For Terry Sullivan, getting involved in the real estate community proved to be a smart political move.

The second-generation Spokane real estate professional and owner of Sullivan Realty is currently a director at the National Association of REALTORS®, and as such, has the highest position held by a Spokane REALTORS® since Alvin J. Wolff Sr. served as the treasurer of NAR in the1970s. Also, Sullivan is real estate community’s liaison for Washington state’s 5th Legislative District – the district currently served by U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers – and has served in that position since 1988, when Tom Foley was Speaker of the House.

“This is the greatest recognition I could have,” Sullivan told a group of peers during the presentation of the Spokane Association of REALTORS® annual awards banquet. “Your esteem is the highest compliment you could pay me.”

The association gave Sullivan the REALTOR® Achievement Award in honor of his service to local, state and national associations through the years.

Sullivan started his real estate career in 1970, two years after graduating from Washington State University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. He went to work at Sullivan Realty – the real estate agency his father, Chuck, started – and focused on residential sales and land development.

He eventually took over Sullivan Realty from his father, which then became a regional franchise called Star Brokers. He later joined forces with another second-generation Spokane real estate agent, Joe Nichols, to create Windermere Real Estate Manito, which is still operating on Spokane’s South Hill.

After selling his interest in Windermere Manito, Sullivan restarted Sullivan Realty, concentrating more on land development than residential sales. Since 1979, he has developed more than 400 residential lots, mostly, he says, in gated communities on the South Hill. He has also handled some commercial redevelopment and some apartment-building projects.

Long-time Spokane real estate executive Jerry Hagood recruited Sullivan in the 1980s to get involved in the Spokane Association of REALTORS®. In 1990, he served as the Spokane Association’s president, 30 years after his father held the same position. He was already serving as the legislative liaison at that point, a position he says he continues to enjoy. He gets to visit legislators on Capitol Hill annually and deliver what he calls “the REALTORS® party position.”

He explains, “It’s not just R (Republican) or D (Democrat), but we are intent on a common platform for the entire real estate community.”

Sullivan’s involvement at the national level is no small feat. He said 6,000 people apply for 87 positions at the national level. In addition to his capacity as a director, he is currently serving as the vice chairman of the land-use committee and is in line to be chairman of the committee next year. He is also on NAR’s public policy coordinating committee, public advocacy advisory group and the smart growth program advisory group.

Such involvement works well for him.

“I’ve been politically oriented my entire real estate career,” Sullivan said. “The combination of my expertise in land use and avocation for politics make it a good fit for me.”