A leader in Nevada's real estate industry.

She has a passion for private property rights.

Tiffany Banks, CEO of Nevada Realtors, is our guest this week on Nevada Week in person.

Support for Nevada Week In Person is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt welcome to Nevada week in person.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon, a Northern Nevada native.

She spent a decade as a top attorney for Nevada Realtors before becoming the trade association CEO in 2023.

Tiffany Banks, thank you for joining Nevada Week in person.

Thank you.

It's lovely to meet you.

So what came first, your interest in real estate or in law?

Definitely my interest in the law.

I just did not want a boring law job.

And so are there are a lot of those?

There's a lot of those, there's a lot of research and motions.

And when I had moved back to Reno, I'd been gone for 12 years.

I went to Arizona State and law school in San Diego.

I was about to move again, and I was talking with one of my girlfriends and said, unless I get a job that is more people oriented, I'm leaving.

And so she said a great job would be with the realtors.

And it opened up six months later, and I actually knew nothing about real estate law.

I just knew contracts.

I knew people I knew as an attorney, you can learn any area and started answering legal information, line calls.

And at first I was having to Google and and research every single answer.

And then it felt so good to transition into just knowing it.

Like you can name an area of the law in real estate and I'll say six 4 or 5.280 means this.

And so, the love for real estate law definitely came after my original pursuit for law.

And what drew you to law initially?

So I was looking at getting my MBA.

after my undergrad, and the Lsat seemed far more appealing then, than the testing that I'm just not I'm just not a standardized testing person.

And so I didn't want to take the, I think, math portion or whatever you need it for your MBA.

And so took the Lsat and gone into law school.

And then my brother actually took the Lsat two years after, and we ended up going to the same law school, graduating at the same time on stage one after the other, which was actually really special.

Oh my gosh, for your parents, I can't imagine it was really special.

That was San Diego, right?

Yes.

San Diego, why are you getting emotional?

Well, because I think to have that opportunity to share, like a special moment.

And actually that journey through law school with my best friend, I have three brothers, and all of them of my are my best friends.

But, Jordan is far more, let's say A-type and very organized.

And when I would get called on in class, you would see his face, say, did you read that last night?

Can I jump in for my sister?

And I said, I got this, Jordan relax.

And he actually helped me study for the bar where he had already passed it in Nevada.

And he would, give me test questions every day before he went to work.

He was working at a big law firm in Reno, and when he would come home at night, he would grade my answers and tell me how he thought I was doing.

And I passed the bar on the first try.

but just to me, family's everything.

And getting to share that experience with my brother was very special.

And to have someone in your life like that that cares for you to that degree, absolutely your biggest champion.

How neat.

What's he doing now?

He's a criminal defense attorney.

Something I could never do.

But he was a lobbyist.

for a period of time, he worked for a civil litigation firm, and I just think...still in Nevada.

I think the sky's the limit for him.

He's just so incredible.

If I could hire him to come work for us, I would, But I can't steal him away from what he's doing now.

But, yeah, just a phenomenal human being.

Very cool.

along the way, there was some work with the Secret Service that you did.

What was that?

I think it same thing as far as I didn't want to be boring.

Not saying the law is boring, but I just didn't want to go work in a law firm in law school.

And so I had met a Secret Service recruiter, and he and I formed a friendship.

And he said, you would be great to apply.

And I did not realize the extent of the background check where they knock on every door, like from your entire life, like people that I had worked for ten, 15 years prior.

they, they went to my dad's business in Reno and just showed up and they just said, we need to talk to you about my.

My name at the time was Tiffany Davis.

So we need to talk to you about Tiffany Davis.

And people are like, the Secret Service showed up asking questions about you.

And I said, oh, yeah, just my background check to get that job.

And it was, again, an incredible experience because that's something I never would have had if I took a traditional traditional path.

What were you doing?

I mean, you do all of the details.

when one of the people that they protect and it's all past presidents as well.

And so, we actually had President Bush senior and his wife went on a retreat in San Diego.

And so you go before and make sure that the area is secure.

And I actually have a really special story about that.

he so he and his wife were at this retreat, and it was they took away sugar and like, everything.

Oh, good.

Like that.

And so I was sitting outside, his room was here, and the Secret Service had a room next door, and I was sitting outside and he walked out and he had a bag of red licorice.

And he said, Will you have will you share a licorice with me?

And they said, are you supposed to be doing this?

And he's like, well, if you share it with me, then I said, okay, I'll share a red licorice with you.

That's very cool.

That's a very cool story.

Okay, so back to Nevada Realtors.

You start by answering that legal information line.

How do you think that impacted you when you're talking to who are you talking to?

What are the questions that they have?

So you're talking to the members.

And so we have almost 20,000 members, in the state of Nevada.

And they're asking all kinds of questions from, you know, like, I'm in the middle of an escrow and my client's basement flooded.

What do I do?

How do I handle this?

And so you're talking through, like, real life scenarios with them as they're happening.

And what I realized and what I feel like is one of my favorite things in life, is just being there to support others with whatever guidance you can.

And sometimes it really is just they want somebody to talk to and bounce ideas off of.

And maybe it's not even necessarily a legal answer.

It's just confirmation that they're doing the right thing and navigating a real estate transaction with their client, and you're just there to listen oftentimes and sometimes mediate.

they'll say, I had a, you know, conflict with this other agent.

Can you call them?

And and I say, well, if they want to reach out to me, I'm happy to have the conversation.

And, and oftentimes it's just showing another perspective to somebody else.

And that's all they really need or want.

And that is a big part of your life now is it's showing other people perspectives and learning from their perspectives.

When you're dealing with legislation, for example, what have you learned in that area?

Absolutely.

I think having a seat at the table with various stakeholders is is all that we can really ask for.

I think everything we do on behalf of the Nevada Realtors is creating a fair and balanced approach.

So what does that look like?

It looks like a piece of legislation that comes out that, maybe overly burdensome to the realtors or to a homeowner and just trying to get it to a place that's just neutral or that, both parties are able to work together for like a common ground.

and at the end of the day, like that, that's really all we can ask for is a seat at the table.

And, and really.

Having having knowledge and education in this space of, however laws turn out like whatever's passed, we only have 120 days every other year.

So it's it's kind of cramped time to get a lot through fast.

But I really love educated decisions.

And so the more education and knowledge you can have behind whatever goes into the legislation passed, I think is best for all.

you have described yourself as a people pleaser, but sometimes you have to take a stance against a measure that may appear to be in the interest of the common good.

An example would be like rent control, for example.

Have you come to terms with that, that you could just can't please everyone?

And I think that that's a great question.

And I think that when I think about being a people pleaser, it's about I love when I make others happy, I love when I help others like again, that's what like that's what drives me.

I think it's about doing the right thing as well and knowing that there's going to be some tough issues.

And and if you're solution based and I think, you know, rent control or rent rent stabilization is a perfect example of, you know, like we are in the business of helping both landlords and tenants.

It's just finding attainable housing for those tenants that they can be in long term, because all of our mom and pop landlords that you'll speak with, they don't want to ever have to, you know, like work with a tenant that goes through a hardship.

But many do.

And, and our landlords work closely with them, whether it's, you know, like my dog died or I lost my job or, you know, my mom's sick.

And so our, our landlords really do their best to make sure that the tenants stay in properties long term and can really afford to live there.

You took this role as CEO after ten years as general counsel for Nevada Realtors, and at a time of tremendous change in the industry, how would you describe what's going on in the industry right now?

I think everything is really, I want to say you almost are starting from ground zero in a lot of ways in that you're going to have to reinvent yourself.

I think as a realtor and as all of our members know, if you're not keeping up with changing times and continuing to evolve your business, whether it's tech or how you communicate and work with your clients, like there's going to be somebody else that's doing that more than you are.

And so, I think knowing that they can trust us, that we're helping guide them for success, everything, the things that keep me up at night are making sure that, that our members, still have a career, that they're able to put food on their table for their families, making sure that homeowners rights are protected in that that's largely what we do, is advocate for private property rights so that the landlord can do what they wish with their property and it's being, again, educated, creating, guidance, creating forms, creating resources that our members can use to help navigate these times.

Are you faced with a lot of realtors who are scared right now?

Absolutely.

And let's spell it out for what we're talking about.

The settlement that was reached with the National Association of Realtors, which there was a settlement, a large settlement that's going to be paid out, and then also changes to commissions.

So prior to it was the seller of a house who had to pay the commission of, of the agents for buying and selling, right?

Yes, typically.

So the structure, the structure for many years is the seller pays their broker a commission, and then that broker pays the buyer's agent that brings the deal.

the reason it's been structured like that for many years is that oftentimes through a loan process, a buyer either can't pay a commission themselves because there are certain loans, like VA loans, that would prohibit a buyer from paying a commission.

or they just don't have the funding out of pocket.

So it's easier to like, build it into a cost of a home for the seller who is selling the house to receive money.

So now that is on the buyer to pay that commission, but to negotiate it ahead of time and even sign an agreement prior to touring a house, just looking at a house.

Absolutely.

So that's where things are going to be different.

That's where there's many buyers, agents that for years have had those conversations with their buyers.

That's where things are going to start to change, where buyer's agents are going to start having to have these conversations with every buyer before they tour the home, which is a lot, because sometimes a client doesn't know who they want to work with right away.

This is meant to reduce the cost of buying and selling homes.

Do you think that that is how this will play out?

I think there will be a lot of unintended consequences, through the settlement.

I think that at the end of the day, buyers will want representation, sellers will want representation.

It's just going to be who pays what and where.

Can, seller still decide to pay a buyer's side commission directly to the buyer side?

Yes.

That's where the structure is going to change.

It's going to be less of a seller broker to buyer broker and more from seller to buyer.

If that makes sense.

Got it.

And you will be there for realtors in Nevada who need more clarification.

Thank you so much for joining Nevada Week in person.

Thank you.