3rd Quarter COMP Books Now on Sale

3rd quarter COMP e-books are now available at www.theSCAORstore.com. The cost is only $25 for SCAOR members and $75 for non-members. You may download the COMP book immediately, view it by sections or in its entirety, print it and have it available on your computer. Members! Once you buy a COMP book, it also stays available in your Members Only area of www.theSCAORstore.com. Click here to download your copy >>

5:30 - 5:45 p.m.
Meet and Greet
5:45 p.m.
Call to Order, President Judy Dean, Pledge of Allegiance, REALTOR^® Prayer

NEW BUSINESS:
• Amendments to By laws >>
• MLS review
• SCAOR Website
• Member Survey
• Public Policy and You
• 2010 Calendar of Events

Adjournment

Brokers, please plan to attend our Broker's Breakfast being held at SCAOR on Friday, January 15 at 8 a.m.

We will feed you and fill you with helpful and useful information. If you are unable to attend, please send one representative from your office.

Email Gail at gail@scaor.com to RSVP.

2010 DUES WERE DUE OCT. 31st This is the last week to decide - renew or go inactive? Pay your dues ONLINE at www.realtor.org by this Wednesday, December 30 >> 2010 Dues are past due. If you are planning on going inactive as of 12/30/09, please complete appropriate paperwork and submit to SCAOR with notation that it will be effective 12/30/09. If your inactive paperwork is not submitted and dues are not paid, your membership will be terminated and your office will be on the January Board of Directors agenda, which could cause your office's membership to be suspended. Please don't allow this to happen. Please contact Crystal with any question or concerns at Crystal@scaor.com.   Congratulations Graduates On December 2, 2009, four SCAOR members successfully completed the Graduate REALTOR® Institute program. Robert J. Rucier from Wilgus Associates Bill Mann from Mann & Sons, Inc. James Kelly from NextRE Eugene Hoffman from Prudential Gallo, REALTORS® Congratulations to the Graduates for earning their GRI. Bill, James and Eugene took all of their GRI classes during 2009. That's a remarkable amount of classroom time in one year!   You're Invited ... To the Sussex County Chapter of the Women's Council of REALTORS® General Membership Meeting, Program and Luncheon When: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 Time: 11:30 am - 2:00 pm Place: Cottage Cafè, 33034 Coastal Highway, Bethany Beach Program: "Planning for a Profitable Year" Speaker: Margaret Iiori, Merrill Lynch Cost: $20 per person Register at scaorstore.com   It's Education Time! Resident Licenses Will Renew April 30, 2010 More ways SCAOR is helping members obtain their CE? Check out the 2010 On-site Education classes being held at SCAOR. Register online at www.scaorstore.com Four brand NEW courses Day and evening classes Variety of instructors, dates and times for courses Flood demonstration, reverse mortgages, marketing and more!     ETHICALLY SPEAKING... Our Duties to the Public Case #12-20: Misleading Use of "MLS" in URL REALTOR® A, a residential broker in a major metropolitan city, spent several weeks each year in his cabin in the north woods where he planned to retire one day. Even while at home in the city, REALTOR® A stayed abreast of local news, events, and especially the local real estate market by subscribing to the print and on-line editions of the local newspaper. He also bookmarked a number of north woods brokers' websites to stay current with the market and to watch for potential investment opportunities. One evening while surfing the Internet, he came across a URL he was unfamiliar with-northwoodsandlakesmls.com. REALTOR® A was pleased to see the MLS serving the area where he vacationed for so many years had created a publicly-accessible website. Clicking on the link, he was surprised to find that the website he was connected with was not an MLS's website but instead was REALTOR® Z's company website. Having had prior dealings with REALTOR® Z, REALTOR® A spent some time carefully scrutinizing the website. He noted, among other things, that the name of REALTOR® Z's firm did not include the letters MLS. REALTOR® A sent an e-mail to the association's executive officer asking whether REALTOR® Z had been authorized by the association to use the URL northwoodsandlakesmls.com and whether the association felt it presented a true picture as required by Article 12 of the Code of Ethics. The association executive responded that their association did not assign, review, or approve URLs used by their members, but added that if REALTOR® A felt a possible violation of the Code of Ethics had occurred, the appropriate step was to file an ethics complaint. REALTOR® A did just that, alleging in his complaint that when he clicked on what appeared to be a real estate-related URL that included the letters "MLS" he expected to be connected with a website operated by a multiple listing service. He stated he felt that REALTOR® Z's URL was deceptive and did not meet Article 12's true picture test. At the hearing, REALTOR® Z defended his URL on a number of grounds including the fact that he was a participant in good standing in the MLS and that he was authorized under the MLS's rules to display other participants' listings on his website. "If I used "MLS" in the name of my firm, I could see how that might be perceived as something less than a true picture," he argued, "but by simply using MLS in my URL I am telling consumers that they can get MLS-provided information about properties in the north woods from me. What could be truer than that?" Based upon your understanding of Article 12, what do you think the hearing panel concluded? Find out in next week's At a Glance!   Right Tools, Right Now Log onto REALTOR.org and utilize Right Tools, Right Now marketing ideas to assist you with your business. There are many FREE tools offered by NAR to help you in 2010.

Support Our Troops Continues Gifts for the troops continue to stream into the SCAOR building. The Christmas / Support Our Troops Party was a huge and a joyful success. If you are interested in dropping off a shoe box with items for our soldiers there's still time. Click here for a list of needed items.   Holiday Hours SCAOR office will close on December 31 at normal time - 5:00 p.m. We are closed this Friday, January 1 for New Year's Day Have a happy and safe New Year's! Sussex County Association of REALTORS® 2010 Leadership Team Back Row (left to right): Directors Andrew Ratner and Nora Martin, 2nd Vice President Sharon Palmer, President Elect Sandy Greene, Director Brad Riedle, and 2009 President Steve Alexander. Front Row (left to right): Vice President Trina Joyner, Treasurer Donna Neithardt, 2010 President Judy Dean, Directors Sue Bramhall and Bruce Plummer, and EVP Ruth Briggs-King. The Sussex County Association of REALTORS® installed our 2010 leadership team, with President Judy Dean from Georgetown leading the Board of Directors. The entire 2010 BoD is pictured above. Committtee Chairs for 2010 include: Jeanine O'Donnell, Affiliate; Kevin Barrett, Education/Professional Development; Sue Bramhall, Government Affairs and Public Policy; Dennis Barnes, Grievance; Betty Kasperski, Housing Opportunities; Bill Lucks, Multiple Listing Service; Bob McVey, Professional Standards; Cindy Wolfe, Rental Affairs; Public Awareness, Sean Steward; Jim Meo, Rookies; and Brad Riedle, Bylaws. Special Awards Presentations   2009 Affiliate of the Year: Jeanine O'Donnell State Farm Insurance    2009 Rental Agent of the Year: Crystal Serman Wilgus Associates   2009 Rookie of the Year: Ashley Brosnahan Long & Foster, Rehoboth Beach    2009 Educator of the Year: Bruce Plummer Coldwell Banker, Rehoboth Beach   New Year's Resolution: Stop Procrastinating and Save Money Too on Online CE! Dear Member, Did you know that studies show the top three resolutions made each year are to lose weight, stop procrastinating, and to get organized? We want to help you do two of the three by enrolling in online CE today! The losing weight part...well that's up to you! As a valued member of our association, we would like to offer you a special promotion on your continuing education this January. "2010 Resolutions" gives you the opportunity to enjoy a 10% discount on any online CE course taken through our branded site! Visit our course catalog: http://scaor.theceshop.com Enter the promotional code upon checkout: RES10. Receive your 10% discount! IT'S EASY! This promotion expires January 31, 2010! Happy Holidays! Very limited time offer -- if you register today using promotional code "PRESENT" you will receive 20% off.   Legislative Watchdog   Short Sales Program Guidelines Issued The long awaited guidelines for Short Sales have been released by the Treasury Department. Below is a summary of the provisions. On November 30, 2009, the Treasury Department released guidelines and forms for its new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA). HAFA is part of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). HAFA provides incentives in connection with a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (DIL) used to avoid foreclosure on a loan eligible for modification under the HAMP program. HAFA applies to loans not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which will issue their own versions of HAFA in coming weeks. HAFA is a complex program, with 43 pages of guidelines and forms, designed to simplify and streamline use of short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. Provisions of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAFA) include: Complements HAMP by providing a viable alternative for borrowers (the current homeowners) who are HAMP eligible but nevertheless unable to keep their home. Uses borrower financial and hardship information already collected in connection with consideration of a loan modification. Allows borrowers to receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property (including the minimum acceptable net proceeds). Prohibits the servicers from requiring a reduction in the real estate commission agreed upon in the listing agreement (up to 6 percent). Requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed). Uses standard processes, documents, and timeframes/deadlines. Provides financial incentives: $1,500 for borrower relocation assistance; $1,000 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs; and up to $1,000 for investors for allowing a total of up to $3,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to subordinate lien holders (on a one-for-three matching basis). The program does not take effect until April 5, 2010, but servicers may implement it before then if they meet certain requirements. The program sunsets on December 31, 2012. More details and informational links are available at www.realtor.org/shortsales. Full Listing of Delaware Planning News & Meetings >>

 
 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year It has been my pleasure this past year to, once again, provide you with real estate articles and information in the form of Ronnie REALTOR®. As the year comes to a close, I thank all of you for your questions, comments, and advice. May the new year bring you prosperity, good health, and many friends. I look forward to working with you again next year. Read more >>