I want to first thank Brad Inman and the entire Inman organization for hosting RFK Jr, the independent presidential candidate, to speak to us candidly about his positions on several topics including the real estate industry. Brad Inman was at his best, reminding us what a real journalist does; Help the audience experience a candid, unfettered and intriguing discussion during an interview.  Bottomline this interview made us think. This was absolutely one of my favorite Inman Connect sessions EVER in the 20+ years that I have been attending the event.

I also have to give a shout-out to Shelly Vincent, Market Leader and Employing Broker for HomeSmart Colorado, who had the political connections and influence to attract this interesting candidate to the real estate industry. And thank you too Shelly for allowing me to draft a recommended Housing Policy to propose to RFK Jr. It was an honor to participate so fully in the democratic process.  I also had the pleasure of meeting RFK Jr. in person. As the current chair of the National Small Business Association, the oldest non-partisan small business advocacy organization in the U.S., I was thrilled to see RFK Jr. express so much passion to provide support for small businesses to make it easier for all of us to survive and thrive.

So, what did I learn from this fascinating session?  It’s truly hard to summarize it, but I’ll highlight some of the points that stuck out the most for me.

Adopt a Healthy Cynicism of Your Government – do not Trust the Experts

First, RFK Jr. reminded us that, for democracy to work, we must have a healthy cynicism about our government, constantly questioning the direction and actively participating in shaping it. We shouldn’t just blindly “trust the experts”.  We should have a healthy curiosity and do the work to do our own research and not just listen to the sound bites from 24-hour news.

Having sued many of the Federal Agencies as a highly successful environmental attorney, RFK Jr. has learned about the good, the bad and the ugly of the inner workings of the Federal Government. He highly encouraged all of us to do the same by reading the full government reports referenced in the news and importantly, those not discussed in the news.

Do not Rely on Cable News Sound Bites for your Political Education

Here’s another point that hit home hard for me as a Baby Boomer. He said his messages of independent thinking and challenging government norms is resonating really well with younger audiences. His data shows that it is easier for him to tell a more complete story via Tik Tok or even Instagram and to engage dialog at a deeper level on those platforms.

Conversely, he’s having a much harder time breaking through to Baby Boomers who rely more heavily on cable news networks. Those networks refuse to cover his campaign. Couple that with the fact that we KNOW cable news network are highly biased to the left or the right, we as Baby Boomers are NOT hearing RFK Jr’s message or an unbiased review of all of the candidates in the race.  Shame on us for not taking the time to go to each of the candidate’s websites and actually read their positions, especially as they relate to our industry. We like to think we are more well-informed that our children and younger colleagues, but are we really?  Maybe its time we engaged more in alternative media sources.

Take the Time to Truly Understand Each of the Candidates, especially regarding Housing Policy

Following RFK Jr’s advice, I went to the websites of all three leading candidates to read each of their  housing positions.

I have summarized what I learned from the investigation below:

Here’s the full RFK Jr. Housing statement here:

RFK Jr. Housing Policies. The RFK Platform dedicates a full section to articulating the ways Bobby would like to support homeownership.

“The dream of home ownership is slipping away for many Americans with high mortgage rates, rising prices, and stagnant income. To make matters worse, venture capital firms and hedge funds are buying up single-family homes by the millions. As home ownership costs rise beyond reach, rents follow them into the stratosphere.

Consider these statistics:

American homeownership is declining at the highest rate since the great depression.

We lost more than 1 million homeowners in 2021 — more than in the housing crash of 2008 — and then another million in 2022.

  • The median home price has risen from $250,000 in 2019 to $400,000 in 2023.
  • Mortgage interest rates have more than doubled since President Biden took office.
  • This rise in interest rates combined with skyrocketing housing prices has pushed the average monthly payment for someone buying a home from $1,050 in 2019 to over $2,600 per month.
  • At the same time, take-home pay after inflation and taxes has fallen by 9%.
  • At the current pace, by 2030 60% of single-family homes will be owned by corporations.

What this means is that home ownership is now out of reach for all but the top income bracket. Younger Americans in particular barely dream of ever owning a home. They face a future at the mercy of faceless corporate landlords who will raise rent to the highest level the market will bear.

None of this is inevitable, though. As President, RFK Jr. will enact a series of policies to put home ownership back within the reach of working families. Here’s how:

  • Tax-free 3% government-backed mortgage bonds, to bring the mortgage interest rate back to 2019 levels and even lower. It’s like having a rich uncle — Uncle Sam — who is willing to cosign your mortgage. Because the financing will come from investors, the cost to taxpayers will be minimal. This measure alone will reduce monthly costs for the average home purchase by $1,000.
  • Bring derelict land and buildings back online. Many cities have thousands of vacant lots and buildings that have been seized for tax arrears or other reasons. The Kennedy administration will incentivize local governments to bring city-owned land and buildings back onto the market.
  • Zoning changes. We will encourage municipalities to change zoning laws to allow ancillary dwelling units (granny flats) on more properties, to make housing available, bring families together, and provide homeowners with rental income. More supply means lower prices.
  • Tax code changes. Small changes to the tax code can make corporate investments in single-family homes uneconomic. For example, we can change business depreciation rules and reform the “enterprise zones” that have contributed so much to gentrification.

Together, these changes will restore home ownership to tens of millions of Americans, and lower costs for tens of millions more. We will get large corporations out of the single-family home business.”

Here’s the full Trump Housing Statement from the Trump Platform document.

“1. Housing Affordability

To help new home buyers, Republicans will reduce mortgage rates by slashing Inflation, open limited portions of Federal Lands to allow for new home construction, promote homeownership through Tax Incentives and support for first-time buyers, and cut unnecessary Regulations that raise housing costs.”

Harris Housing Statement

Since Kamala Harris is not even an officially endorsed candidate yet, I was not able to find her recommended Housing Platform. On the Biden Harris for president website, they talk about making it more affordable for the middle class, but they do not specifically mention homeownership policy. When she is confirmed as the candidate I will update this article with her platform as well.

Here’s the current Biden Harris Platform

Is RFK Jr. an anti-vaxxer?

While RFK Jr’s position on vaccines has nothing to do with real estate, Brad asked him several questions about his positions on this and a variety of other topics. The highly politically charged topic of vaccinations was particularly interesting to me as someone who almost died from a tainted vaccine. The mainstream story line is that RFK jr. is an “anti-vaxxer”. When asked about his position on vaccines RFK Jr. refuted this common belief. He said while he has litigated cases against vaccines like the Gardisil case which is still under way, he said he is not inherently anti-vax. He does believe, however, that every parent and adult should do the research on the incidence of side effects and deaths associated with each vaccine so they can make an informed decision, weighing the impact of the disease versus the potential side effects.

He strongly suggests doing research with medical journals like the Center for Disease Control Wonder Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System or  research articles are vaccine safety on the National Library of Medicine.

Reminding us that Democracy is in our Hands

One audience attendee asked RFK Jr, “Even if you don’t win the election, will you continue the fight to restore the power of the Federal Government to the people, moving it away from large corporations?”  He told us that he will absolutely continue the fight. More importantly, though, he invited every one of us to engage and question policies and topics that are important to our businesses, communities and families. Without individual engagement, nothing will change.

He said democracy only works if every one of us remembers that it’s our job to actively participate and challenge a Government “Of the People and By the People.”

Great words for all of us engaged in advocacy and our communities.

Truly an inspiring moment.