The National Association of Realtors (NAR) kicked off its annual conference in Chicago on Friday with more than 20,000 attendees expected.
The 2017 Realtors Conference & Expo runs through Sunday at McCormick Place convention center. Chicago hosted NAR’s first annual conference in 1908, and this year marks the first time since 2001 that NAR will convene in the city for the meetings.
The conference, whose theme is “The Sky’s The Limit,” will feature more than 300 speakers at 100-plus conference sessions on a broad range of real estate issues, including brokerage management, innovation and business technology, affordability issues from inventory constraints, commercial markets, international real estate transactions, and tax reform’s potential impact on real estate.
“The conference provides a great opportunity to learn from and connect with other Realtors, industry leaders and vendors from around the globe and to seek out information to better serve clients and grow their businesses,” said NAR President William E. Brown, who returned to Chicago for the show a day after appearing before the House Financial Services Committee for a hearing on housing reform. “Realtors will also be preparing themselves for the next industry opportunities and challenges, especially as Congress looks to tackle tax reform; while Realtors support tax reform, it cannot happen by hiking taxes on millions of homeowners.”
In the two days before the show opened, attendees got the chance to lend a hand to Habitat for Humanity Chicago. The expo opens Friday at 3 p.m. with more than 400 companies showcasing products and services from real estate software to home protection and warranties.
Among the celebrities scheduled to appear are 23-time Olympic Gold medalist Michael Phelps, who will speak at Saturday’s general session, and John Fogerty, leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival, who will perform at a special attendee concert Sunday.
NAR’s 2018 officers will be installed Monday during the board of directors meeting.
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