Labels evade Steve Goddard, but designations do not. This decorated Vietnam War veteran, former airline manager, owner of an import business, and actor and member of the Screen Actors Guild has earned 13 real estate designations. Here’s another designation you can hang on Goddard: 2010 President of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). • REALTOR® Steve Goddard, ABR, CIPS, CLHMS, CRS, NCP, CRP, E-Pro, GRI, LTG, PMN, SRES, QSC, TRC, is a broker and manager for RE/MAX Marquee Partners in Manhattan Beach. He began selling real estate 35 years ago, specializing in residential real estate, residential income properties, commercial buildings, and leasing, and has more than 30 years of experience as a landlord and investor. Goddard also is a developer and a licensed general contractor. During the past 25 years, he has consistently ranked among the top 10 agents in his company’s group of more than 400 agents. Over the past 17 years, he has chaired or served on myriad committees and forums at the local, state, and national association level. • What about that baker’s dozen of designations? Goddard, who may have the most crowded business card in real estate, says he is working on earning three more. Needless to say, professionalism will rank high on his agenda as 2010 C.A.R. President. Goddard, who has the distinction of being the largest individual contributor to C.A.R.’s Housing Affordability Fund for the last three years, is committed to addressing housing affordability. Let’s find out what else is on Goddard’s agenda: Q. Why do you want to be President of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®? A. I want to give back to the industry that has provided me with a substantial and consistent financial position. For 35 years, I have been working in real estate as a manager, owner, broker, agent, and landlord. Q. You are a member of SAG and involved in numerous community and philanthropic Organizations, including acting as a past chairman of the Redondo Beach Salvation Army. How will these experiences assist you in your role as President? A. I’ve had a lot of training on how to face the camera, and I have a great understanding of communications. I was an Army communications company commander in Vietnam. Communications is one of my strong points. What C.A.R. will continue To do—and REALTORS® are going to be doing in the future—is communicating with videos and videos embedded in e-mails. Communication is one of the most important things we do at C.A.R. for our members and for the public—communicating what we will do and what you want us to do. Q. What can members expect from your leadership style? A. Leadership is a combination of team effort, vision, and passion. The Leadership Team is made of four officers and this is how we will guide C.A.R.: We will listen to the members first. I think it’s very important that everyone is engaged in the leadership process at C.A.R. I usually have an opinion on everything that needs to be accomplished, but I will seek a consensus on how to do it. Q. What issue(s) do you think will dominate your term as President? A. We are experiencing unprecedented market conditions, so the issues that are here right now are going to continue to dominate: the economy, the amount of foreclosures, REOs, and short sales on the market. I think it’s important to keep loan rates where they are and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac intact and viable. We also need to work with the jumbo lenders to make it easier to obtain funding. Q. What are your top goals as President? A. There are three goals that I plan to focus on as President: 1) solidify the REALTORS®’ position and value in every transaction; 2) focus on our professionalism; and 3) effectively promote legislation that would protect property rights and foster a good business environment for our practitioners and the public. As an organization, we look out for the public on private property rights. Q. What trends or issues should the Association and the Leadership Team address—or get in front of—in 2010? A. We need to show as soon as we can that we’ve reached the bottom of the market—so REALTORS®, the public, and banks understand that and all start moving in tandem in the right direction. Once the bottom has been realized, the market will change for the good. We appear to be skipping or bouncing along the bottom now. We need to get the word out so the public will feel comfortable enough to buy. We also need to work with the lenders to ensure that we can streamline the purchase and sale of a property. Q. What should the Association be doing to position itself for the market’s return, so as to better serve members? A. The Association is developing a suite of REALTOR® tools and apps— ClientDIRECTTM, Clarus MarketMetrics®, zipForm® 6, and others—that will streamline our access to information and facilitate our transactions. We need to develop more. This comes back to the need to position our membership so that it is not outmaneuvered by third-party sites that may not have REALTORS®’ best interests at heart. In August, the Association and the Leadership Team were able to bring to fruition a goal of the board of directors, when calREDDTM, a statewide MLS, was launched. We will be putting a lot of time and effort into calREDDTM; in 2008, 78 percent of our members requested that we move forward with a state MLS. I can see from what we are doing that it’s going to be incredible. It’s the difference between black-and-white and color TV. Q. If you had to recommend only one or two designations that an agent should earn in preparation for the market’s return, which one(s) would that be? A. I’d recommend that newer agents—in their first five years of their career—obtain their Graduate REALTOR® Institute (GRI). Then, the Certified Real Estate Specialist (CRS), if they are doing residential real estate transactions. I would ask everyone to get more educated in real estate and raise the bar for us. Q. You have earned 13 designations. What inspired you to earn so many? A. All those designations are basically extra education in real estate, which makes you better at real estate, in general, and in that designation’s area of specialization, in particular. It gives you a good base for networking. I’ve found it very helpful in my real estate career to be knowledgeable in many extra niches. Now is a perfect time to earn a designation; some of us have the opportunity now because we may be selling less property. Every designation gives the REALTOR® a chance to make more income and become more knowledgeable. Q. When you look at the state’s real estate landscape, which trends or market forces concern you? A. Housing valuation and HVCC [Home Valuation Code of Conduct]. We need to address the appraisal situation. We need to keep the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits in place because we need them. As an Association, we need to be vigilant that the legislature and government do not make it more difficult or costly to transact the real estate business.