In an urgent plea for help, the National Association of Realtors® is calling on all Realtor organizations and members to assist recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Three states have been largely affected, but others will also need to rally as thousands of realtors and millions of homeless move out to other cities and states to begin life anew.

Katrina has forced an unprecedented exodus that will result in an incalculable demographic shift, says Steve Cook, spokesperson for the NAR. Where these millions of people will relocate is a huge undertaking to consider in terms of employment, housing, medical care, schooling and supplies.

From the creation of new communities, to the migration to nearby communities, state and national officials in the Southern states are rallying to anticipate the needs of the suddenly homeless.

"I'm getting calls from all over the country," says Cook."We are in full fund-raising mode to get help to those realtors who have lost everything. Over 40,000 realtors have been affected."

Several key initiatives are already underway.

The state Realtor organizations for Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi have met via conference calls with FEMA and the national Homeland Security in order to set up a housing inventory network. The network will provide a database of available housing and convertible commercial space that can be used for temporary housing.

J. Danny Cooper, EVP of the Alabama Association of Realtors suggested ways the Realtors could help as well as think "outside the box" for housing ideas:

Residential housing

Apartments, single and multi family units, condos, mobile home parks and number of pads available, vacant college dorms, vacant group housing of any type (even if repairs are needed), etc. You can contact your state Apartment Association, Manufactured Housing Association, Association of Shopping Centers, etc. and ask them to ask their members to feed information to the email address we will receive tomorrow. They need to use the template.

Commercial property options

Get members to determine if they have commercial buildings that could be quickly converted into multiple housing units. Also to be considered: strip malls, hotels, Timeshares, universities, vacant K-Marts, Wal-Marts, Winn Dixies, etc. Municipal governments will be asked to waive restrictions and will be asked to allow mobile homes and motor homes to be located in the parking lots of these commercial buildings while they are being converted into housing units.

Churches and houses of worship

Members can ask that these be offered as temporary shelters in the immediate future until temporary/long term housing can be established.

Realtors will be able to fill in information via a template and email it directly to Homeland Security.

Swinging into action, NAR President Al Mansell and his wife, Margurite, and President-Elect Tom Stevens and his wife, Lindy, are traveling to Alabama on Thursday. After meeting with J. Danny Cooper, association executive with the Alabama Association of Realtors®, Mansell and Stevens plan to tour the disaster areas in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama in either a military helicopter or a leased plane or helicopter over the next two days.

The purpose of the visit is to help state association officials strategize ways to help Realtors who have lost everything, and to find ways to restore the industry back to functionality. Many Realtors are safe, but can't do business because there's "nothing to sell," says Cook.

Companies like a la mode, inc, a supplier to the real estate industry is aware that forming valuations for properties is going to be an overwhelming problem.

Approximately 25 percent of a la mode's appraiser clients in the affected states were using the company's automatic Internet-based "Vault" file backup solution, which stores the files at a la mode's data center in Oklahoma City and at other redundant locations. As a result, even if computer systems, paper records, and backup tapes were destroyed, those appraisers will be able to reconstruct all their lost files, invoices, client lists, and even digital workfile copies of the notes used to complete their appraisals.

"Appraisers will play a vital role in the long-term reconstruction of the area, and that data loss is the single most significant issue facing businesses after a disaster," commented Scott Kinnaird, a la mode's CEO. "Being able to get back to business quickly with no data loss, when the time comes, will be a boon to those clients using the Vault, and to the local housing industry as a whole. That's why we built the system."

To make a tax-deductible contribution to the Realtors Relief Foundation:

• Make a credit-card donation online by visiting the Realtors Relief Foundation website, or

• Send a check, payable to the Realtors Relief Foundation, to:

  Realtors Relief Foundation
  Attn: NAR Finance Division
  430 N. Michigan Ave
  Chicago IL 60611

Published: September 2, 2005

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.