The GBAR Nominating Committee has placed the following candidates in nomination for the office of Director of the Greater Binghamton Association of REALTORS®, Inc.  

·         Rosewell Butterworth    

·         Patricia Kilts   

·         Dawn Roessing   

·         Karen Templeman

Additional names may be placed on the ballot according to the following process:

·         Obtain petition signatures of at least 10% of voting GBAR REALTOR® Members (36 signatures).

·         Deliver the petition with signatures to the GBAR Executive Officer or send by certified mail, return receipt requested.  PLEASE DO NOT FAX.

·         All petitions must be received at the Association Office by 12:00 noon, July 9, 2012

·         Further requirements are detailed in GBAR Bylaws.

Candidates will be given the opportunity to speak in support of their nomination at the July Association Business Meeting on Wednesday July 11^th.

Ballots will be mailed to all voting members on August 8, 2012 with candidates' names placed in order by random draw. (Complete voting instructions will be included.)  The results of the election will be announced at the September Association Business Meeting on September 12, 2012.

 

 

 

Care to respond to Pat?  Click here to send her your comments.

 

As a reminder, your Association Dues and Fees billing for the second half of 2012 will be e-mailed to you at the end of this month (May).  These dues and fees must be paid in order for you to remain an active Member of our Association and MLS and receive the Association services.

 

Please mark your calendar that by June 30, 2012, the following amounts must be paid either on-line or to your Principal Broker:

 

GBAR Dues           July-December           $173.50

GBAR MLS Fees   July-December            $295.00

 

Please note that this is a preliminary advisement - payments cannot be accepted until the Official Notice Regarding Association Dues and/or MLS Fees email is sent and received by you.

 

IMPORTANT!!   Since our billing system is email-based, it is important that your email of record be accurate and current.   To ensure your email of record is correct, please log onto our MLS at www.binghamtonmls.com, click on "Agent Roster" in the right hand column and scroll down to your name and email address.  If you need to update your email address, please send an email immediately to realtor@gbingar.com with the new email address.  If at all possible, please do not call this information

into the Association Offices - email will speed the process.

 

Finally, now is the time to take care of any outstanding invoices that you have or your dues and fees payment cannot be accepted.

 

Thank you!

 

Barry Arnold, Executive Officer

Here at the Association we receive a number of calls and "police" emails regarding the concerns with how listing data is input and verified.  We thought we'd use this forum to mention the most common concerns, in with the intention of both educating our Members and improving the effectiveness of our listing content. 

 

Today's Topic:  Photos!

 

         All listings must feature at least one photo, unless the seller specifically requests that photos not appear on their listing.  Photos must be input to the system within 14 days of listing.

 

          To most of you, placing one or more photos on a listing as soon as it hits the hot sheet is a no-brainer, in that a photo personalizes a listing for potential buyers, and allows them to make a judgement as to whether they should ask their REALTOR to show them the property.  As such, a photo can save time for both listing and selling agents by avoiding showings that never should have happened in the first place.

 

            Finally, REALTOR brand names or signage may not appear in any MLS photos or images.  Please make sure your photos do not include your For Sale or other signage.

 

             Comments?   Click here to email Barry Arnold, EO.

I have been asked by a number of you to clarify something regarding the inspection contingency in the GBAR residential contract. As you know, for many years, our contract has contained a blank space for a dollar amount in Paragraph 4 B(1) so that the parties could negotiate a remedial repair amount that the Buyer would accept. The exact language reads, "Inspection will be considered acceptable to the Buyer if the total remedial costs do not exceed $____________. This amount only applies to the inspection performed pursuant to 4B(1), not the other inspections listed below. It includes those items indicated to be in working order per paragraph 3(A) and 3(C)." The spirit of the above clause applies to the general home inspection, but would not include items such as a septic test, a radon test, or similar additional tests. In the past few years, I have heard more and more REALTORS® claim that "safety issues" demonstrated by the inspection do not apply to the above remedial amount and that they should have to be fixed by Seller regardless of the above amount written into the contract. Unless there is some legal requirement that a "safety issue" should be addressed by the Seller, it is my opinion that such general "safety issues" fall within the spirit of the general home inspection and the above remedial amount would apply to such "safety Issues" generally.  

 

Please feel free to call me with any questions at 723-5341, or click here to email me.

 

Jon

 

Receive the recognition you have earned by applying for NYSAR Honor Society Recognition!  If you took part in your Association during 2011 (State & National Level also), you may be eligible! 

 

In addition to committees served, attendance at Monthly Association Business Meetings, CE Courses taken, Designations earned and RPAC contributions all earn points. A total of 100 points is needed to qualify.

Click here for an Application Form, which is also available from the Association Office. If you need assistance filling out the form, call the Association Office.

Wear the NYSAR Honor Society Pin that you have earned!  Return the completed form (both pages) to the Association Office by June 19, 2012.  No late entries - NYSAR does not make exceptions to the deadline.  If the form is faxed please verify receipt with the Association Office.

 

Uncertain as  to what to tell your clients about Radon Test procedures?  Click here for an article written by GBAR Affiliate Tim McGovern of AmeriSpec Home Inspection Service on the EPA "Closed House" requirements for Radon Testing.

 

Looking to know more about RPR,  the REALTOR Property Resource product, which is a free NAR product for REALTORS only providing integrated tax, MLS data, foreclosure, flood maps, valuations, schools and virtually everything you need in one place to be a local market expert?

If so, sign up now for a 60-90 minutes session starting at 10:00 am on Friday, June 8 at the Association Offices.  Presenting will be Mr. Lee Neiman, our regional RPR representative.

To Sign-Up, click here to email Executive Officer Barry Arnold.

Click here for a session flyer and more information on RPR.

 

 

Click here for the April, 2012 edition of our Monthly Statistics from 10K Marketing.  Be sure to read the front page commentary, which contains some very positive perspectives on the Greater Binghamton market performance! 

 

If you're looking for CE Credit, there's no better place than The CE Shop!  All New York CE courses are now offered with a 20% discount by using promotional code 20MAY, and Pennsylvania courses are offered at a 25% discount using promotional code GBARINPA. 

 Click here to visit The CE Shop and sign-up now! 

As you know, NAR President Moe Veissi has called for all  REALTORS® to attend the "REALTOR® Rally to Preserve the American Dream" on May 17 in Washington, DC.  The Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS® (GRAR) is organizing a bus down to DC on May 16 and returning ay 17, and would be willing to pick up GBAR Members who would like to attend.  If you are interested, click here for more information.

 The Quadrennial Ethics period expires at the end of 2012 - each REALTOR must have taken a 3-hour Ethics course by then.  But don't worry!  If you have yet to satisfy this requirement, you can meet your requirement in two ways:

 

• CLASSROOM:  We've scheduled 3 more classroom Ethics courses in the coming months, to be instructed by Anne Schoonover.  The dates are August 1, October 9 and December 4, all at the Association Offices from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.  For more information and to register, click here.

On September 13, Roseann Farrow will be instructing the CIPS course, "Global Real Estate; Local Markets" at our Association Offices in Johnson City.  Last year, foreign buyers invested more the $82 billion in U.S. residential real estate, paid $100,000 more on average than the overall U.S. median price, and over half paid all cash.  Want a piece of that?  Click here for more information and to register. 

 

 

• Click here for information and to register for GRI 405 - Construction & Environmental Issues - October 23, conducted by Russ Romano.

For a full list of classroom offerings and registration instructions, click here.

 

• Red Cross Blood Drive at the Oakdale Mall :  June 8 - 11.
• J.S. Elliott Tournament of Love:  June 20 at Genegantslet.
• Team Trivia for the benefit of Lucy Singleton:  October  27 at the Relief Pitcher.