Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice

      of the National Association of Realtors Preamble

Preamble

“Under all is the land. Upon its wise utilization and widely allocated ownership depend the survival and growth of the free institutions and of our civilization.  Realtors should recognize that the interests of the nation and its citizens require the highest and best use of the land and the widest distribution of land ownership.  They require the creation of adequate housing, the building of functioning cities, the development of productive industries and farms, and the preservation of a healthy environment.”

How do we as a society ensure the “Widest distribution of land ownership”.  First we must understand that the concept of land ownership is only a very recent one.  For roughly 150 years in Montana have we “owned” land individually.  Previously Native American Indian tribes shared vast expanses of land and today we do the same with our Public Lands, Federal Forests and Conservation lands.  In fact in Montana, rivers are also shared publicly albeit with adjacent land owners having “riparian” rights and in many cases water rights.  These types of ownership are all studied by Realtors, to one degree or another.

In Missoula about 48% of our adult population are renters, that own neither the dwelling nor the land.  Some of course are students but many still are those that have not been able to close the gap between wages and housing costs.  So we also learn from our lending institutions and governmental agencies  what options our citizens have to attain housing and hopefully real estate ownership.  I can help you identify the best source of this information for your particular situation.  But the allocation of land is a much more complex issue, economically and politically.   

I hope you find these Blogs interesting and take confidence in my abilities to serve you in the most responsible way.

Preamble

“Under all is the land. Upon its wise utilization and widely allocated ownership depend the survival and growth of the free institutions and of our civilization.  Realtors should recognize that the interests of the nation and its citizens require the highest and best use of the land and the widest distribution of land ownership.  They require the creation of adequate housing, the building of functioning cities, the development of productive industries and farms, and the preservation of a healthy environment.”

“Realtors should recognize that the interests of the nation and its citizens require the highest and best use of the land and the widest distribution of land ownership.”

In this excerpt our code addresses the highest and best use of the land.  Missoula and Missoula county is geographically constrained by mountains, forests and rivers and also politically limited by the nature of our federal, state and city lands, open spaces and conservation lands.  Because of the extent of these lands we must be very careful in our development of the land that remains for housing and commercial activity and balance that with the needs of agriculture and recreational lands. 

I often attend city and county Land Use Planning meetings, stay updated on zoning changes, TED or “townhome exemption district” debates and most recently seminars and presentations regarding the one “Opportunity Zone” in Missoula. 

On a more local level I am the Co-Chair of the Lewis and Clark Neighborhood council.  One of our main initiatives is to “Protect and foster diversity of wildlife habitat” at Bancroft Ponds in south Missoula.  This park works as a storm water drainage holding area for residential development in the South Hills. It is not Natural in the common sense but appears to be. Bancroft Ponds, which acts as a natural filter, interacts with other ponds, wetlands, and natural areas, and ultimately feeds the Bitterroot River.

I believe it’s important to understand all uses of our land not just the demand for housing and commercial development.  Parks, open spaces, wildlife habitat, urban forests, community gardens all contribute to the survival and growth of free institutions and our civilization.

I hope you find these Blogs interesting and take confidence in my abilities to serve you in the most responsible way.