Weekly Notices

Friday, April 1, 2016

Quarterly Membership Meeting

SAR photo

Your SAR awarded Certificates of Appreciation to its 2015 Officers, Directors, and Committee chairs at its Quarterly Membership Meeting at CenterPlace in Spokane Valley (photo above), this week.

SAR photo

Gratefully recognized for their service to the association are (those present pictured above): Joe Garst, Immediate Past President; Tom LaLone, Treasurer; Michael Baker, Secretary; Marilyn Amato, Director; Tom Clark, Director; Jennifer Valerien, Director; Arne Woodard, Director; Rick Richard, Director; Steve Hagen, Education Committee Chair; Michael Baker, Governmental Affairs Committee Chair; Ken Sax, Grievance Committee Chair; Susie Luby, MLS Sterring Committee Chair; Mike Crowley, Professional Standards Committee Chair.

SAR photo

Also at the meeting this week, SAR Immediate Past President Jack Kestell (above) was officially recognized as REALTORŽ Emeritus by the National Association of REALTORSŽ. SAR Executive Vice President Rob Higgins presented the award.

A REALTORŽ Member who has held membership in the National Association as a REALTORŽ, REALTOR-ASSOCIATEŽ, or both, for a cumulative period of forty (40) years is eligible for REALTORŽ Emeritus status.

Open House Weekend

EVENT IN THREE WEEKS!

Plan to participate in the Spokane REALTORSŽ Open House Weekend, April 23rd and 24th - where you could win $500 and your visitor may win $1,000!

This is the sixth annual countywide event to draw attention and visitors to your business as a REALTORŽ. Spokane REALTORSŽ offered more than 300 homes in this event last year.

All participating open houses must be listed on SpokaneOpen.com, the official open house website of the Spokane Association of REALTORSŽ. Sign riders (pictured above) are available at the SAR for your pick up during regular business hours.

Promote the event, and your participation in it, with the official Spokane REALTORSŽ Open House Weekend event logo (pictured above), online here.

This information will get you started. More details will be shared here in the Weekly Notices next week.

Our event is generously sponsored by:

Click on the logo above to go to the website now.

Your SAR has negotiated special advertising rates with the Inlander and the Spokesman-Review to help you promote your open houses (this is optional).

See the flyers from our event partners for details, below.

DEADLINE: FRIDAY, APRIL 15th

See the special SAR member advertising opportunity offered by the Inlander (pictured above), online here.

DEADLINE: FRIDAY, APRIL 15th

See the special SAR member advertising opportunity offered by the Spokesman-Review, online here.

Headquarter House

SAR photo

Will you be listing a remarkable property in the Spokane REALTORSŽ Open House weekend?

Nominate your listing as our event headquarter house!

The headquarter house serves as a point of contact for SAR members to pick up supplies, media members to get good interviews, and members of the public to start their open house visits. It will receive exceptional exposure during the two-day event.

Property must:

- be participating in the Spokane REALTORSŽ Open House weekend

- be a short drive from downtown Spokane

- have generous parking available in the area

- be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days of the event

- have sellers written permission to participate

Nominate your property by sending an email to Angie at the SAR - or call her at 326-9222 - include property address, a photo, and brief details. Please type "HEADQUARTER HOUSE" in the subject line.

DEADLINE to submit is 9 a.m. on April 11th.

The 2016 Spokane REALTORSŽ Open House Weekend headquarter house will be chosen on April 11th.

Teams / Dual Agent

Washington REALTORŽ Legal Hotline lawyer

Annie Fitzsimmons is back this week to answer another letter to her Legal Hotline Mailbag.

Here's the situation . . .

A Team lists Property (like a builder with multiple Properties in a subdivision) . . . if one of those Team Members work with a Buyer, and wants to represent that Buyer exclusively, can the Team Member do that even though the Team Member has sat in on Team discussions, discussing pricing, marketing strategies, etc., for the benefit of the Seller?

And if that Team Member represents the Buyer on one transaction - if they can even do that - could that Buyer then turn around and continue to represent the Seller as a Team Member on the remaining Properties in the subdivision?

See the 12-minute video online here:

Legal Hotline Mailbag: Teams / Dual Agent

How to Explain Low Inventory

SAR photo

Everywhere you turn, there's a new story about how the lack of homes on the market is driving up prices and driving buyers crazy. But what's the reason behind this trend?

There are a number of factors, according to a recent article at Real Estate Economy Watch. Make sure you understand the logic behind the market, so you can be the best advocate for your clients during these somewhat stressful times.

Read Six Ways to Explain Low Inventory in REALTORŽ magazine, online here.

Join the conversation online and share your perspective on the current inventory situation in your neighborhoods on the SAR Facebook page:

Lunch & Learn - Home Appraisals

Welcome to your SAR's April Lunch & Learn event, Monday, April 11th: Home Appraisals.

Come learn how appraisers measure houses, where adjustments to value come from and why appraisers can't get to total value.

See the event flyer (pictured above), online here.

REALTORŽ Broker Summit

REALTORŽ Broker Summits are designed exclusively for designated broker and broker owner members to come together and learn from presenters, panels, and peer leaders in the industry offering fresh insights on current conditions while looking to the future of real estate.

The 2016 Broker Summit will be held June 9-10 in Denver, Colorado, at the Denver Marriott City Center.

The $149 Broker Summit Early Bird registration rate will run through April 8.

Read more about this event and register online here.

Technologies to Advance your Business

The Coeur d'Alene Association of REALTORSŽ invites you to attend its upcoming Council of Residential Specialists class:

CRS 206: Technologies to Advance Your Business

May 4th & 5th at the Coeur d'Alene Association of REALTORSŽ.

This class offers 16 CRS designation credits, 16 Washington clock hours.

See the event flyer (pictured above), online here.

2016 REALTORŽ 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 2016.

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.

Working with Difficult People

NEXT WEEK!

Thursday, April 7 - Tip, Tricks & Strategies for Working with Difficult People - with Linda Miller Sheets.

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

3.0 clock hours

The Code of Ethics for Real Estate Professionals

Wednesday, April 13 - The Code of Ethics for Real Estate Professionals - with Linda Miller Sheets.

Registration: noon
Class: 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at the SAR

4.0 clock hours

Code of Ethics: Standards for Success

Thursday, April 14 - Code of Ethics: Standards for Success - with Linda Miller Sheets.

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

7.5 clock hours

Land and Acreage 101: Rural Property

Tuesday, April 19 - Land and Acreage 101: Rural Property - with Jim Palmer, Jr.

Registration: 8:15 a.m.
Class: 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
at the SAR

4.0 clock hours

SAR CALENDAR

Click on the image below to see the current SAR calendar

showing dates and times of classes, committees and events.

Fair Housing Month

April is Fair Housing Month!

April 2016 marks the 48th anniversary of the 1968 landmark Fair Housing Act.

Each year REALTORSŽ recognize the significance of this event and reconfirm our commitment to upholding fair housing law as well as our commitment to offering equal professional service to all in their search for real property.

Fair Housing Partners of Washington State offers a guidebook to assist you in understanding and complying with Fair Housing laws.

Download your copy of Fair Housing for Real Estate Industry Professionals - Washington State Edition (pictured above) - online here.

Download NAR's 2016 Fair Housing poster, suitable for posting in your office (pictured above), online here.

INW Fair Housing Conference

The Voice for Real Estate

NAR Director of Broadcasting Stephen Gasque returns this week with a new edition of his bi-weekly video update, The Voice for Real Estate.

Featured Segments:

Condo Loans
Clean Water Act
Renters (HOME survey)
Young Buyers
Legal Help
February Sales
AE Institute

See the nine-minute video online here:

The Voice for Real Estate

Getting Started with RPR

When considering adoption of a new business tool, new and seasoned REALTORSŽ unanimously want to know "what will it do for me and how will it help my business?"

RPRŽ is designed exclusively for that purpose: to help REALTORSŽ achieve professional success by providing them with an unparalleled platform of dynamic data and persuasive reports that help attract, retain and lead clients to the closing table.

Check out Getting Started with RPR, online here.

Quality of Leads

How would you rate the quality of leads you receive from popular national listing sites?

Here is your chance to answer that question and be counted among your colleagues across the country.

Clareity Consulting is conducting a nationwide study of real estate agents asking them about the quality of leads from popular national listing advertising sites.

The study is a quick, four question survey that allows you to share their thoughts/opinions.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Leads_Spokane

Thank you for your consideration. Any results Clareity Consulting shares back with your SAR will be presented here in the Weekly Notices.

WCR April Event

NEXT WEEK!

The Spokane Eastern Washington Chapter of Women's Council of REALTORS invites you to its April event, Thursday, April 7th: What was that Appraiser Thinking?

Hear from local appraisers speaking on the process of the appraisal.

See the event flyer (pictured above) for details, online here.

Future of History

Marketing Association of Spokane honors Architecture Month in Spokane and invites you to its April 14th program: "Future of History in Spokane."

The presentation will introduce participants to the benefits of historic preservation and adaptive reuse in the Spokane area.

Participants will learn about the resources available for historic eligible properties and recent examples of Spokane's historic rehabilitation projects.

The presentation will cover historic preservation from the perspective of a property owner and look at the challenges and current proposed solution to a well-known landmark.

More information and online registration is available online here.

Great Photos with your iPhone

Every day we see an increase in people replacing their digital cameras for their smartphones to take pictures.

This is mainly because manufacturers are adding some incredible lenses to smartphones, which make it a very convenient device to capture daily moments and upload them quickly to social media apps.

Smartphone cameras do not provide the quality photos that a good digital camera can provide, which are recommended for listings. Nevertheless, here at Tech Helpline, we see a trend of agents using their smartphones to take pictures for their listings.

For this reason, today we will show you some quick tips on how to get the best possible image using an iPhone with iOS 9. All features listed below are available on the iPhone 5 or newer.

Read more online here.

Free Passes Available to Members

Your SAR has 20 complimentary, one-time, general admission passes redeemable at either the Mobius Science Center or the Mobius Kids Children's Museum in downtown Spokane.

With Spring vacation coming up, this would make for a great family outing! Passes are available on a first come basis. Supply is limited.

Please see Angie at the SAR front desk for assistance.

More information about Mobius Science Center and Mobius Kids Children's Museum is online here.

ListHub Report for February

See the February ListHub report, online here.

Market Activity Report - February

The SAR Market Activity Report for February is now online.

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

See the February 2016 summary report (pictured above) online here.

See the 2016 year-to-date summary report (pictured above) online here.

Member Roster Update

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

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

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

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