Mark Gordon, partner and broker at Christiania Realty in Vail, Colorado, has been elected President-Elect of the Colorado Association of Realtors (CAR) for 2027-2028. He will assume the role on December 1, 2026, alongside Brian Anzur of South Metro Denver as President and Janet Marlow, also of South Metro Denver, as Treasurer. The election was decided by CAR’s Board of Directors, comprising approximately 120 members representing real estate associations across the state.
Gordon announced his candidacy in early 2026 and prioritized one-on-one conversations with as many voting board members as possible. “I always think of a campaign as a conversation, not as a sales pitch,” Gordon said. “A conversation involves listening and talking, listening first and responding and engaging with people.” He sent handwritten snail mail cards to all 120 voters at the start of the campaign, drawing more responses than expected. In the following months, he attended regional summits and conferences to genuinely engage with members from districts far removed from his mountain community. This approach mirrors his time on the Vail Town Council from 2005 to 2009, where he focused on spending real time with constituents, especially those who might not already be in his corner.
Gordon has been candid about his reasons for stepping into state leadership during a period he describes as unsettled. “Things are definitely in a transition and sometimes you feel like you might be standing on quicksand,” he said, referring to broader shifts hitting the industry, including the National Association of Realtors settlement and its ripple effects on MLS structures, the rise of AI, brokerage consolidation, and the ongoing affordability crisis. He sees organized real estate as one of the few forces capable of pushing back effectively. Earlier this year, Gordon was part of the CAR-led effort to defeat a proposed vacancy tax at the Colorado state legislature, which the association lobbied against alongside home builders and municipalities. The bill was killed in committee. “Advocacy works,” he said. “Realtors working together along with other organizations really can make a huge difference for homeownership and the American dream.”
Gordon’s base in Vail, a market that historically moves differently from the rest of Colorado, offers a unique vantage point. The Vail market is cash-driven, tracks closer to the Dow Jones than to interest rates, and is constrained by national forest boundaries that prevent sprawl. It tends to be “the slowest into corrections and the first to recover,” Gordon noted. That experience with tight fundamentals and high-stakes buyers has shaped his thinking on issues facing realtors statewide. He currently chairs CAR’s Insight Advisory Committee, a think tank tasked with identifying upcoming industry trends before they reach headlines. The committee is producing white papers for CAR leadership and membership throughout the year. He also holds a directorship with the National Association of Realtors, representing Colorado’s small and medium boards as an at-large director, and previously served on the board of the Residential Real Estate Council, one of the most respected designations in the industry.
Gordon has spoken openly about artificial intelligence in real estate, arguing that agents who use AI as a replacement for human connection will lose ground. “If every company uses AI without humans, they’re all going to be the same,” he said, referencing a conversation with an AI futurist. “It is only through the combination of AI and humans and the creativity that humans bring that you can differentiate your company or your real estate services from others.” He is equally focused on insurance availability, which he describes as one of the most pressing challenges facing Colorado homeowners. He raised the issue with both of Colorado’s U.S. senators during a Washington D.C. trip, pressing for federal engagement on what he sees as a growing access-to-homeownership problem.
As President-Elect, Gordon will spend the coming year preparing to lead an organization representing thousands of Colorado real estate professionals. His path to the role, from Vail Town Council to Board of Realtors president to national director to state president-elect, reflects a career defined by showing up where decisions get made. Gordon’s work in the Vail luxury market continues through Christiania Realty, where he has spent almost two decades helping buyers and sellers navigate one of Colorado’s most distinctive and resilient property markets. More information is available at vailcoluxuryhomes.com.
