Two Members of our REALTOR Family were successful in their bids for election to local offices this past November:

• Rose Sotak - Town of Union Supervisor
• Michael Sopchak - Broome County Legislature

Please join Lois Andrascik, Diana Nogaret and the Government Affairs Committee in congratulating Rose and Michael, and wishing them great success in their coming terms. 

  

The December Holiday Luncheon and Installation Ceremony will be held Wednesday, December 12 from 11:30 to 2:30 at the Binghamton Country Club, 1401 Robinson Hill Road in Endwell. The Luncheon is generously sponsored by the Law Offices of Frederick R. Xlander and the Jim Rollo Agency - State Farm Insurance. Please click here to  review an event flyer, and email both your reservation and meal choice to realtor@gbingar.com. Or, call the Association Offices at 729-6285 with your reservation and meal choice. Please make your reservations by Wednesday, December 4.  All payments must be received by Thursday, December 6.  We hope to see you there! 

 

Once again the Community Service Committee is asking all GBAR members to please help us with the Toys for Tots collection at December's  Holiday Luncheon and Installation Ceremony.  We as an Association have sponsored this worthy cause for many years and now more than ever your donations are needed. Please bring unwrapped new toy donations to the luncheon so that we can give them to the Police Department for distribution. If you are unable to attend, toys may be left at the Association Office.

 

 

HELP BRIGHTEN A CHRISTMAS MORNING!

 

 

 

Dues and MLS Fees for January through July 2013 have been billed to you.  REMEMBER that in accordance with GBAR Bylaws (see below) all other monies owed the Association must be paid prior to the Association accepting the Dues and MLS Fees payment.  Be sure that you do not have any outstanding luncheon charges, MLS Processing Fees or LockBox fees, etc.  Also, these cannot be included in your dues payment.  They should be paid separately directly to the Association Office.  Please include your invoice or statement when making these payments.

 GBAR BYLAWS

ARTICLE X - DUES AND ASSESSMENTS

Section 3 Dues Payable.      

Dues will not be accepted unless all prior charges, assessments, fines or moneys due the Association have been paid in full.

Be sure your dues can be accepted - pay your outstanding fines!

 

 

If you are considering requesting a leave of absence please be advised that the letter stating this request must  be received at the Association Office on or before Monday, December 10^th.  As stated in GBAR Bylaws these requests need to be presented to the Board of Directors.  Any questions should be addressed to Barry Arnold, Executive Officer at 729-6285.

             Article VI Section 6:

            (e) The Board of Directors may grant a leave of absence for a REALTOR® Member, for a reasonable length of time, upon receipt of request from said REALTOR® Member, based on a serious health condition that would make it impossible for said REALTOR® Member to participate in the normal activities of listing and selling real property in the area covered by the Greater Binghamton Association of REALTORS®, Inc.

 

 

Help the Association Office with record keeping and turn in your Supra Active Key and charger to the office before December 27^th. If the equipment is not returned by then, you may still owe the Supra System Fee for January 1, 2013 through June 31, 2013 even if you are no longer using the KeyBox System, or have discontinued GBAR membership. If Active Key chargers are not returned at all, Supra may bill up to $250.00 per item.

 

If you are discontinuing use of the Supra Active Key or are not paying January's Supra Invoice, you must also turn in all leased KeyBoxes. You will be billed for as much as $95 per box for unreturned Boxes.

 

   

Click here to view the October, 2012 issue of "The Skinny", the New York State Association of REALTORS® monthly video on the state of the New York Housing Market.

 

 

Adding Town and School Districts 

 

Please join us in welcoming the following New GBAR Members approved at the November 20, 2012 Board of Directors Meeting:

 

New REALTOR® Agent Members:

• Maria Fiori, Keller Williams Realty ST/FL
• Heather Wilcox, Realty USA
• Vito Calandra, Exit Realty Homeward Bound

 

New Affiliate Representative:

• Diane Lopez-Edouard, M&T Bank

 

Lois Andrascik, Chair of our Government Affairs Committee, has provided us with a copy of the New York State Association of Counties' new white paper entitled "A Roadmap to Mandate Relief - How the State Can Reduce Property Taxes."

 

We all know we need mandate relief to keep property taxes down.  Click here to view this document.  Thanks to Lois for making it available to REALTORS.

• CLASSROOM:  We've scheduled 1 more classroom Ethics course this year, to be instructed by Anne Schoonover.  The date is December 4 at the Association Offices from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon.  Click here for registration instructions.

 

  

Starting with this issue of the REALTOR Review, our Membership Sub-Committee, chaired by Jess Dillenbeck, will provide a quick tip or bit of information to keep you abreast of goings-on in our business.

 

Today's Topic: 

 

Getting Your Money's Worth from the Supra Lock Box System

 

Make sure you get your money's worth from using the SUPRA LockBox system. Create or log in to your SUPRA online account. Click here,  then click AGENT Log in on the upper right corner.

 

Once you have logged in, assign your listings to their respective lockboxes. Once you assign your listings you will always know who showed your listing and when. You can add a photo and specific feedback questions. A great risk management feature is the ability to print a listing showing report or an eKey activity report for your files. The SUPRA website provides us with many useful features. Take some time to set up or edit your account.

 

As always, please let us know your thoughts by contacting the Membership Sub-Committee at members@gbingar.com