Share
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Those familiar words of poet, memoirist and activist Maya Angelou resonated deeply with 2012 National Association of REALTORS® President Maurice “Moe” Veissi, so much so that he masterminded a feel-good moment during his presidency that brought REALTORS® together at a time when the country was still climbing out of the Great Recession.
Veissi passed away in December at age 78. And while he distinguished himself as a longtime association leader, passionate advocate for the industry, and the founder and broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc. in Miami, Fla., he’ll be remembered best by many NAR members for how he made them feel one sunny day in May at the “Rally to Protect the American Dream.”
“You were a fabulous inspirational leader, Moe,” wrote Tashia Hinchliffe, CIPS, of Estate Properties in Manhattan Beach, Calif., in a tribute to Veissi on his Facebook page. “I will always remember the REALTOR® ‘march on the Capitol’ in D.C.,” she said, referencing the language many members used to describe the rally.
The May 17, 2012, event drew 13,800 members and a dozen legislators to the base of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Speakers talked about the importance of homeownership, members of Congress thanked NAR members for their work in helping to lift the country out of recession, and REALTOR® delegations from around the country proudly displayed their state flags—and their REALTOR® pride. The rally was part of a year-long “Homeownership Matters” campaign during Veissi’s presidency. The goal: Remind members, and all Americans, about the value of homeownership.
“Moe made a statement at the rally. He said, ‘You are the architects of the American dream of homeownership,’” recalls close friend Tom Salomone, broker-owner of Real Estate II Inc. in Margate, Fla., who went on to serve as NAR’s 2016 president. “Members who weren’t in the business at the time might not understand the mood of the country or our members at that time, but I can’t tell you how many people have reached out to me to say that rally and that statement gave them hope that things were going to be OK.”
Veissi’s years on the NAR leadership team came during a grueling few years for the real estate industry. As a result of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the ensuing recession, many markets saw home values plummet. While real estate practitioners worked to help clients achieve short sales and avoid foreclosure, some pundits were questioning the premise that a high homeownership rate was good for the country. That thinking was anathema to Veissi and his fellow leaders. They fought to keep sales moving by working with regulators and lenders to smooth the way for short sales. They also led successful advocacy efforts to get a temporary federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers and tax forgiveness on capital losses resulting from a short sale.
“If you don’t have a strong advocate for you and your business, you’ll wither and die,” he told REALTOR® Magazine at the outset of his presidency.
Veissi recognized that advocacy works best when it’s done collectively. “I work as a team with my upcoming presidents, vice presidents, CEO and 15 liaisons to NAR committees,” he said. “It’s the leadership team structure that enables us to be effective on members’ behalf. I remind [members] they pay for insurance for their car, boat or home. This is inexpensive insurance on their business.”
For more than 25 years, Veissi served at the national level, even accepting an extended leadership team role as committee liaison four years after his presidency. Appropriately enough, his first committee assignment for NAR, in 1998, was with the Political Communications Committee. In 2008, when he served as fundraising chair for the REALTORS® Political Action Committee, President Dick Gaylord challenged him to raise $10 million, even though RPAC had never brought in more than $7.3 million in a single year. He raised $10.3 million, and he did it by going out and talking to members. “You can be a guru of electronic communications and send out as many postcards and emails as you like,” he later told REALTOR® Magazine, “but in the end, success is about emotionally connecting with people in the room.”
Veissi served as president of his local association (now part of Miami REALTORS®) in 1981 and as president of Florida REALTORS® in 2002. During his state presidency, the association succeeded in getting a proposed sales tax on services removed from the ballot. It was a proposal that would have been devastating to all Floridians, not just real estate brokerages, says Salomone. In 2003, Veissi was named REALTOR® of the Year in Florida.
He is survived by his wife of 55 years Matey, also an NAR member, their sons Maurice Jr. and Mallory, and an “adopted” son Miguel, a friend who moved in with the family as a teenager and who Veissi once said “will always be part of our family.” Maurice told Florida REALTORS® that his father would be remembered as a “man of the people, a player’s coach, a father to many and a friend to all.” Above all else, he said, Veissi loved three things: his family, coaching others, whether in sports or business, and the REALTOR® community.
As NAR president, Veissi celebrated NAR members’ role in the real estate industry with the theme “REALTORS® are the heart of the deal.” As he wrote in his final president’s message for REALTOR® Magazine, “You are the strength of this industry and a crucial part of the economic, social and cultural fabric of our country.”
