes, we fought and won an important legal battle and worked together to improve our organization and the benefits and services we provide. 

Joining with the Georgia Association of Realtors®, and with the support of the National Association of Realtors®, we scored a big win in the fight to lift the moratorium on evictions imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was an unlawful policy that placed financial hardship solely on the shoulders of mom-and-pop housing providers. AAR maintained, and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed, that the CDC exceeded its authority in imposing the moratorium. This was a historic win for our Association and the industry as a whole.

As an Association, we can be proud of some important records we have achieved together this year. Our membership has increased to approximately 19,000 and we are on track to set a record in fundraising for ARPAC. Both achievements will speak loudly in the upcoming state elections. 

Working together, we have been able to provide new services for our members during the last year. In January, AAR revitalized and updated our statewide legal forms, which are available for free to members. The REALhealth insurance program, now in its third year, saw increased enrollment. With your support and increased funding, the Alabama REALTORS® Foundation now offers new benefits for AAR members – the Education Scholarship Fund and the Benevolent Fund – in addition to the already established Disaster Relief Fund. 

Many of you traveled to Point Clear for our first in-person meeting in more than 18 months and our first meeting back on the road in three years. I was especially glad to see a great turnout and tremendous support for our inaugural golf tournament that raised $5,000 for the Alabama REALTORS® Foundation to kick off the conference. It was, indeed, better to be together!

No president is successful without an outstanding team. Our regional vice presidents have done a great job with our broker outreach initiative, and I am proud of our board, executive committee and staff for working "Better Together" to move our Association forward. It has been my honor to serve as your president. And now it is my great pleasure to hand the reins over to my friend Wes Grant, who I have no doubt will lead our Association well.

Warm Regards,

Slade McElroy
2021 President
Alabama REALTORS®