Getting involved pays off

Basin Realtor honored for commitment to ethics, community

MOSES LAKE — No matter how you look at it, real estate is serious business. When you’re dealing with land, one of the most basic things a person can own, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars it costs, you have to place a lot of trust in the person who’s putting the deal together for you. That’s why Realtors go to great lengths to make sure their profession is viewed with trust. That word “Realtor” is capitalized for a reason. Not everybody who buys and sells land can call themselves that. In the United States, the word is trademarked by the National Association of Realtors, and that organization defines it as a “a real estate professional who is member of the National Association of Realtors and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.” That Code of Ethics is eight pages long and details a Realtor’s obligations to their clients, the general public and other Realtors. These folks take their reputation seriously. Which is why it was such an honor for Moses Lake Realtor Kevin Burgess, of Windermere Real Estate in Moses Lake, to be named Realtor of the Year at the Washington Realtors Spring Conference in Yakima last week...