Candy Joyce with the Middle Tennessee Association of Realtors
It may be cold outside, but if you ask any Realtor, mortgage lender, title agent or anyone related to real estate, they will tell you it is hot! At least real estate, anyway. All markets are cyclical, but with low interest rates and so many people moving right now, the Murfreesboro real estate market can’t help but be on fire!
That being said, a lot of people are also getting their real estate licenses right now and joining a local professional association.
But with that comes the need to support all those professionals. One of the resources the pros look to is the Middle Tennessee Association of Realtors (MTAR) located on Butler Drive. This organization serves nine counties in the mid-state. MTAR is an arm of the National Association of Realtors but operates locally to provide support to its members, real estate clients and the public in general in Middle Tennessee. Only those agents who subscribe to the NAR Code of Ethics may call themselves a Realtor.
The lady in charge of the day-to-day operations at MTAR is Candy Roberts Joyce, who has been in real estate since the mid 1990s. She and her staff offer guidance for buyers and sellers, provide community outreach and professional training for its membership, and enforce the Code of Ethics. Joyce also keeps her ear to the ground to watch for any new regulations or taxes that may be detrimental to agents as well as local homeowners. So, there is always something going on.
Professionally, MTAR offers statistics and additional insights as to the health of the market and how to better serve clients looking to buy or sell. It is important for agents to keep up to date on new trends and technology. Someone has to tell the seller a bright orange living room with purple shag carpeting and five cats may be a hindrance to marketing that property. There are also many different types of septic systems in Rutherford County due to all the rock. This sparks several common questions from clients living in other markets.
Once a year, Realtors from all across Tennessee will meet at the State Capital to voice any concerns they may have. This has averted several taxes over the years for the professional, as well as homeowners and buyers.
The Butler Drive facility also provides a place for members to discuss local issues as well as meet political candidates, and other needed professionals such as home inspectors, electricians, plumbers and mortgage lenders.
The Association calendar is filled with continuing education and other training opportunities. It also serves as a public voting site several times a year.
Realtors know it is important to be involved with the community in order to help it grow. Through the years, they have been instrumental in such projects as Meals on Wheels, Make a Difference Day, the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity, just to name a few. Though COVID may have hindered in-person activity, there is still the ability to help the community financially such as creating goody bags for retirees at the Alvin C. York VA Hospital. Some of Murfreesboro’s impoverished children were not able to receive a school lunch due to the pandemic. MTAR donated funds to keep the “chow wagon” up and running to provide kids the nutrition they need. The pros know that when they help their community it helps their industry as well.
With so much happening in the local market and within the industry, it is necessary for MTAR to keep up. Late last year, the MTAR building began a long-overdue transformation, though the building will remain the same size. The remodel will provide different spaces for training, more restrooms, a lager lobby and a store for agents to purchase books, marketing tools and those all-important “SOLD” sign riders. The project hopes to be completed in the late spring, but Candy and her staff will continue working for its members and the community in the meantime.
For more information on the Middle Tennessee Association of Realtors, visit mtar.org.
