Click here to see which RVAR members have switched firms, gone inactive, or joined recently.

Donna Greer of Long & Foster's Smith Mountain Lake and Rocky Mount offices was installed as RVAR's President on December 13th at the Installation and Awards Breakfast. Also installed were Vic Coffey of RE/MAX All Stars as President-elect and Donna Marie Harris of Long & Foster's Roanoke office as Vice President.

One new Director was installed: Renee Wiggins of RE/MAX All Stars. Installed for a second term as Directors were: Bryan Musselwhite of Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group, Jeff Snyder of The Real Estate Group and Richard Wimberley of RE/MAX All Points. Your 2014 Board of Directors stands ready to serve you!

Outgoing President Betty Kingery presented two President's Meritorious Awards: to Tammie Aldridge of Wells Fargo for her outstanding leadership efforts to re-invent the successful 2013 Affiliate and REALTOR® Night event and to Dave Henry of Atlantic Bay Mortgage for his leadership in creating an exceptional sponsorship program for RVAR's events.

Betty T. Anderson of RealStar, REALTORS® received RVAR's REALTOR® Community Service Award at RVAR's December 13th Installation and Awards Breakfast.

Anderson was recognized for her many volunteer efforts on behalf of The Civitans, the Veterans of Foreign War, the VA Care Center and Relay for Life. In addition to recognizing Anderson, RVAR made a $1,000 contribution to St. Francis Service Dogs in Anderson's honor.

The REALTOR® Community Service Award recognizes a local REALTOR® who gives of his or her time to an organization that improves the quality of life in the greater Roanoke Valley.

Each year, RVAR recognizes those firms whose agents have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the real estate profession by attending RVAR educational classes, serving on RVAR/VAR/NAR Committees, earning professional designations, contributing to RPAC and attending RVAR/VAR/NAR events. The Distinguished Service Awards were presented to the following firms at the December 13th RVAR Installation and Awards Breakfast:

The final date for receipt of REALTOR® dues is Monday, January 6th. On Tuesday, January 7th, any REALTOR® whose dues remains unpaid will be dropped from membership. On Wednesday, January 8th, MLS access will be terminated and Supra keys deactivated.

If you need another copy of your dues bill, please contact Susan Edwards at the RVAR office. There are many ways for you to pay: (1) pay online at RVAR's website, (2) Fax completed invoice to (540) 772-8058, (3) Mail completed invoice to Roanoke Valley Association of REALTORS®, 4358 Starkey Road, Roanoke VA 24018 or (4) drop your payment off at the RVAR office between the hours of 8:00AM and 4:30PM (RVAR also has a drop box for after hours payments.) If paying by check, please make payable to RVAR.

Once terminated, payment of the annual dues plus a reinstatement fee of $150 shall be required to reinstate membership in RVAR, provided reinstatement is made within 60 days following termination. After that, application as a new member is required to restore membership in the Association.

The National Association of REALTORS® has adopted several revisions to
the REALTOR® Code of Ethics, which will go into effect January 1st. A copy of the 2014 Code of Ethics is available on RVAR.com. Here's a summary of the changes:

• NAR has clarified that ethics complaints must be filed by individuals (not corporations or other business entities.)
• The maximum fine for violations of the Code will be raised to $15,000 from $5,000.
• The scope of Standard of Practice 3-2 has been expanded to make it unethical to unilaterally attempt to modify offered compensation after an offer to purchase has been submitted to the listing broker.
• Article 10 will be amended to include gender identity among its fair housing protections.
• To ensure practitioners are qualified and have access to the information needed to do Broker Price Opinions (BPO) properly, Standard of Practice 11-1 will be amended to require REALTORS® doing a BPO to be knowledgeable about the property type and area. NAR also expanded the information to be included in the BPO. The highlighted sections of Standard of Practice 11-1 below reflect the new revisions. 

listing or to assist a potential purchaser in formulating a purchase
offer, the opinion shall include the following unless the party requesting
the opinion requires a specific type of report or different data set
(1) identification of the subject property
(2) date prepared
(3) defined value or price
(4) limiting conditions, including statements of purpose(s) and intended user(s)
(5) any present or contemplated interest, including the possibility of representing the seller/landlord or buyers/tenants
(6) basis for the opinion, including applicable market data
(7) if the opinion is not an appraisal, a statement to that effect

CRS 200 Business Planning & Marketing: RVAR is bringing back well-known instructor LeRoy Houser to Roanoke to offer this two-day course, subtitled How to Earn Money in Today's Market, January 22nd and 23rd at the RVAR office. This very practical course includes topics such as budgeting, goal setting, business models, branding, marketing/prospecting and wealth building. This class counts 16 hours towards earning the CRS designation plus 8 hours of CE/PL credit.  Check out www.CRS.com to learn more about the CRS designation.

ABR Two-Day Class: The New River Valley Association of REALTORS® is offering the two-day ABR class, February 19th and 20th, featuring well-known instructor Adorna Carroll. This class will be offered at the New River Valley office in Christiansburg and provides 16 hours of CE/PL credits.

Deal Shakers: You won't want to miss this two-part series offered by RVAR's Education Committee, focused on two of the most common 'deal shakers'.
    February 25th   The Price is Right ... or Is It?
    10AM-Noon      Pricing from the REALTOR® and Appraiser perspective

    February 26th   Home Inspections ... It's a Fine Line
    10AM-Noon      Home Inspectors' perspective plus review of RVAR Inspection     
                               Addendum

Registration will open by mid-January.

RVAR offers sympathy to David Bullington of The Bullington Firm upon the recent death of his mother.

Congratulations
Congratulations to Suzi Fortenberry of MKB, REALTORS® who was recently installed by the Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association as its 2014 President. Suzi is the first female President of the organization. The Home Builders also named Barbara Michelsen of Long & Foster, REALTORS® as its 2013 Member of the Year Associate.

Hats off to MKB, REALTORS® for being honored by the Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association for donating the most toys in the Association's annual Toys for Tots campaign.

Congratulations to John Dickinson of Hall Associates upon being elected 2014 NAR Region 3 Vice President. (Region 3 includes Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.)

And congratulations to two VAR leaders: Bitsy Davis of Long & Foster, REALTORS® 2014 VAR Risk Management Committee Vice Chair and Connie Hash of MKB, REALTORS® 2014 VAR Relocation Council Vice Chair.

Let RVAR know if you have news to share.