Valley Realtor is first Nevada woman named to key post

A local Realtor has taken a high-profile national position.

Linda Rheinberger of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices-Nevada was installed Nov. 11 at a national convention in New Orleans as vice president of the Rocky Mountain Region of the National Association of Realtors. As part of the volunteer post, Rheinberger will also serve on the national group’s board of directors.

Nevada has sent six Realtors to the regional vice president’s post, the last one in 2009. But Rheinberger is the first woman from the Silver State to hold the position. She’ll spend her one-year term traveling across a six-state area — composed of Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — meeting with Realtors’ associations for input on important regional issues that need to be on the national radar.

Rheinberger, who sold her One Source Realty and Management business earlier this year to get away from daily operations work and reap the benefits of a big-name brokerage brand, will host a regional leadership conference here in February.

Q. You sold your business to get ready for this role. What else did you have to do to position yourself?

A. I went to all six states to campaign. I met with the nominating committee on Nov. 9, 2012 — my parents’ 55th wedding anniversary — and was confirmed. I was approved by a regional caucus at the national convention in 2012, and then went through background checks including criminal and financial checks. I was then brought forward again for a final nomination. I started the process at the beginning of 2012 and was finally installed this month.

Q. Why did you want to serve on the national board?

A. I was bit by the leadership bug in 2001 while serving as local president of the Women’s Council of Realtors. I was one of 16 people chosen for the Nevada Association of Realtors’ Leadership Academy. I was at a crossroads in my life as to whether to serve as a volunteer or sit for my LSAT and go to Boyd Law School. But while serving in the Leadership Academy, I found a passion for service. I knew I had good communication skills and really believed in what I was doing, and I felt I needed to do more.

Q. You have a say in how local issues get heard at the national level. What are your policy priorities?

A. We’re looking at eminent domain, and we have been instrumental in and will continue to be diligent with natural-disaster relief. We’re looking at flooding and different tools that will protect consumers and our industry.

We’re also looking at finance, loan limitations and the accessibility of mortgage products. It would be devastating to Nevada if something happened to the ability of people to get into homes with a down payment of less than 5 percent. If thresholds on government loans were raised even to 5 percent, let alone 15 to 20 percent, as is being discussed, that’s going to eliminate thousands of buyers.

Also, the mortgage interest deduction is huge for people who are already homeowners. We don’t want to limit or remove that deduction.

Q. Why does it help the market to have local representation on the national board?

A. It brings us a spotlight. For example, I was just interviewed by a national radio program about how Las Vegas is recovering from the basement — talking about how we got to that point and what has occurred since then. They wanted to know what has happened since we reached a low in valuation, and the problems that occurred with that.

Having a spotlight shows we’re not one-dimensional in Las Vegas and Nevada. The thing people remember is that we fell from the top in growth and values, and perhaps they don’t know about other things that have occurred. We have a stable environment. Employment here has improved tremendously. Also, we are leaders when it comes to raising funds for (the national) Realtors PAC, despite what happened in our local industry and organizations. People here understand the importance of speaking with one voice and having a seat at the national table, and that what happens today isn’t necessarily how tomorrow will look.

Contact Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @J_Robison1 on Twitter.