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Our nation marks its 250th anniversary this summer, and the midterm elections will be held Nov. 3, with primary elections having already started around the country. These historic happenings allow me to bring another theme to this column, beyond my observations as a professional Realtor: the presence of politics in real estate.
In a previous life, I had the fortune of instructing American Federal Government to university freshmen. I also served as the campaign manager to both U.S. House and Senate candidates. Plus, I worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to a congressman and later served as a staff director for a U.S. senator. These experiences gave me a better understanding of the scope of politics in government. They reinforced the notion that just about everything in our lives has a political element. Even in real estate.
The dictionary Merriam-Webster defines politics as “the total complex of relations between people living in society.” Obviously, all of us have lived this dynamic in our work and personal lives, whether we consciously define it as a political experience. Think about the “negotiations” you have with your life partner or children, on important family matters-this may be about as local as politics can get for one! Or what about the consensus and compromise you seek with fellow workers, your employer or client-this is the essence of effective lobbying to achieve a goal that hopefully pleases everyone.
In real estate, political behavior manifests itself at many levels. Some of these include: the interaction (often emotional) between homebuyers, sellers and Realtors; the role of government in establishing the mies and laws that define every clement of the home buying, selling and building process; or the ways in which real estate companies create and pursue their business plans in a highly competitive, fast-moving and ever-changing world.
The presence of politics in real estate has been with us since our nation was formed.
Take the Declaration of Independence, for instance. Although it does not explicitly mention property, it embodies the spirit of protecting individual rights, which the Founding Fathers believed included the right to own and control property. The concept of private property in particular was deeply rooted in the beliefs of the Founding Fathers, who were influenced by the tenets of Enlightenment philosopher John Locke. Locke argued that life, liberty and property are natural rights that governments must protect.
Locke’s philosophy emphasized that individuals have the right to own property, which is essential for personal security and economic independence. This idea significantly influenced Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration. In fact, Jefferson initially included “life, liberty and the pursuit of property” in one of his first drafts. However, it was later changed to “the pursuit of happiness.” (Leading to the impression that property and happiness were … the same?) Understandably, this slight alteration has over the years led to many heated discussions about the implications for property rights. Which may be one reason why the Founding Fathers, 16 years later, added the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which states no person shall be deprived of property without due process of law. This addition reflected the Founders’ commitment to safeguarding individual rights, including property ownership.
History shows us that a considerable amount of politically driven debates occurred among the authors of our nation’s two most important governing documents. In fact, historian Lucy Worsley reveals that the ambiguity of the first drafts of the Declaration reflected its creators’ efforts to delicately satisfy the citizens of the original 13 colonies, many of whom had opposing views on a variety of divisive subjects. At the end of the day, the Founding Fathers recognized property rights as essential to individual freedom and prosperity. And the Constitution was designed to protect these rights through various amendments and clauses, reflecting the importance of property ownership in American society.
Fast-forward to today, and it is clear politics plays a big role in the place we call home. Candidates running for office—from the national to the local level—recognize that the inventory of housing (especially affordable housing) is inadequate, making it one of their most important campaign issues. Hardly a daily New Mexican goes by without a real estate headline and a story highlighting this issue-and the strong views of the city’s residents on anything that relates to housing. And people’s opinions run the gamut: Some support new property developments, some oppose them, some favor real estate taxes, some oppose them. These opinions are the direct outgrowth of what our Founding Fathers had hoped for: The ability of its citizens to express their views on any important issue.
So, as we move toward our nation’s July 4 anniversary celebration, I suggest that we pause for a moment to reflect on how politics in real estate has played a role in defining our history over these past 250 years. The promise of the American dream of homeownership has only occurred because we, as individuals, have the freedom in the United States to determine this outcome.
Our nation is not perfect, but at least-for now-we have the right to address our challenges openly in a constitutionally protected fashion. We need to acknowledge and thank our forefathers for this privilege. As Thomas Jefferson reflected in 1816: “A right to property is founded in our natural wants, in the means with which we arc endowed to satisfy these wants, and the right to what we acquire by those means without violating the similar rights of other sensible beings.