Weekly Notices

Friday, June 24, 2016

FAA Publishes Drone Rules

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), this week, published its final operational rules for the commercial use of small drones weighing under 55 pounds.

These rules will guide the first major expansion of commercial drones after the FAA's earlier limited exemption process for commercial operators.

The rule also establishes a process for licensing commercial drone pilots.

For the most part, the rules are a little bit more narrow than many had hoped.

Under the new rules, pilots must always remain within visual line of sight of the drone - something that prohibits any kind of long-distance drone use, including even the most basic delivery drones.

Commercial drones will also only be allowed to operate during daylight hours or civil twilight.

Just like today, drones can't operate over people who aren't "directly participating in the operation."

Read the FAA news release, Regulations will create new opportunities for business and government to use drones, online here.

Exhibit A

BREAKING NEWS

Based on input from a number of sources, to include our Title Companies, the July 5th effective date of our newly-approved policy regarding "Exhibit A" has been postponed to a later date.

The Board of Directors will review the policy at its July 6th meeting.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

zipForm Annual Renewals

TransactionDesk is an integrated transaction management solution provided by the Spokane Association of REALTORSŽ.

Please take advantage of training classes being offered at the SAR office.

The next TransactionDesk Basics class is on Thursday, June 30th, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the SAR.

NOTE: THIS CLASS IS FULL!

Another TransactionDesk Basics class will be offered on Monday, July 11th, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the SAR. To register, just click on the MLS Training button on the home page of Paragon.

You can also click here for TransactionDesk Resources or the TransactionDesk Resources button on Paragon for additional help.

Also, if you have chosen to continue using zipForm, you may need to complete your annual renewal.

There should be no charge to renew your zipForm account, so if you are prompted to renew when you log in to zipForm, you can select renew now and confirm your email address and phone number.

If you need help with your renewal, please contact zipForm at 800-383-9805 or online here.

Education Excellence / Quarterly Meeting

Mark your calendar and plan to attend our next Education Excellence and Quarterly Membership Meeting on Thursday, August 11th.

This time, we'll be meeting in the Commons on the Mukogawa Fort Wright campus near Spokane Falls Community College.

The education piece will be a Purchase & Sale Agreement class, which is required for residential brokers to take once in every four-year cycle.

If you have not taken this class since January 1, 2013, you need to take it this year!

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

PSA Addenda

Did you ever wish there was a class to go over all the possible addenda to the Purchase and Sale Agreement?

If so, your wish will come true Thursday, August 18th!

Your SAR proudly presents an all-new, four clock-hour class on Purchase and Sale Agreement addenda, focusing on all the additional forms that can be added to the PSA document - the foundation of the transaction between buyers and sellers of real estate.

See the class flyer (pictured above), with class details and registration information, online here.

Watch a personal welcome to this class from instructor Sabrina Jones-Schroeder, online here:

PSA Addenda

REALTOR Ž Safety - Empower Yourself

It's here - by popular demand and professional need - a new clock-hour class for REALTORŽ safety!

Thursday, September 22nd, 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
at your SAR

Real estate professionals are in dangerous positions every day, young, old, man or woman. You must equip yourself with basic safety concepts and habits.

Curriculum created and presented by Beale Luebben and Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

You'll be glad you've taken this invaluable training opportunity!

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

Watch a personal welcome to the class from instructors Beale Luebben and Sabrina Jones-Schroeder, online here:

REALTORŽ Safety - Empower Yourself

Lunch & Learn: Mistakes & Blunders

Learn from all the common mistakes and blunders other people make on the Purchase and Sale Agreement at the July Lunch and Learn at your SAR:

Monday, July 18th.

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

FREE RPR Workshop

RPR is coming to town and offering a free workshop covering exciting technology that is available free for all REALTORSŽ!

Did we mention it's free?

The event will be Monday, August 1st, from 2-4 p.m. at the SAR, hosted by a live and in person RPR representative who knows her stuff and welcomes your questions.

More information is available in the event flyer (pictured above), online here.

WR Business Symposium

Washington REALTORSŽ invites you to its 2016 Business Symposium, September 29th at Sea-Tac Convention Center.

What you'll take away from the Business Symposium . . .

ˇ         7.5 Clock Hours

ˇ         Create a prospecting program that is effective and adds to your business profitability

ˇ         Understand real estate advertising do's and don'ts

ˇ         Recognize the legal requirements regarding property advertisement

ˇ         Calculate the cost of advertisement and evaluate promotion effectiveness

More details on the Business Symposium and online registration are available 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.

Purchase & Sale Agreement

Tuesday, July 12 - Purchase & Sale Agreement - with Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

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

Code of Ethics - Standards for Success

Thursday, July 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

Core Curriculum

Friday, July 15 - Core Curriculum - with Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

Registration: 1:00 p.m.
Class: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at the SAR

3.0 clock hours

Code of Ethics for Real Estate Professionals

Thursday, July 19 - Code of Ethics for Real Estate Professionals - with Linda Miller Sheets.

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

4.0 clock hours

Code of Ethics - Standards for Success

Thursday, August 4 - 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

Thursday, August 11 - Education Excellence (Purchase & Sale Agreement / Quarterly Membership Meeting - with Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

All residential brokers must take this class once every four years. If you have not taken this class since January 1, 2013, you need to take this class!

Registration: 8:15 a.m.

Class: 8:30 a.m. to noon
Luncheon: noon to 1:00 p.m.
Class: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

7.5 clock hours

Code of Ethics for Real Estate Professionals

Tuesday, August 16 - 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

PSA Addenda

Thursday, August 18 - What else do we need? Purchase and Sale agreement addenda - with Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

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

4.0 clock hours

REALTORŽ Safety - Empower Yourself

Thursday, September 22 - REALTORŽ Safety - Empower Yourself - with Beale Luebben and Sabrina Jones-Schroeder.

ALL NEW CLASS - by popular demand and professional necessity!

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

3.0 clock hours

SAR CALENDAR

Click on the image below to see the current SAR calendar

showing dates and times of classes, committees and events.

MLS Fees Due

NEXT WEEK!

Third Quarter MLS fees have been posted to the SAR member portal. Your payment is due by June 30th.

Please email Brenda at the SAR if you have a question about your fees or contact her by phone at 326-9222.

Thank you!

Local Real Estate on the Radio this Weekend

KSPO/KTW photo

2016 Spokane Association of REALTORSŽ President Susie Luby (in center in photo) and association Executive Vice President Rob Higgins (at left in photo) talk local real estate with Producer/Host Tom McArthur (at right in photo) for KSPO-FM & KTW-AM/FM radio today.

The program will air several times on all three radio stations this weekend. Tune in for a fun and informative discussion on local real estate!

KSPO 106.5 FM

Saturday:   4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Sunday: 7:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

KTW 630 AM and KTW 96.5 FM

Saturday:   8:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

Sunday:    7:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 5:30 p.m.

Visit the station's website online here.

Click on the icon below to share this item on your Facebook page:

CALL FOR ACTION

The United States Senate is missing an opportunity to improve housing markets across the country, and we need your help to tell them to get to work and make homeownership a priority!

Take action now to urge your Senators to pass H.R. 3700, the "Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016," a bill that makes needed reforms to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) condominium loan program, federal-assisted housing programs and Rural Housing Service loan programs.

Bottom Line: This bill makes buying a condo A LOT easier by expanding opportunities for first-time homebuyers and streamlining rural housing programs for low-income rental residents. Condominiums are among the most affordable homeownership options for first-time homebuyers, as well as lower income borrowers, but barriers to safe, affordable mortgage credit for condos still exist. H.R. 3700 takes a number of steps to address those concerns.

The House of Representatives passed this bill unanimously with a bipartisan vote of 427-0 and now we need the Senate to act!

Even if your business model is not based on Condominium or Rural Housing Service transactions, all REALTORSŽ need to band together on this Call for Action. Although it may not affect you directly, the next one could very well be of critical importance to your business.

Please support your REALTORŽ family by responding to this important Call for Action!

The Voice of Real Estate

REALTORSŽ benefit the most when they manage their finances during the year with an eye on their tax liability. That's the message of two tax experts who are hosting a live webcast on how to manage your income like a business.

The Voice for Real Estate for the week of June 20 also looks at NAR's condo financing Call for Action, the Move-Zillow legal settlement, and difficulties real estate agents are facing trying to get the closing disclosure under new "Know Before You Owe" rules so they can help their clients.

The video also looks at the impact of student debt on home buying, efforts to make credit scores more accurate for people who have thin credit files, and the latest commercial real estate economic and regulatory update.

See the new 10-minute video online here:

The Voice for Real Estate #48

Behind the Scenes with your REALTORŽ

The process of buying a house is complicated. That's why most people agree, you need a specialist to help you through it. Nearly 90% of new homeowners across the country say they used a REALTORŽ. My guest column today illuminates the many things a REALTORŽ can do to make your home-buying process enjoyable. Let's go behind the scenes with your REALTORŽ.

2016 SAR President Susie Luby takes you Behind the Scenes with your REALTORŽ in her monthly guest column in The Spokesman-Review.

Read the complete article from this past Sunday's newspaper online here.

You are encouraged to download the document Susie references in her article (pictured above) and share it with your clients. It was created by NAR, is branded to SAR, and is available on the SAR website or directly here.

Hoopfest

THIS WEEKEND!

Much of downtown Spokane will be closed to automobile traffic this weekend and become a human ant hill (Saturday and Sunday) as the city hosts Hoopfest - the largest three-on-three basketball tournament in the world.

Hoopfest includes more than 7,000 teams, some 3,000 volunteers, about 225,000 fans (Spokane's entire resident population is 210,000) and 450 courts spanning 42 city blocks! Beyond basketball, it is an outdoor festival with shopping, food and interactive entertainment.

Find information on all things Hoopfest online here.

SpokaneOpen.com Summer Weekend

Your Communication/Member Services Committee has approved a modest Facebook marketing push to promote your listings on SpokaneOpen.com next month - July 9th and 10th.

The SpokaneOpen.com Summer Weekend will be a mini version of our annual Spokane REALTORSŽ Open House Weekend, though there will be no prizes this time.

Please consider listing a property or two for an open house that weekend, to be supported by this social media effort.

Watch the SAR Facebook page for the ad (pictured above), and like/share it with your clients and friends.

We'll be curious to hear how this push supports your business.

2016 SAR Golf Tournament

REGISTRATION OPEN!

The 2016 SAR Golf Tournament will be Thursday, July 21st, at Downriver Golf Course.

Participation is limited to 144 golfing entrants only so register today!

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

Reflective Address Signs

Looking for a neat idea for a client "thank you" gift?

The Spokane County Sheriff's Office offers reflective address signs, made of the same materials as street signs.

A reflective address sign helps emergency responders find you quickly and easily. Address numbers on curbs can erode and get covered up with snow in winter. Plastic or metal house numbers are typically not reflective and can be difficult to see at night.

Each sign is custom made on your order, costs just $15, and helps support SCOPE - the Sheriff's Community Oriented Policing Effort.

For more information on these signs, and ordering instructions, see the flyer (pictured above), online here.

Member 2 Member

Numerica Credit Union shares word that it has hired Troy Clute as vice president of the Home Loan Center.

Clute (pictured at left) was most recently employed by Mountain West Bank where he was a real estate manager.

With over 19 years of experience, Troy will oversee lending mortgage sales and operations in Spokane, North Idaho, Wenatchee Valley and the Tri-Cities.

Troy may be reached at 509.535.7613; his website is online here: numericacu.com

Member 2 Member is a member benefit of the Spokane Association of REALTORSŽ. It is intended to announce a new product, service, location or affiliate event. If you are a member who wishes to share a message with your fellow members, please email it to Debbie at the SAR:

debbie@spokanerealtor.com

ListHub Report for April