Humble Beginnings
It all started when 20 Houstonians banded together to exchange ideas on real estate, livestock, hay and grain.  In 1908 this group adopted the name Houston Real Estate and Insurance Exchange, and 10 years later chartered the Houston Real Estate Board, affiliated with the National Association of Real Estate Boards (know known as NAR).

Judge W.F. Carothers is commonly acknowledged as the organizer of the original real estate exchange group. In 1920 B.E. Norvell became the first president of the organization.

Little did these men know that 85 years later their small group would grow to include more than 17,000 members. The Houston Association of Realtors® is now the largest local Realtor organization in the country. HAR is also the largest trade association in Houston.

It’s All in a Name
In 1956 the board of directors voted to change the official name of the Houston Real Estate Board to the Houston Board of Realtors® because of the use of the word Realtor by similar organizations not associated with the board. In 1990 the board of directors voted to change the name once again. They adopted the title of Houston Association of Realtors® to clarify that the organization is a trade association and not a licensing body.

Movin’ on Up
For years, the group met in the 319 Kress Building and in 1955 moved into a new building at 716 Dallas at Lamar.  In 1961 it became necessary to move into new office space, and this time the board moved its headquarters to 401 W. Alabama where it stayed until 1975, at which time the board moved to the present location at 3693 Southwest Freeway.  In addition to the central location, HAR now has three branch offices, which offer full membership services in the Bay Area, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

Property anyone?
Harken back to the days before computers dominated the real estate industry.  Initiated in 1955, the original Multiple Listing Service consisted of loose-leaf binder notices and pictures of available properties that were sent out weekly to members of the Board. In 1970 the first weekly MLS Book was published. Some of you may still remember trudging down to your local association to insert your latest listing into a large binder that became quickly outdated. 

With the advent of the computer age, the MLS became computerized and printed books are no longer in use. HAR’s MLS system further evolved within the past year with the conversion of the system to the Internet.

Pillars of Houston’s Real Estate Community
Until 1996, individuals at the helm of HAR were entitled president, at which time the title was changed to chairman.  Each year, HAR honors its past presidents and chairmen, also known as HAR’s Advisory committee, with a business meeting and dinner.  In addition to dining and visiting with their peers, HAR staff presents an association update.  This year’s advisory committee meeting and dinner took place at the St. Regis hotel on May 8. 

Immediate Past Chairman Shad Bogany welcomed the committee and discussed his accomplishments as chairman during 2002.  HAR’s President/CEO Bob Hale updated the advisory council on the latest trends in the real estate industry, followed by HAR Chairman Dovie Morgan who discussed her current goals for the association.  HAR’s Executive Vice President Rene Galvan gave attendees an overview of HAR’s resources and HAR Web Developer Taqi Rizvi took attendees on a tour through HAR.com.
 
Past presidents who attended this year’s event included: David Stirton (1958), Howard Horne (1962), Sam Feldt (1968), Ed Robeau (1969), George Wagner (1975), Jim Glanville (1976), Tom Mabray (1978), Bruce Womack (1979), Nancy Sartain (1980), Gary Mabray (1984), Kelley Parker (1987), Frank Fitzgerald (1988), John Nichols (1991), Beth Wolff (1992), Lynn Zarr (1993) and Bill Jones (1995).

Past chairmen who attended this year’s event included:  Jim Peters (1996), Robin Mueck (1997), Frankie Jefferson (2000), Todd Mason (2001) and Shad Bogany (2002).

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
Despite the change in name and location of the association, as well as the addition and evolution of the Multiple Listing Service, the present mission statement of the organization is very similar to the purpose statement set forth by officers in 1926.

In 1926 the purpose of the Board was “…to establish and maintain uniformity…related to the business of real estate men in said vicinity, to acquire, preserve and disseminate valuable business information and to adopt rules, regulations and standards which shall govern transaction connected with the real estate business and generally to promote the interest of trade and increase the facilities of commercial transactions.”

Today’s mission statement, which provides overall direction for the association states:  “The purpose of the Houston Association of Realtors® is to help its members achieve ongoing profitability.”  Embodied in that mission statement is the understanding that HAR members are committed to serving the public with integrity and competency and to promote public policy that fosters a favorable business climate.