Hobart C. Brady* championed homeownership as a democratic birthright and the individual's "last hope of recapturing a sense of personal importance in the face of the soul-crushing evils of industrial mass production."
Under his presidency, the National Association challenged the federal government's premise that the government was responsible for providing housing for every citizen. "Public housing would complete the institutionalization of our people," said Mr. Brady, "and make of them industrial automatons by day, quartered in human warehouses by night." He called upon government to sponsor more legislation which would enable citizens to achieve homeownership and to leave home construction in the hands of private industry.
REALTORS® worked for the passage of the 1948 Housing Act, which was designed to encourage the construction of low-cost housing by private industry. The act included a new bargain basement type financing plan as well as expansion of the secondary mortgage market and liberal financing inducements for homebuilders. Because of REALTOR® efforts, public housing provisions were omitted from the act.
Homebuilding soared to record levels in 1948, easing the housing shortage and helping to stabilize home prices. Mr. Brady's administration campaigned for larger, higher quality homes, sound planning at the community level and the lifting of federal rent control.
Nationally acclaimed as a lecturer and writer on real estate, Mr. Brady wrote a regular column for the Association's HEADLINES newsletter in which he offered expert advice and reported the latest marketing, sales and training techniques observed during his travels as Association president. He was the author of three books, and many large urban boards called upon him to conduct sales conferences.
Prior to his election as NAR president, Mr. Brady served as president of the Wichita Real Estate Board, director of the Kansas Association of Real Estate Boards, and NAR regional vice president. He also held leadership positions with the National Institute of Real Estate Brokers and the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers.
Mr. Brady's firm, H. C. Brady, Inc., engaged in general real estate brokerage. He was formerly secretary of Wheeler-Kelly-Hagny Trust Co., where he specialized in real estate management. He received his bachelor's degree from Friends University, Wichita.
Source: Presidents of the National Association of REALTORS®, (Chicago: NAR, 1980).
*Deceased