eNews
October 16, 2017
Seeking flood insurance stories to share with Minnesota REALTORS®

The National Association of REALTORS® will be doing a second call for action for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to extend flood insurance beyond the three-month extension, which is slated to end on December 8, 2017. The current extension falls short of the initial five-year extension request.
 
Minnesota REALTORS® plans to conduct pre-call-for-action education and outreach to grow member participation beyond a 12 percent participation rate, and they need your help.
 
If you have any flood insurance stories you can share we want to hear from you:
  • Do you know of a situation in which flood insurance or flood zone designation impacted a client's transaction?
  • Do you have a client who was helped by flood insurance following a loss?
  • Do you have a story of your own?
Minnesota REALTORS® hopes to shoot a video featuring REALTORS®, and possibly clients, who have been impacted by flood insurance in the areas of affordability (insurance monthly payment + mortgage payment made the house too expensive, for example), who are facing the last lapse in NFIP or who have been helped by flood insurance after a loss.
 
Please send a brief overview of your experience to Jennifer Kovacich at jkovacich@spaar.com by Friday, Oct. 20. We will share your ideas with Minnesota REALTORS®. Thanks for your help - we hope to hear from you!
2018 membership renewal notices sent via email
 
SPAAR 2018 membership renewal notices were sent via email on August 18th from billing@spaar.com. If you do not see your renewal notice in your inbox, please check your SPAM and junk folders so you do not miss out on this important information. As a reminder, if payment is not received on or before November 30, a $50 late payment fee will be added to the amount due. To view important 2018 dues billing information, please click here. If you have questions regarding your membership renewal, please do not hesitate to contact the Association at 651-776-6000.
 
Note: You have the ability to adjust the optional items from your 2018 SPAAR Membership Renewal Order.  For detailed instructions on how to adjust the optional items, please click here.

Bob Clark installed as treasurer of Minnesota REALTORS ®

Bob Clark, a past president of SPAAR, was recently installed as the treasurer of Minnesota REALTORS ®. Click here to read more.
Become a SPAAR Hero or nominate someone who deserves the title

SPAAR's members are involved in their communities in many, many ways---raising awareness and money for causes, volunteering with nonprofits or working with youth sports programs, just to name a few. 
 
The Community Engagement Committee would like to tell the story of you or someone you know who is deserving of SPAAR Hero recognition. This program recognizes a SPAAR member each month for his or her community involvement. Then, each month, the SPAAR Hero will be featured in e-News and on social media. Furthermore, the recipient will receive $250 to provide to his or her cause.
 
SPAAR Hero is an opportunity to generate publicity for the good work being done in our communities and recognize those behind the efforts. Most important, it allows an organization or cause to be in the limelight. 
 
Are YOU a SPAAR Hero? Yes, it's OK to nominate yourself! Do you know or work with a SPAAR Hero? If so, we want to know who they are, too!
 
Selection will be made by SPAAR's Community Engagement Committee.  Direct any questions or nominations to jmckinley@spaar.com .
Nominate someone for the Better Communities Award

We are looking for members who are doing great things in the community for SPAAR's Better Communities Award. The award is given annually and its recipient is honored at the Winter Social. A financial contribution of $1,000 will be awarded to the recipient's charitable organization of choice.

Eligibility criteria: nominees must be REALTORS® or affiliate members in good standing with the Saint Paul Area Association of REALTORS®. Nominee should be a recognized leader in some community endeavor. His or her contributions to a program and/or an organization should result in improving the quality of life in our service area and serve to demonstrate he or she cares about the total well-being of the community. The award is designed to recognize individual contributions, not association or company-wide efforts; however, if an individual within a company is instrumental to the triumph of a group effort, he or she is eligible.

Download a NOMINATION FORM and submit to Joe McKinley by December 1, 2017.
We want to hear from you!

Have you completed the SPAAR member communications survey?  SPAAR is asking members to share their insights about the services offered, opportunities available and interest in receiving member and industry news. This is your chance to share your voice, and allow SPAAR to learn what is most meaningful for you in your role.

The survey is available through Tuesday, October 31.
Office brokers will see an update to SupraWEB by year-end

Later this year, the office broker version of SupraWEB will be discontinued and its features will transition to the keyholder version of SupraWEB. 

When the change is made, office brokers will have access to the following features in the keyholder version of SupraWEB:
  • Sending messages to all keyholders in the office
  • Managing ShowingTime integration for the office (if used by association/MLS)
Additionally, some new features have been added to provide office brokers more tools, such as:
  • Listing assignments can be made from the Office Keybox Inventory report
  • Showing duration will be added to the Showing and Key activity report
  • Office reports will be modified to show the listing address in addition to the MLS number, and the office name will be displayed in the assigned column if assigned to an office rather than an individual
More detailed information will be shared closer to the transition.
Learn how to market to diverse homebuyers

SPAAR's Diversity Committee is sponsoring three one-hour classes on Wednesday, Nov. 8, to assist you in working with and marketing to diverse homebuyers.

Each class offers 1.0 hour of Continuing Education credit. Julia Israel will present "Real Estate in Diverse Communities" followed by presentations from the Minnesota Housing Agency and the Minnesota Home Ownership Center on "Nonprofit Resources for You...and Your Clients."



Come to learn and stay for lunch, sponsored by SPAAR's Diversity Committee.
Learn the answers to questions property owners may ask

If you've ever been asked "can I put in a retaining wall?" or "can I add a second story?" this session is for you.

Join the Minnesota DNR, St. Croix River Association and East Metro Water Resource Education Program to learn answers to these questions and more in a "Shoreland Properties for Realtors and Appraisers" class.

On Thursday, Nov. 16, from 8:30am to 12:30pm answers to questions about properties in floodplain, shoreland and riverway districts will be addressed at the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater.

Tickets are $30 per person and CE credits will be earned. Breakfast is included.

Click here to register for "Shoreland Properties for Realtors and Appraisers" class
NAR Chicago Convention
Bring in SPAAR Squad for your next office meeting

Looking for useful content for upcoming office meetings? SPAAR Squad is here to help! Our staff members are available to attend your meeting and speak about a variety of relevant topics. We also provide onsite training (some with free CE) for groups of 25 or more. 
Housing Market Statistics

Get up-to-date housing market information here. SPAAR provides four different types of reports so you can offer your clients the most accurate housing data available. Click below to see how the market is doing.

Welcome, new members!

Welcome to SPAAR! Thank you for joining. We look forward to helping you be successful in your business.

Member Name
Company Name
Tammy Gisvold
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Lovejoy Realty
Michael Graff
RE/MAX Advantage Plus
Karen Halliday
Brownstone Realty
Nicholas Lindberg
Keller Williams Classic Realty
Hiep Nguyen
Keller Williams Preferred Realty
Dwight Rudquist
RE/MAX Synergy
Nathan Smith
Hans Hagen Homes, Inc.
Shelley Svoboda
Edina Realty, Inc.
Nathaniel Weber
JSP Properties LLC
Yongsia Yang
Sunset Realty


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