The September meeting of the Women’s Council of Realtors was one for the history books. Speaker Jim Thompson has been a Realtor with Fletcher Bright in Hixson for eight years, but before that he taught history. Thompson said he used to joke with his students that if Al Gore invented the Internet, then Thompson got the History channel for them.
History is something that Thompson has been passionate about every since he was a kid and listened to his aunt tell stories of growing up in Nazi Germany. If Realtors have an interest in sharing the history of Chattanooga with their clients, Thompson offers a class at UTC in the continuing education department to fill Realtors in on all they want to know and quite frankly “wear them out” with history, Thompson said.
When a Realtor asked Thompson what was the first road and house in the area, Thompson said that without a doubt it was the 13,000-year-old establishment on Moccasin Bend. At this location, in 1540, Hernando de Soto came up through the area and traded some with the Native Americans and left some of his items with them, which were uncovered in 1993. The National Park Service is getting ready to make a new national park in this area, and Thompson says that the area is a treasure right here in Chattanooga that not many people know about. “There is way more out there. It is considered the most important urban archeological site in America,” he says.
Thompson moved on to talk about history elements of Chattanooga all through the Civil War with the assurance that there was much more history to be had for those interested in taking his UTC class.
The super sponsors of this meeting were Jill McLean with BB&T and MaryAnn Azambuja from First American Home Buyers Protection Corporation. They provided lip-gloss and candy for everyone. GCAR president Jennifer Grayson welcomed guests and members and noted that the WCR is starting to look for nominations for line officers for next year. Grayson reminded the group of the benefits of WCR which include the leadership training and networking possibilities. She says her women’s council family has sent her referrals from Knoxville and Nashville just this year.
Grayson said she gained much of her leadership skills through her work with WCR since 1998, and through WCR she got to travel and make many networking connections.
“While the luncheon opportunities are wonderful to have, these are not where we get our business. We don’t get referrals from each other. We really need to travel,” Grayson said.
In the WCR’s treasurer’s report, there is money in the budget designated for traveling that is not being taken advantage of, she said. “When we raise money, I know everyone wants us to give it to charities, but what women’s council is all about is growing leaders [like] it groomed me to be the president of your association,” she said. “We need to start traveling with our money because these line officers are volunteering their time but are not seeing the benefits by not going out of town.”
Robert Smith then made the FORD Networking announcement. This month’s letter is “R” to encourage WCR members to find out something about people they meet involving their preferred recreation. Kelly Hugenin from SunTrust was at the meeting with the tip of the month. She said, “Purchases have slowed down a little bit, but rates are incredible right now. When did you ever think you could get a 30-year loan FHA for under 4 percent? 30-year conventional today is like four and a quarter.”
She said normally they never really push or sell rates because the market is so up and down, but right now that is the one constant in the business. She hopes that these will help drive the market and keep things in the direction Realtors need them to go in.
“No one is doing anywhere close to what we were used to doing, and we have all been living on equity loans and doing all we can to keep afloat. Something that I did hear that I thought was encouraging is that the federal government has stepped in and said they are going to continue to keep home equity and credit rates low for the next two years,” Hugenin said.
WCR’s next business meeting will not have a speaker, but instead will feature all homemade food and desserts in a chili luncheon and a bottle auction. On October 5 at 11:30 at the Homebuilder’s Association, the meeting will feature bottles of perfume, wine, water, and many other different bottled goodies to bid on during the auction. The one little secret is that guests will not be able to see the bottles until after bidding.
The day before, the Women’s Council of Home Builders Association of Southern Tennessee will present the second annual Girls’ Day Out at the Home Builder’s Association Banquet Room in a come-and-go exhibition from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Exhibitors like Ganovia Healthy Coffee, Heavenly Touch Massage, Tomboy Tools, Clinical Nutrition Center, Juicy Gems, Rainbow Dragon, BD Burke, Glam Sham, Thirty-One, and Absolutely Fabulous Stuff will be there with items for show. Lunch will be served as well. Two baskets will be available for bidding – one of vendor items and one romantic get-a-way basket.
The WCR nominating committee will be presenting their next selection of officers 10 days before the next luncheon. If any WCR member wants to run for office, please contact Jennifer Grayson, Cheree Dumas or Kaye Ivey. The next Governing Board Meeting is September 21 at GCAR 10 to 11:30 a.m. Members are welcome to observe and asked to please get involved.