Weekly Notices

Friday, January 30, 2015

YES 4 Schools

Your SAR Government Affairs Committee urges a YES vote on your local school levy. Please share this information with your clients along with your personal encouragement for them to vote Yes 4 Schools, too.

Spokane SD 81, Central Valley SD 356 and other school districts in our area are asking for bond and levy votes this year. Ballots went in the mail this week. You should have already received yours. You must return your marked ballot by February 10th for your vote to count.

Spokane SD 81 offers a collection of informational materials on its 2015 bond and levy requests, online here.

Central Valley SD 356 offers a collection of informational materials on its 2015 bond and levy requests, online here.

Additionally, Spokane SD 81 offers an 11 minute video on its 2015 bond and levy requests, online here:

Spokane Public Schools 2015 Bond & Levy Information

Tax Scam Alert

The Spokane County Sheriff's Crime Prevention Office wants you - and your clients - to know that an IRS phone scam is affecting our area.

In the scam, confidence tricksters make unsolicited calls to taxpayers, fraudulently claiming to be IRS officials, and demanding that they send them cash via prepaid debit cards.

See more information at - and refer your clients to - the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGA) online here.

2015 Lilac Queen and Court

Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review

This year's Lilac Festival Queen has a connection to the REALTOR� community.

The Lilac Festival 2015 Royal Court Coronation event was held Sunday at the Bing Crosby Theater, where 14 young women vied for seven spots as ambassadors for the annual festival.

Seven were selected for the court and Meghan Long of Ferris was chosen as Queen (see photo above).

Miss Long is the daughter of SAR REALTOR� member Beth Ann Long, RE/MAX Inland Empire.

Congratulations, Meghan and Beth Ann!

See a slideshow of the event in The Spokesman-Review, online here.

Right to Terminate

When representing a seller - it is important to leverage the seller's right to terminate the agreement.

Annie Fitzsimmons, your Washington REALTORS� Legal Hotline lawyer tells you how to use form 22A, paragraph two, to the seller's advantage.

Share this information with your client at your first opportunity.

See the five minute video online here:

Right to Terminate

NEW REALTOR.COM CEO Q&A

Ryan O'Hara (pictured at left) took over the helm of Move/realtor.com� January 5th, shortly after the company's acquisition by News Corp.

REALTOR� magazine caught up with him recently to learn more about both his background and the company's plans for realtor.com�.

You can read that Q&A dialogue in REALTOR� magazine online here.

2015 Profile of Home Staging

NAR has published its 2015 Profile of Home Staging.

Highlights include:

Among REALTORS� who typically represent the buyer, 49 percent report most buyers are effected by home staging and 47 percent report some buyers are effected by home staging.
Among sellers' agents, 34 percent stage all homes, 13 percent stage difficult homes to sell, and four percent stage only high price bracket homes.
Thirty-two percent of buyers' agents believe staged homes increases the dollar value buyers are willing to offer by one percent to five percent.
The median dollar value to stage a home is $675 for each home.

Download the full report (pictured above) online here.

HUD Q&A

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced it is reducing its annual insurance premiums.

The agency has created a Q&A sheet to share more information.

That document (pictured above) is online here.

2015 Real Estate Market Forum

Plan now to attend the 2015 Real Estate Market Forum, Friday, February 26th, at the Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Come enjoy this SAR-sponsored event that shares the latest market trends forecast by local economic, development and real estate experts, and keynote speaker, Jim Hammond, City Administrator, City of Coeur d'Alene.

Download the event flyer (pictured above) for more information, online here.

Register with your credit card online now:

2015 REALTOR� Education

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Quality of Education

through SAR/WR Education Instructors

Here is the latest class listing of your SAR - offering the best live and local continuing real estate education classes for 2015.

Click on each class title, underlined in blue, to bring up a flyer for that class - suitable for posting in your office.

Register for these classes online here:

Please be in touch with Debbie at the SAR if you have any questions about these classes or your license education requirements, by phone at 326-9222 or by email.

Current Issues in Washington Residential Real Estate

NEXT WEEK!

Thursday, February 5 - Current Issues in Washington Residential Real Estate - with Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

You must take this class every two years for your renewal. See below for alternative offer of this class.

Registration: 1:15 p.m.
Class: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at the SAR

3.0 clock hours

Sabrina Jones-Schroeder - Core Curriculum Class instructor

Statewide Purchase & Sale Agreement

CLASS FULL!

Thursday, February 12th - Statewide Purchase & Sale Agreement - with Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

This class is required for our new members within 90 days of joining the SAR and must be taken by all residential agents once every four years. This four year cycle started January 1, 2013 and goes through December 31, 2016.

Registration: 8:15 a.m.
Class: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
at the SAR

7.5 clock hours

Code of Ethics - Standards for Success

Thursday, March 5 - Code of Ethics - Standards for Success - with Linda Miller.

This class is required for our new members within 90 days of joining the SAR. Members past their first license renewal may also take it or they may take a 4.0 clock hour Code of Ethics class.

A Code of Ethics class must be taken once every four years. This four year cycle started January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016.

Registration: 8:15 a.m.
Class: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at the SAR

7.5 clock hours

Current Issues in Washington Residential Real Estate

Tuesday, March 17 - Current Issues in Washington Residential Real Estate - with Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

You must take this class ever two years for your renewal. See above for alternative offer of this class.

Registration: 8:15 a.m.
Class: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
at the SAR

3.0 clock hours

Journey into Construction Designs and Styles

Friday, March 20th - Journey into Construction Designs and Styles - with Arne Woodard.

Class includes a terrific complimentary binder full of pictures/information on home styles that will prove valuable for years to come!

Registration: 8:15 a.m.
Class: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at the SAR

7.5 clock hours

Home Inspections - Red Flags and Proper Procedures

Home Inspections for REALTORS� and Appraisers

Tuesday, March 24 - Home Inspections for REALTORS� and Appraisers - with Matthew Pedersen.

This class is approved for both REALTORS� and Appraisers. Invite your favorite REALTOR�/appraiser to join you!

Registration: 8:15 a.m.
Class: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at the SAR

7.5 clock hours

Check your SAR REALTOR� School education history online any time.

Visit the Member Portal (click on image above), click on Events and then pick Educational History.

This screen shows the name and date of the classes and the clock hours you have taken.

SAR CALENDAR

Click on the image below to see the current SAR calendar

showing dates and times of classes, committees and events.

Details coming this spring!

2015 SAR Dues were Due January 1st

Your 2015 SAR annual dues were due January 1st, 2015.

Thank you if you have already paid them!

If you have not yet paid your dues, they must be received or postmarked no later than January 31st to avoid a 10% late fee.

The final date for payment of 2015 Annual Dues is

February 28th - with penalty. If your payment is not received or postmarked by this date,

your membership and services will be inactivated.

To pay your 2015 SAR annual dues online, click on the graphic above, which will bring up the login screen for the SAR member portal.

You may retrieve an invoice while online to pay by mail or you may pay in person at the SAR, 1924 North Ash Street.

Please call 326-9222 if there is any part of this you do not understand.

Thank you for your continuing membership in your SAR!

2015 NAR New Member Orientation

Are you, or is someone in your office, a new REALTOR� this year?

First, welcome to an exciting profession and an extensive support network that can help you and your new business be as successful as it can be!

Second, NAR has prepared a new video to share valuable information to help new members realize their full benefits of membership from the National Association of REALTORS�.

See the 24 minute video online here:

NAR 2015 New Member Orientation Video

REALTOR� Safety Program Expanding

The National Association of REALTORS� launched its REALTOR� Safety Program more than a decade ago to educate REALTORS� on the potential risks they face while on the job.

Over the years, the program has produced videos, hosted webinars, created marketing materials and developed a presentation for Associations and brokers to use with their agents.

Safety will continue to be an important topic for NAR.

In 2015, NAR will strengthen the REALTOR� Safety Program by adding new components, updating existing resources, and increasing the marketing efforts and visibility of the program to keep safety a priority every day.

Read more about these new components in a new 2015 REALTOR� Safety Program Fact Sheet, online here.

REALTORS� Bring an Indisputable Value

Chris Polychron (pictured at left) expects to zero in on industry concerns about the reliability of real estate data on the Internet during his term as 2015 NAR president.

The popularity of third-party portals is a reality, he says. But their presence makes it imperative that NAR continue to champion the interests of REALTORS� and consumers with regard to online listing information.

"We have a right and a responsibility to make sure our own data is accurate," he says. And consumers are entitled to know the real source of that data. "We must continue to remind everyone that the service we provide in accumulating property information is very valuable. We should not be giving our data away."

Read more about our new national president, and the causes he plans to champion during his term, online here.

Field Guide to Facebook for REALTORS�

NAR has just updated its Field Guide to Facebook for REALTORS� (January 2015).

With over 1.3 billion members worldwide, Facebook remains the largest social network site for real estate business (see graphic above).

This updated field guide goes over the basics, reviews current security settings, and explores how REALTORS� are using the social network to build their brand.

See the complete Field Guide online here.

Women's Council of REALTORS� Event

NEXT WEEK!

Women's Council of REALTORS� Spokane/Eastern Washington Chapter invites you to its next monthly program on February 5th at 11:30 a.m.

Learn more from the event flyer (pictured above), online here.

ListHub and Zillow Update

You may have received communications from Zillow announcing that in order to keep your listings on Zillow, you must complete a direct feed agreement.

The reason Zillow is sending this out is, as of April 7, 2015, Zillow will no longer receive listings fed through Listhub. Listhub is the method listings from the MLS can be distributed to Zillow and other third party sites.

Zillow is trying to get offices to enter direct feed agreements to insure no interruption to new or updated listings. However, the SAR MLS Steering Committee is discussing the options available to our members to replace the Listhub feed to Zillow.

Offices may wish to withhold entering into these individual agreements until these options have been explored. Watch for more communications on this issue next month.

ListHub Report for December

See the December ListHub report, online here.

Market Activity Report - December

The SAR Market Activity Report for December is now online.

See the latest report - and archived reports - online here.

See the December summary report (pictured above) online here.

See the year-to-date summary report (pictured above) online here.

You Be The Judge - January

Here is You Be The Judge for January:

Case #1-22: REALTOR�'S offer to buy property He has listed.

Read the case and submit your judgement online here.

Those who decide correctly will be entered in a drawing for a Starbucks coffee card!

Winner to be announced next month.

Congratulations Beverly Lee, Top Gold Realty, December Starbuck's card winner.!

DECEMBER ANSWER:

The Hearing Panel reminded REALTOR� A that the pertinent fact being considered was not his opinion at the time of the previous sale as compared to his opinion now, but rather his written "guarantee" to Buyer B and his current failure to make good his written commitment. It was the conclusions of the Hearing Panel that REALTOR� A had engaged in misrepresentation and was in violation of Article 2.

From Case #2-6: Misrepresentation.

See the full text of last month's case, online here.

Member Roster Update

Click here to view the latest Roster Update - listing new and resigned members and companies.

Click here to view the latest list of MLS Subscription Waivers approved by the SAR Board of Directors.

Send a message to Angie at the SAR with any changes.

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