Episode Details

Cady Thomas, the Government Affairs Director for North Carolina, says that her job is to "talk, stock, and stay paranoid," and that's exactly what she does. Tune in to learn about "housing affordability," why it's so important to stay informed when it comes to legislature, and discover your market is impacted by your involvement. Now, more than ever, realtors need to speak up for the sake of their businesses, their clients, and their communities.

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• 00:40 – Cady is a GAD (Government Affairs Director) for North Carolina
• 01:05 – She went to D.C. after college and worked on the hill for a couple years before going to law school
• 01:21 – Moved back to Raleigh to do a corporate and capital markets practice, but realized she didn't like sitting in an office all day
• 01:40 – Started doing a pro bono project where she got to the North Carolina General Assembly lobbying the members; successful in passing a revision to the juvenile justice code
• 01:55 – Found job in lobbying world with realtors 10 years ago
• 02:25 – What was something crazy/unexpected that you learned/seen along the way?

• 03:07 – No metal detectors/badge check in the North Carolina Legislative building
• 03:35 – Friend said, "Cady, half the people in here are packin'...they'll never put up metal detectors"
• 03:45 – Shows difference between the state and federal legislature

• 03:57 – Shocking: The decisions the state makes and how quickly they can make them affect members 10x greater than at the federal level in everything but taxes
• 04:40 – She learned that she had to read every bill and find out the happenings in every committee because anything could affect real estate
• 04:57 – Why are realtors so blinded to what happens at the state level?

• 05:07 – Most people don't understand state structure
• 05:41 – Realtors are in the business of making friends – politics isn't about making friends and realtors don't want to get involved

• 06:20 – Find the issues that resonate with the brokers because they be passionate about getting involved
• 06:48 – Hoping to get through local issues that affect clients

• 07:02 – Private road maintenance issues and DOT to take over maintenance
• 07:30 – Getting kids to school busses with proper roads

• 08:21 – Having a statewide database of roads that are on transportation's books is a solution

• 08:40 – Counties already have the information, it's just a matter of getting it together with technology and keeping it updated with DOT's records

• 10:05 – As a consumer, what do you think needs to happen in the realtor community to stay ahead of legislative curves in the future?

• 10:21 – Creating relationships with elected officials, running for office, advocating for clients where local governments are coming down harder on property rights
• 10:41 – Counties and cities are taking development ordinances too far, like aesthetic design controls which aren