CORE
CORE Seeks Volunteer Leaders If you’re interested in serving your fellow members and your professional association in an elected leadership role beginning January 1, please complete and return the application for open positions by September 9, 2020. To be eligible to serve, you must have been a CORE Realtor member in good standing (or of the former Mercer County Association of Realtors and/or Hunterdon Somerset Association of Realtors) for a minimum of three consecutive years.
CORE’s Office Principal Forum (OPF) Rescheduled The OPF (originally scheduled for August 5) has been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 9 at 2:00 pm. This special virtual forum, “New Jersey REALTORS® Update” with 2020 President Angela Sicoli and CEO Jarrod Grasso is for CORE broker-owners, managers, and other office principals. Registration is limited, so reserve your “seat” today! No charge. Register here.
Recorded Webinar with NAR Chief Economist If you missed CORE’s live webinar, "Residential Economic Update for New Jersey Realtors" with NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun last week, you can watch the recorded webinar here. Dr. Yun provided his insight about real estate in New Jersey during and after the Coronavirus pandemic.
Due to the cancelled Circle of Excellence event, CORE will be holding a contactless parking lot pick-up event for CORE members to pick up awards for their winners. This event will be held Tuesday, September 1 (Rain Date: Thursday September 3) at the Branchburg office, 61 US Highway 22 E. Bldg. B. Please follow the designated time-slots below:
- Office name from A-J: 9 am - 12 pm
- Office name from K-Z: 1 pm - 4 pm
- Each office Designated Realtor should assign someone in your firm to pick up the awards for each office in which you are a DR.
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Please email the names of all agents by office and who will be picking them up to CORE Director of Education & Events Craig Pantellere at craig@core-realtors.com - no later than Tuesday, August 25.
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Local
MercerCounty.org: August 2020 is the 14th Annual National Black Business Month (NBBM) To support businesses owned by African-Americans, Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes worked with the Mercer County Freeholder Board to formally establish goals in support of minority-owned small businesses through Ordinance No. 2018-5, which established a Mercer County Set Aside Program.
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This program reserves 10 percent of the dollar value of all the County’s goods, professional services and construction contracts each year and encourages small business participation. The program allocates 30 percent for qualified* minority businesses; 30 percent for qualified women-owned businesses; 30 percent for qualified veteran-owned businesses; and 10 percent for small businesses. Read more.
Somerset County: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-CV) Emergency Rental Relief (ERR) Program Somerset County has established an Emergency Rental Relief Program for County households that had a loss of income as a result of the COVID-19. Applicants may be eligible for up to 3 months’ rent or $3,000.00, whichever is less, for payment toward rent that is owed. The program will only pay rent that is owed and will not pay late fees. Payments will be issued directly to the landlord.
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Note that this program is funded by the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and as a result, residents of Franklin Township, which has its own CDBG program, are not eligible. For more information, click here.
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Webinars
NAR Right Tools, Right Now: Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES®) Online Designation Course This course is a training program that offers agents the unique opportunity to build critical skills and insights in counseling adults ages 50+. By taking this course, real estate professionals will also learn how to address the needs of the senior community and Baby Boomers, the nation’s largest and wealthiest growing market. Price: $206.50 | Regular Price: $295. Register here.
NAR Right Tools, Right Now: Short Sales and Foreclosures (SFR®) Online Certification Course What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know certification online. This course is designed for real estate professionals at all experience levels and will help agents learn to help buyers and sellers navigate transactions of distressed properties. Price: $91 | Regular Price: $130. Register here.
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NJ
NJ Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) to Provide $15 Million in New CARES Act Funding to Businesses in Counties that Received No Direct Federal Aid Read more.
2021 NJ REALTORS® Committee Selection Process The application form is now available online. All applications must be received by the close of business on October 23. An expertise profile must be completed prior to making committee selections. Click here for more information and to apply online.
NJ.gov: Governor Signs Executive Order to Protect Public Health by Mailing Every Active Registered Voter a Ballot Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Phil Murphy has signed an executive order to create a modified vote-by-mail (VBM) election for the November 3rd General Election. The order suspends the sending of sample ballots and requires that each county’s elections officials send VBM ballots with pre-paid postage to all active registered voters for the General Election. Read more.
Governor Murphy Announces the First Phase of the Small and Micro Business PPE Access Program The program is designed to ensure that the State’s small businesses and non-profits have access to the fairly priced personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary to facilitate safe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The website referred to in the article will not be live until September, and grant applications for this program will not go live until at least then. Eligibility for participation has not yet been determined. Read more.
HUD Repeals AFFH Regulation, NJ Requirement Remains in Place Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) repealed the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. The AFFH rule was first enacted in 2015 and required municipalities to come up with plans to address housing discrimination to receive federal housing funds. HUD replaced the AFFH rule with the Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice rule. The National Association of Realtors raised concerns and opposed the repeal of the AFFH rule. Even with the repeal of the AFFH rule, New Jersey has its affordable housing requirements in place as a result of the Mount Laurel court ruling, which requires municipalities to provide for affordable housing through local planning, zoning, and land-use policies.
New Jersey Realtors: NJHMFA Launching Small Landlord Grant Program To assist small rental property owners and their tenants during COVID-19, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency is launching the Small Landlord Emergency Grant Program.
- The grants will reimburse small landlords for missed or reduced rent payments between April and July 2020. If selected, landlords will be required to forgive back rent and late fees accrued by their tenants from the April to July period.
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The application opens Aug. 19 - eligible applications will be reviewed and selected at random. Learn more here.
New Jersey Realtors: Get Started on Your COE Application Applications for New Jersey Realtors Circle of Excellence Sales Award are now open. You can start your application today here. Completed applications and payments must be submitted, with verification material, to your local board by their close of business on Jan. 8, 2021.
- Earn one unit towards your award by investing a minimum of $100 to Realtors Political Action Committee of New Jersey by Oct. 2.
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National
Federal Trade Commission: Beware of Scammers Eyeing Mortgage Assistance Americans have lost about $106 million to fraud related to COVID-19 so far this year. Tell your clients how to avoid losses. Read more.
NAR: Inspection Entourages: Stay Home Tighter inspection practices stemming from COVID-19 need to remain post-pandemic. Here’s why.
NAR: Reaffirming Fair Housing: Why Now? Discrimination has no place in real estate, as you already know. Now is an urgent time to act on our shared principle, NAR Director of Fair Housing Policy Bryan Greene says in the latest “Pivot in Place” video. The neighborhoods where people reside, Greene notes, determine their access to education, safety, and health care—particularly critical issues in the middle of this pandemic. Therefore, equal housing opportunity is a vital component of helping everyone not only survive but thrive despite COVID-19. Watch video.
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