January 12, 2007

 

Our current education schedule is now available. To register for classes online click on the "Education Events!" icon when reading our newsletter, or simply visit our webpage at www.scaor.com. At our website, click on "Members" then "Class/Event Registration" for a complete list of classes.

This is a great opportunity for resident licensees to get their credits early. Thirty-four classes are scheduled including quadrennial NAR Ethics training. REALTORS^® must take the ethics training at least once every four years to retain their membership with NAR. Failure to complete the training is considered a violation of a membership duty for which REALTOR^® membership is suspended until the required training is completed. Training for this four-year cycle must be completed by December 31, 2008.

Non-resident licensees must complete 15 credit hours of continuing education no later than April 30, 2007. Delaware currently accepts elective continuing education credits approved by the Maryland Commission exclusive of any course relating specifically to Maryland laws.

View our full schedule and register here >>

 

How to Renew Your SentriCard^®

It is important that REALTORS^® make showing appointments with the listing firm prior to entering any property containing a SentriLock lockbox. Additional showing instructions are found on the full display MLS datasheet. Prior to beginning your showing appointment, be sure to renew your SentriCard.

Find out how in the new SentriLock Q & A section >>

 

 

Consumers considering a home purchase should contact a REALTOR^® to take advantage of the current market conditions, said NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs at a press conference in Washington, D.C., this week. NAR is sending that message to consumers in a new $40 million outreach campaign beginning this month. The advertising initiative, "Every market's different, call a REALTOR^® today," explains the opportunities, challenges, and advantages to buying and selling a home in today's environment.

"Many media reports about trends and developments in the housing market are on a national level and don't capture what's happening in individual communities across the country," said Combs. "As local real estate market conditions continue to evolve, savvy consumers rely on the guidance of real estate professionals who are immersed in the industry. These new advertisements explain how REALTORS^®' insight and experience into their local markets add real value in today's dynamic real estate environment."

For more on the press conference and media campaign, click here.

 

Small business employers and the self-employed, including real estate firms and their sales associates, are facing a growing challenge in accessing and providing affordable health insurance, NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs told a congressional panel this morning.

"As we sit here, 28 percent of the nation's 1.3 million REALTORS^® do not have any health insurance. This is nearly double the percentage of uninsured members in 1996. If we add family members to the total, the final estimate for the REALTOR^® family is close to 886,000 individuals." Combs thanked Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee, and ranking member Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) for bringing together various organizations, associations, and individuals to talk about the health insurance challenges facing the nation today. For more on the session, click here.

 

President Bush signed a wide-ranging tax bill, P.L. 109-432 (H.R. 6111), that renews and extends through 2007 the NAR-backed brownfields deduction and the 15-year life for leasehold improvements. A new, limited deduction for private mortgage insurance (PMI) premiums was also created. To view a summary of the PMI deduction, click here. For more info, contact: Linda Goold, 202/383-1083.

 

Our condolences go out to Laura Harris in the loss of her daughter, Katie. She was a student at Bloomsburg State. Laura is a rental agent with Century 21 Wilgus in Bethany Beach. Cards can be sent to Laura at: 19 Pocahontas Drive, Blackwater Village, Dagsboro, DE 19939.

 

NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs hailed the new 110th Congress for quickly moving forward with key legislation that NAR believes will ensure that the nation's real estate industry remains competitive. H.R. 111, the Community Choice in Real Estate Act, was introduced Jan. 5 in the House by Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D- Pa.) and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.). Fifty co-sponsors were added on the first day of Congress. In the last Congress, more than a majority of the House signed onto the bill as co-sponsors. For more info, click here.

 

Article 3

REALTORS^® shall cooperate with other brokers except when cooperation is not in the client's best interest. The obligation to cooperate does not include the obligation to share commissions, fees, or to otherwise compensate another broker.

Standard of Practice 3-4
REALTORS^® , acting as listing brokers, have an affirmative obligation to disclose the existence of dual or variable rate commission arrangements (i.e., listings where one amount of commission is payable if the listing broker's firm is the procuring cause of sale/lease and a different amount of commission is payable if the sale/lease results through the efforts of the seller/landlord or a cooperating broker). The listing broker shall, as soon as practical, disclose the existence of such arrangements to potential cooperating brokers and shall, in response to inquiries from cooperating brokers, disclose the differential that would result in a cooperative transaction or in a sale/lease that results through the efforts of the seller/landlord. If the cooperating broker is a buyer/tenant representative, the buyer/tenant representative must disclose such information to their client before the client makes an offer to purchase or lease. (Amended 1/02)

 

Sussex County Sign Ordinance

There are a lot of listings currently on the market, and there are a lot of signs advertising these listings. I thought it would be good to share with you the County ordinance concerning signs.

Find out more at the Rookie Corner >>

 

 

© Copyright 2007 Sussex County Association of REALTORS^®
23407 Park Ave., Georgetown, DE 19947, USA
Phone (302) 855-2300  ~  Fax (302) 855-2319  ~  info@scaor.com  ~  www.scaor.com