BROKERS NEED TO KNOW
FEBRUARY 2014
MLS FEE INCREASES
Fee increases begin with 2nd quarter billing. The
Quarterly MLS Fee will increase $3 beginning with the 2nd
quarter billing.
This is the first increase in five years even though we have
had a decrease of approximately 300 subscribers in the
MLS over that five-year period.
Your first Quarter MLS fee was $129. This one-dollar per month increase will raise your quarterly
bill to $132. In addition, with the one for one exchange to the new blue tooth LBX, the ActiveKey
cost will go up $1.00 per month.
The MLS fee is actually $4 per month less than it was 15 years ago. The Association, through your
Budget & Finance Committee, has been working diligently over the years to keep your MLS fees in
line with actual costs.
We thank you for your support!
SUPRA LOCKBOX EXCHANGE COMING SOON
Your SAR is pleased to announce our move to the new
Supra iBox BT starting March 18th. The new lockbox is
Bluetooth compatible, has a bigger storage compartment to
allow for more keys, and for those with Android and
Blackberry phones, you will no longer need a key fob. Your
phone will communicate directly with the lockbox. Furthermore, all current keys will work with
the new lockbox since they are backwards compatible. Apple iPhone4 or under will still need the
adapter.
You can bring in your old lockboxes and exchange them for brand new lockboxes. This is a 1 for 1
exchange. Supra will be here for a few days to help everyone with the transition. The exchange will
be held at Mukogawa Ft. Wright Commons, March 18th – 20th.
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SAR urges you to begin getting all your lockboxes together and ready for the Lockbox
exchange.
2014 LEGISLATIVE DAY
Washington REALTORS® from across the state gathered in
Olympia, last month, for the 2014 Washington
REALTORS® Legislative Day.
The day began with a briefing from the state's chief
economist who said that last year was a good year for real
estate, with statewide home sales climbing 30 percent over
where they were in 2012.
SAR members take the real estate message to Olympia during Washington REALTORS® 2014
Legislative Day, last week. Pictured, left to right: Joe Garst, 2014 SAR president; Rob Higgins, SAR
executive officer; Marianne Bornhoft, SAR immediate past president; Jodie Carpine, 2014
Women's Council of REALTORS Spokane-Eastern Washington chapter president; Steve Hagen,
Keller Williams Spokane; Jennifer Valerien, RE/MAX Inland Empire.
Washington State Chief Economist Steve Lerch briefed REALTORS® on the state of the economy,
saying "We're better off than we were but it's still a painfully slow process."
Read more about this year’s Legislative Day in The Daily Olympian online here:
http://www.theolympian.com/2014/01/24/2946584/slow-real-estate-growth-expected.html
MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
Your Washington REALTORS® is hard at work tracking
some 300 pieces of active legislation with potential to
impact your business during the current session of the
Washington State Legislature.
There is no way that you, or any individual, could stay on top of all of these bills and you don't have
to as a member of Washington REALTORS® - they do it for you!
This advocacy on behalf of members demonstrates the value of association membership.
To see the current list of Washington REALTORS® member benefits, click here.
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MAKE YOUR MOVE
The National Association of REALTORS® has launched its
2014 Consumer Advertising Campaign.
This campaign is geared to encourage the public to take
advantage of market conditions and call a REALTOR®.
This ad will be seen across 22,000 national TV and radio
spots and should average around 4 billion impressions.
Take a look at the scope of the campaign and NAR's latest
television ad - Make Your Move.
http://www.realtor.org/videos/consumer-advertising-campaign-make-your-move-tv-ad
Washington REALTORS® has prepared a video about the new NAR Consumer Advertising
Campaign. You may watch it online here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ve_eYbs2Hr0
PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN
Washington REALTORS® has launched a public information campaign to
make potential homebuyers aware of the REALTOR® trademark and the
procedure to follow if a Broker is misrepresenting him/herself.
Read more about this campaign and download the campaign's
posters/flyers in various formats (pictured above), online here:
http://www.warealtor.org/news-events/ConsumerProtectionInitiative/
BABY BOOMERS AND REAL ESTATE
The Winter 2014 issue of RE Magazine features an article about all of
the amazing opportunities available in the Baby Boomer
Demographic. This article was among the most-clicked links in a
recent edition of the Weekly Notices.
Read it online here:
http://warealtor.org/news-events/Media_Corner/
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Washington REALTORS® offers some interesting takeaways on how to grow your business in the
coming years by knowing the Boomer generation's needs, inside and out!
Watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=V9ANANnds8U
REAL ESTATE MARKET FORUM
The Spokane-Kootenai Real Estate Research Committee
invites you to the 2014 Real Estate Market Forum:
Thursday, February 27th - 7:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Spokane Convention Center.
This terrific event offers sessions on the current regional
economy, water and future growth, residential market and investment real estate in Spokane,
Kootenai and Bonner Counties and a keynote address by Selma Hepp, Ph. D., senior economist with
the California Association of REALTORS®.
Your SAR is among the sponsors of this event.
Find the event flyer - with a complete schedule and registration instructions – among the
supporting documents to this newsletter.
HEALTH INSURANCE DEADLINE NEARS
The clock is ticking to obtain health coverage-if you don't
already have it-to be in compliance with the Affordable
Care Act.
The open enrollment deadline is March 31. Miss it, and
you face a penalty.
Visit the REALTOR® Insurance Marketplace online here:
http://www.realtorsinsurancemarketplace.com/
Visit the Washington State Insurance Marketplace online here:
https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/HBEWeb/Annon_DisplayHomePage.action
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YOU BE THE JUDGE – FEBRUARY
Here is a new You Be The Judge for February: Case #1-17:
Listing Property at Excessive Price.
Those who decide correctly will be entered in a drawing for a
Starbucks coffee card!
The winner will be announced next month.
Read the case and submit your judgment online here:
http://www.spokanerealtor.com/information-center/code-of-ethics-/you-be-the-judge
Congratulations Tina Allerdings, Real Estate Marketplace NW, our January Starbucks card winner!!
JANUARY ANSWER:
The panel determined that the absence of a sewer connection in an area where other houses were
connected was a substantial and pertinent fact in the transaction; but that the fact that the house
was not connected to the sewer was not possible to determine in the course of a visual inspection
and, further, that REALTOR® A had made appropriate inquiries of the seller and was entitled to
rely on the representations of the seller the panel concluded that REALTOR® A was not in violation
of Article 2.
From Case #2-4: Obligation to Ascertain Pertinent Fact.
Last month's case is online here:
http://www.spokanerealtor.com/information-center/code-of-ethics-/prior-month-you-be-the-judge
LISTHUB REPORT FOR JANUARY
ListHub allows offices to create a free account to manage the third party
websites your listings are distributed to automatically. The office can
subscribe to receive reports about what those sites are doing for their
listings, but the SAR receives a monthly overview.
At the start of each month, we will share these "filtered" reports to help you understand what
consumer traffic is doing in the Spokane market on these national websites.
Please note: the report includes listings and sites that are sent through ListHub. REALTOR.com® is
not powered by ListHub so is not currently ranked in these monthly reports.
The January ListHub report is included among the supporting documents to this newsletter.
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JANUARY MARKET STATISTICS
Lockbox statistics
SAR members may access the latest Spokane area market statistics any time online here:
http://www.spokanerealtor.com/mls/market-activity-mls-stats
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