Central Mississippi REALTORS®
620 N. State Street Suite 100
Jackson, MS 39202
For Immediate Release:
Friday, January 5, 2018
Farewell Remarks from 2017 President Jeffrey Dillon
Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, and difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
In other words, “Nothing worth doing is easy.”
This past year as President of CMR, I had several things that weren’t easy, but were most certainly worth doing! The first incident that comes to mind was in April 2017, when I, who am very, VERY afraid of heights, had to go “Over the Edge” of a 14-story building to raise money for Blair E Batson during the “Over the Edge” with friends campaign. My wife still refers to this event as “The Tower of Terror”. While that experience was certainly terrifying for me, to say the least, we raised $4,150 for sick and injured children when our original goal was $2,500. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
Then I remember back in January the CMR team pulled together to have our Winter Workshop with Nobu Hata at the Jackson Convention Complex and later, the Mardi Gras themed celebration…talk about a lot of work! For the Mardi Gras event, Past President Megan Hall brought about two truckloads of decorations and spent so much time setting up! It was quite a night to remember. For both events: not easy, but worth it.
Then in May for the NAR Legislative Meetings & Expo, when flying my wife and I ended up getting delayed by a security line with about 200 people in it and, as it happened, only 2 staff members working the line (Murphy’s law in action!). We got thru the gate with 10 minutes to spare, and then the person working the terminal refused to let us board even though the plane was still attached and docked right there! So, instead of getting to DC within 2 hours, we had to fly thru multiple terminals the whole day and got to DC at MIDNIGHT. BUT, despite the tribulations of getting there, CMR Received 3rd Place for RPAC Performance Achievement Award. SO, once again: it wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
In June, the Central MS Realtors had their first-ever Central MS MLS Expo: “Learn One New Thing”, at the Clyde Muse Center in Pearl. What a great turnout we had, and I know we all did indeed learn at least “one new thing”! Then we had the JPS School Supply Sanitation Drive (accumulating hand sanitizers), which was also a great success.
Then in August, we had the momentous occasion of the Boys & Girl Club Art Room Ribbon Cutting, where thanks to the hard work of CMR volunteers we raised $1,650! Not easy, but so worth it!
In September, CMR pulled together for the very worthy occasion of hosting the AE Appreciation for Jo Usry, who is truly the backbone of our great organization! Then later that month the
Smart Growth Conference featuring Nate K. Johnson, Roy Duvall Decker, Jr. & Mayor Butch Lee was a great event, followed later by the REALTOR® Roundtable with Kyle Brown, City of Brandon, MS. I never ceased to be amazed at the great learning opportunities there are for realtors here in our great section of the state.
Then in October, we had the wonderful opportunity to have a REALTOR® Meet & Greet with Mayor Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson. I had never met Mayor Lumumba previously, and I found him to be a forward thinking, gracious man-with-a-plan. It was great to hear about all his ideas to improve living and working in his city. As a Realtor, I can definitely get behind any movements to improve our local communities!
Another unique event in October was our annual MS Association of Realtors Convention and Expo. As it was hosted in Tupelo, MS this year (the birthplace of a famous Mississippi fellow you may have heard of: Elvis Presley), I decided to attempt to increase awareness and attendance by dressing up as Elvis and singing in a promo video. Not easy: but worth it! While admittedly slightly self-deprecating, it did create a lot of attention for the event. I will also likely never live it down and have been asked multiple times now if I can do Elvis impersonations for various events (what have I started?!). For the curious, the video can be seen on YouTube by searching: “Dillon Team Blue Convention 2017”, video filming and editing credit: Scott Cooper of SCCPhotography.com. (Reason for that title: I sang that I would have a “blue convention” without my fellow realtors there, to the tune of “Blue Christmas”).
In November, I had the privilege to attend the National Association of Realtors Convention in Chicago, IL. This is a national conference for Realtors to come together from all over our nation and even internationally. As realtors, we learned some important highlights for homebuyers and sellers, to include:
- First-time buyers made up 34 percent of all homebuyers, a decrease from last year’s 35 percent.
- Buyer and seller use of agent remains at historical highs, 87%, and 89% respectively. FSBOs remain at an all-time low of 8%.
- The weeks on market dropped to an all-time low of 3 weeks.
All of these are great things for our market locally! With a national average of weeks on market of 3 weeks, sellers can feel confident. And with buyers and sellers using agents at historical highs, the economy is stimulated, Realtors are provided with opportunities to serve, and clients will be in the best possible hands when handling the biggest transactions of their life.
And finally, in December, CMR had its first ever Inaugural Gala & Board of Directors Reunion at The Lake House Venue in Ridgeland, MS. It was truly a lovely evening, and I was honored to pass the baton to the very capable hands of our new President Rod Crosby of Susan Burton Real Estate.
I can definitely say that my time serving as your CMR President for 2017, while full of challenges and ups and downs, has been so fulfilling thanks to the amazing support I had from all of our local Realtors and the community at large. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by such great people in our great section of the state. So, as I look back, I can say this about my year as CMR President: It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
Thank you, Central Mississippi,! And, in the words of Elvis Presley: “Thank you, thank you very much!”
-Jeffrey P. Dillon