PMAR's Bi-Weekly Newsletter for Real Estate Professionals
Financial Exploitation of Seniors and Adults with Disabilities Forum
Registration opens this Monday, May 22nd

Thursday, June 29th
9:00 a.m. to Noon
Oregon State Bar
(16037 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd, Tigard)
  • Understand the level of financial exploitation faced by seniors and adults with disabilities
  • Learn about the growing number of these citizens who are participating in real estate transactions in the region
  • What to do when financial exploitation is suspected
  • Know what a Power of Attorney does and does not provide
  • Where to access local resources to help clients

Cost:

$20 HOWNW.com™ Certified Specialists (HCS designation)

 

$30 PMAR Members
$50 Non-Members and Attorneys (OR State Bar CE will be issued)

3 hours of Oregon CE credit will be issued.

Moderator: Lane Mueller, Esquire, Wise Move Real Estate

Presenters:
- Jessica Lautz, NAR Director of Survey Research and Communications
- Dan Norris, Assistant Attorney General Oregon
- Alan Brickley, Retired Counsel, First American Title Company

Registration opens at www.pmar.org/events on Monday, May 22nd.
PMAR NEEDS YOU!
Do you have some experience volunteering with your Realtor® Association, and want to take it to the next level?  PMAR has a number of Local and State Director positions available starting in 2018.

Click Here   for a link to the nomination form, which includes position descriptions and qualification criteria.

If you don't qualify for next year, but would like to learn how to become eligible in the future, contact Michele Holen, PMAR Chief Operating Officer, about all our volunteer opportunities.
Fact or Fiction: Misconceptions in Real Estate

PMAR Principal Broker Forum
Thursday, June 15th
9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (D oors open at 8:30 a.m.)

Multnomah Athletic Club (1849 SW Salmon St, Portland)

Moderator: Lane Mueller, Wise Move Real Estate

Panelists:
- Pat Ihnat, Fidelity National Title
- Phil Querin, JD, Querin Law LLC
- Terry Romel, Information Services Manager, RMLS

Click Here to register.
Sign-up and prepayment required. Cost is $20/person. 
Open to all PMAR members with a Principal Brokers license.  1.5 Hours CE credits will be issued.

Questions? Email bpowellparich@pmar.org or call 503-459-2169.
Surviving the Bidding Wars:  Helping Sellers Choose Between Multiple Offers
Juggling multiple offers is an enviable problem to have, but it isn't always easy territory to navigate. For clients who think the highest bid is the default choice, it's important to explain that price is just part of the calculation.

Other factors include move-in timeline, potential appraisal and inspection contingencies, the amount of earnest money a buyer is willing to put down, and negotiations around home repairs, among other issues.

Sellers in multiple-offer situations have numerous considerations to sort through. Once you've done your job explaining the pros and cons of each offer and providing information clients need to make an informed decision, it's important to support whatever choice they make. In the end, the best offer is the one they are most comfortable with.

Click Here to read the full article.
Congratulations to the New PMAR HOWNW.com™ Certified Specialists
On April 27th, nineteen Realtors® earned the PMAR HCS designation. This designation enables agents to address the buyer's concerns about homeownership affordability by understanding the broad range of information, solutions, and financial resources available at HOWNW.com.™

Congratulations to:
Judy Adler Allison Buchman Cheryle Clunes Jan Cullivan
Lindsey Culver Patricia Delmar Kirk Joyce Economus Thu-Tam Hixson
Jonathan Ives Susan Kaufman Holli MacDuffee Bianca Morris
Tamara (Tami) Pelo Angela Pernisco Carrie Struss Yuen San Tang
Jessica Tindell Steve Westmoreland Kyleen Zimber

Click Here to learn more about the HCS designation.

House With Solar Panels
Window to the Law: Solar Panel Financing Issues
As the use of clean energy sources grows, consumers are beginning to incorporate clean energy devices like solar panels into their homes. While solar panels may result in an energy savings for a homeowner, the panels are expensive and many consumers need financing to purchase and install them.

These financing arrangements can lead to problems when the owner tries to sell the house, causing delays in the transaction or even causing the transaction to collapse.

Real estate professionals can avoid transaction delays by identifying all information about solar panel financing and encouraging the seller to make it available to the buyer early in the process. This will avoid delays/wasted time by allowing the buyer to determine whether and how solar panel financing issues may impact the buyer's ability to purchase the property.

Click here to view a video on learning how to address these issues.
May is Realtor® Advocacy Month
As an NAR member you are automatically a member of the REALTOR® Party - the only advocacy group in America that fights exclusively for homeownership, real estate investment, strong communities and the free enterprise system. 

The REALTOR® Party speaks with one voice to advance candidates and public policies that uphold private property rights, real property ownership, strong communities and a vibrant business environment.

Since the REALTOR® Party was launched in 2012, resources have been put to work more than 13,000 times by more than 1,000 Realtor® Associations. In recent years, local level activities have increased; Realtors® have gained political clout through legislative victories; and state and local Realtor® Associations have expanded their community and political presence.

While the thought of political advocacy and community engagement on a large scale may be daunting, here are five easy ways to get started.
Making An Offer: 5 Mistakes to Avoid
home-owners-handshake.jpg
In competitive housing markets across the country, making an offer that sticks has become increasingly difficult. Ensure your client doesn't make the process even tougher by succumbing to one of these common mistakes.
  1. Delaying: Make sure buyers are ready with their paperwork from the day they begin house-hunting mode so they can pounce quickly with an offer.
  2. Making an offer for their preapproved amount:  Exact preapproval offers can make a listing agent nervous because there's no wiggle room to negotiate and buyers may no longer qualify if interest rates rise.
  3. Submitting a lowball offer: Lowballing often backfires, especially in a seller's market.
  4. Waiving inspection contingencies: If you waive the inspection contingency in your offer, you may lose the earnest money if you later back out of the deal.
  5. Not presenting yourself well enough: Make sure buyers look good in the eyes of the seller. Buyers who act less than enthusiastic will be at a competitive disadvantage when sellers are comparing multiple offers.
 Click Here to read the full article.
Homebuying in the Floodplain
Flooding is the most common natural disaster in the United States and anywhere it can rain, it can flood. Be sure your clients are ready and prepared to take extra precautions if they are buying or selling in the floodplain. 

NAR has created an Issue Brief on how homebuying may vary in the floodplain, including a list of what additional actions should be taken during each step of the process for the Buyer's Agent, Seller's Agent, Lender, and Insurance Agent.

Click Here to view the full NAR Issue Brief.

Review NAR's Flood Insurance Tool Kit here.
Mobile Usage and Your Business
RPR has announced the results of its recent 2017 REALTOR® Mobile Usage Report. The report includes findings from a survey of almost 200 REALTORS® about the way they use mobile devices in their everyday businesses.

2017 REALTOR® Mobile Usage Report Key Findings:
  • 96% of Realtors® agree: using a mobile device to access housing data saves time during the work day.
  • 89% of those surveyed indicated they often use a mobile device to communicate with clients. Other popular activities included researching housing data (72%), financial calculations (44%) and prospecting (34%).
  • 87% of Realtors® agree that clients prefer to receive new housing alerts and market activity reports sent directly to their multiple device.

Click Here to view the full report.

Planning Your Summer Vacation?
Enjoy member discounts on car rentals with REALTOR Benefits® Program partners Avis®, Budget®, and Hertz® when you use the relevant partner discount codes.

Click Here for details on available offers.
Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors® | 503.228.6595 | www.pmar.org