April 9, 2014

Hopeful News in the Fight Against Taxes on Phantom Income

The National Association of REALTORSŽ (NAR) recently shared hopeful news regarding mortgage forgiveness tax relief in an announcement that on April 3, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee agreed to extend tax relief for mortgage debt forgiveness as part of a special "extenders" package that includes 50 tax provisions that expired at the end of 2013.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act requires the IRS to exclude "phantom" income from taxes where a house was sold as a short sale or had a portion of its mortgage forgiven.

NAR reports it will support this special "extenders" package as it advances to the Senate floor.

Read more here .

Get Ready for the Party and Auction Benefiting RPAC May 7

At the Time to Talk Derby Party and Auction benefiting RPAC May 7, get ready for an auction as well as a drawing, with the chance to receive something great (on the prize list: a Viper remote car starter and installation, a $250 gift card, two iPad minis, and more!)

Interested in purchasing tickets for the drawing in advance of the big event? Email Kelly Muehlberger at KellyM@kcrar.com. You do not need to be present to win.

Plus - don't forget about he Office Basket Challenge! Winning offices that create the best (highest fundraising) gift baskets will receive a complimentary breakfast. Baskets are due April 30.

Register for the auction by logging in as a member here. Visit "Event and Non-CE Class Registration."

Contributions to RPAC are voluntary and used for political purposes. You may refuse to contribute without affecting your membership rights. 70% of each contribution is used by RPAC to support state and local political candidates. 30% of each contribution is sent to national RPAC. Of that amount, 90% is used by national RPAC to support federal candidates and is charged against your limits under 2 U.S.C. 441a, while the remaining 10% is used for other federal grassroots political activities. Contributions are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

A Crowd Ready to RECHARGE

From left to right: RECHARGE speakers Seth Dailey, Leigh Brown, Scott Panella and Jimmy Mackin, with emcee Michael Pierce.

More than 300 visitors flocked to the Overland Park Convention Center on April 3 for KCRAR's RECHARGE technology and real estate conference.

The audience enjoyed six memorable presentations on everything from mastering one's digital marketing to rebooting your listing presentation.

Three lucky attendees also walked away with a win of an iPad, valued at more than $300. Congratulations to drawing winners Kimberly Griggsby, with AUI Realty, Stacy Jones with Platinum Realty and Bobby Ware with Keller Williams Realty.

Thanks to all who came out for this and to our premier partners for making this possible: First Federal Bank, Heartland MLS and Supra.

Slides from presenters Jimmy Mackin and Leigh Brown are available here.

Find photos of the event here .

CSS Scheduler With InstaCall Now Available Through Heartland MLS

The CSS Scheduler, an online scheduling system, is now available as a free benefit for all Heartland MLS subscribers!

Scheduler helps streamline the showing appointment process in order to generate more showings, increase efficiency and reduce costs.

Visit this link to learn more about the scheduler.

Learn how you can sign up to start using the Scheduler today here.

Classes Teach About Cloud CMA This Week

Are you interested in working outside of the box ... and into the Cloud?

Cloud CMA is a new third-party vendor for Heartland MLS. This software connects to Heartland in order to produce visually appealing CMA presentations.

Benefits to using the Cloud CMA include:

You can do iPad listing presentations.
You can customize and personalize your reports.
You can create any report just by sending an email using the MLS number or property address. (Send an email with this information and seconds later, you can have a full cloud CMA report.)

Educators will be in town to do a live class covering Cloud CMA today, as well as April 9 and 10. Note: This software is not provided by Heartland MLS.

Find out more about Cloud CMA here.

NAR is Taking to Twitter to "Kick Patent Trolls to the Curb"

The National Association of REALTORSŽ (NAR) has launched a Call for Action via Twitter to encourage lawmakers to pass legislation curbing patent trolls, or companies that buy patents to extract licensing fees from users. NAR invites all members to send a tweet to their senators in support of the "Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013," S. 1720.

Patent trolls are companies that purchase and use patents to take legal action against small businesses like REALTORSŽ for using common business technologies like scanner-copiers, or drop-down website menus.

To take action against patent trolls, Send a tweet to your senators via this link.

Please Take This Critical Survey for Missouri REALTORSŽ

Missouri REALTORSŽ ... if you haven't already done so, please click here to take this recent brief and important survey that was sent from the Missouri Association of REALTORSŽ.

According to this association, the survey will help with "understanding our network of relationships with elected officials" to "build advocacy programs that help advance our positions on any number of issues that directly impact REALTORSŽ and property owners

All Missouri REALTORSŽ members who complete the survey will be entered in a drawing to receive one of two $50 Visa gift cards.

Should you have problems accessing or completing this survey, please contact support by email at support@rapindex.com or by phone at 1 (877) 427- 5727.

Free Prescription Drug Card Available

National Association of REALTORŽ members saved nearly $300,000 on prescription drugs in 2013 through Drug Card America, a REALTOR BenefitsŽ Program participant. The drug card helps lower prescription costs at most major pharmacies, including CVS and Walgreens.

Click here for more information.

Upcoming KCRAR and Other REALTORŽ-Related Events & Education

- April 9 - KCRAR Commercial Breakfast

- April 9 - Listing Presentation Secrets - Cloud CMA @Heartland MLS

- April 10 - Listing Presentation Secrets - Cloud CMA @Heartland MLS

- April 23-25 Missouri REALTORSŽ April Business Conference

- April 25 - KCRAR Roadshow: Sustainable Landscaping

- April 30 - Deadline for basket submissions to the Office Basket Challenge - two winners will be chosen from the highest fundraising gift baskets

- May 7 - KCRAR Time to Talk Derby - Party & Auction Benefiting RPAC

- May 14 - KCRAR Commercial Breakfast

May 16 - KCRAR Roadshow - Forming Your LLC: Why and How


- May 30 - Hispanic Market Resource and Netwoking With Feature Speaker Carlos Gomez, President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City

- June 4 - KCRAR Member 2014 Recycling Event

For KCRAR classes and events that require registration, log in as a member at www.kcrar.com and visit the "Education & Event Registration" section.

Visit KCRAR.com and Stay in-the-Know About Local Sign Ordinances

As the housing market heats up this spring, it's important to know and comply with local sign ordinances.

Each city can have rules and regulations regarding issues such as days and times signs can be displayed, maximum height for signs, and whether pointer signs are permitted ... and more.

The good news is that KCRAR makes available a listing of local cities and their rules and regulations regarding the placement of signs. Visit this link to learn more, or watch the sign ordinance video here.