Realtor Review, summer 2009 by Association Publishing Inc.

realtorreview 速

summer 2009

An e-publication of the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS速

Win a trip to Germany

Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® 111 Realtors Way, Cary, NC 27513 (919) 654-5400, Fax: (919) 654-5401 www.rrar.com Board Officers John Wood, President Carolyn Kasdorf, Vice-President Theresa Clark, President-Elect Linda Trevor, Secretary/Treasurer Gary Rabon, Past President RRAR DIRECTORS Stacey Anfindsen Rebecca Harper Clark Brewer E. Grayson Hodge Phyllis York Dana Jones Brookshire Carol McCormick Eddie Brown Mollie Owen Suzanne Burton John Pace Kelly Cobb Joey Robbins Mark Connor Randy Scherr Parker Creech Jose Serrano Steina De Andrade Tom Smith Mary Erazim Wes Snead Marshall Gay Cheryl Wilder realtor® foundation of the triangle President Carolyn Kasdorf NCAR Regional Vice Presidents Elizabeth Allardice Donna Parker NAR Directors Eddie Brown Eddie Speas John Wood triangle realtors® leadership academy dean Ross Rhudy Members are cautioned that the inclusion of a name, specific commercial product or service in an article, or the inclusion of a paid advertisement in this publication does not imply endorsement by the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS®. All advertisers in this publication wholly support the Fair Housing Act and fully promote equal opportunity housing. Copyright 2009 by the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS®. All rights reserved.

realtorreview ®

summer 2009

features

Take off for Germany At this year’s annual RPAC Oktoberfest fundraiser, you can contribute to a good cause – and put your name in the hat to win a spectacular trip.

We’re No. 1! The Triangle area keeps receiving national accolades for its livability.

screening for green Bone up on your knowledge of green building features so you can advise buyers and sellers alike. What does the ARRA Act mean to me? Guest columnist Andy Borter explains the ins and outs of this important legislation, which contains a valuable tax credit for first-time home buyers.

departments 2 From the President 5 RRAR Directory 14 Bits & Pieces 15 Learning Opportunities 19 NewsMakers

Tweet, tweet Find out how Twitter, and other social media, can help you increase your business opportunities. It’s a new school Are you still relying on oldschool marketing tactics that don’t work well in today’s Web 2.0 environment? If so, now is the best time ever to say, “Out with the old and in with the new!”

27 28 30 34

New Members REALTOR® Snapshot Local Market Updates RRAR Events

REALTOR® Review staff: Patricia Gregory Rand, editor, patriciar@rrar.com • Caroline Shipman, assistant editor, carolines@rrar.com • Association Publishing Inc., publisher, www.associationpublishinginc.com For editorial contributions and ad inquiries, please contact Patricia Gregory Rand at patriciar@rrar.com or 654-5400.

Summer 2009

REALTOR® Review

from the president

A busy summer for all By John Wood, RRAR 2009 President

elcome to our updated “online” REALTOR® Review! We hope the updates that we are working on are beneficial to you. More updates are coming as we work hard to meet your needs as your local Board of REALTORS®.

Yes, it’s been an interesting year so far For the members who were selling in the early 1990s, do you remember we used to laugh when people asked us about the recession and we would say “We choose not to participate?” Well, I guess we don’t always have a choice, so as we claw our way through this year just remember that even though we are participating this time, it’s minor compared to so many parts of our country and the world. So be thankful we still live in one of the best places in America!

How would you like to win a trip to Germany? What a great way to escape the stress of real estate for a little while! Now’s your chance as RRAR is having a raffle for a free trip in celebration of Oktoberfest! This is an RPAC fundraiser, so buy a ticket ($10 each or 3 for $20) and also help provide some additional resources to support our political efforts on the local, state and national levels. See the facing page for more information on this exciting trip or visit www.rrar.com to register for your chance to win.

Who couldn’t use a couple more sales this year? Most agents are missing a great opportunity by not pushing the First-time Home Buyer $8,000 Tax Credit. For home buyers this is a great deal; it’s FREE MONEY! Take 10 minutes today and learn more about the program and challenge yourself to find at least one benefit to buyers by visiting www.realtor.org and clicking on the top item under “News you can use.” You can also learn more by turning to page 4 in this issue. Remember closings must occur by Nov. 30, 2009 to qualify for the tax credit. 2

REALTOR Review ®

Have you taken advantage of the educational events at RRAR this year? If yes, we trust you found the information beneficial. If no, don’t miss out. Your RRAR staff and Board of Directors are working hard to provide more educational opportunities than ever before to help members succeed in these changing times!

Most agents are missing a great opportunity by not pushing the First-time Home Buyer $8,000 Tax Credit. For home buyers this is a great deal; it’s FREE MONEY!

Among the many programs sponsored by RRAR in 2009: Jan Hargrave – Body Language Expert in Nonverbal Communication; Changes in the Appraisal World; Tax Credit Seminar; Navigating the World of Social Media and more. Register early for the Annual Economic Update in October -- this event always fills up fast. Keep your eye out for e-mails from RRAR regarding upcoming events!

A big thank you… …to all the members and staff who provided items for the USO Collection we had in June! RRAR member Terry Benson has stepped away from real estate to serve our troops by running a USO store in Bagdad. We wish Terry the best and hope to find additional ways to support this effort in the future! In closing, I extend my sincere gratitude to all members. At the RRAR events we have received many kind words from you about the efforts we are making to serve you better! We appreciate those kind words and thanks to the terrific RRAR staff. We will continue to provide you the best service possible. Best wishes for a successful fall!

John

Summer 2009

Support a good cause… and win a great trip!

he REALTORS® Political Action Committee wants to send you on an all expenses-paid trip to Germany… so if you want to experience the wonderful architecture, amazing shopping, historic castles, and fabulous food of Germany, enter the RPAC raffle today!

palaces of Germany. Nearby you can visit Die Sammlung Berggruen, with its Picasso collection. End your morning with a stroll through Charlottenburg’s beautiful formal gardens, a walk into 18th-century gardening.

Tickets are one for $10 or three for $20. The drawing will take place at the 2009 RPAC Oktoberfest Fundraiser Oct. 15, and the winner does not need to be present to win. For more information or to purchase tickets, call Debra Shaw at 654-5400.

Explore Germany’s answer to Versailles! You can wander for hours, exploring the palaces and gardens of Sans Souci, which was the former palace of Frederick the Great. After lunch, you can also tour Schloss Cecilienhof, the former country house of Kaiser Wilhelm II and site of the 1945 Potsdam Conference that included Truman, Stalin and Churchill.

Here’s a sample itinerary of this dream trip: (The winner may customize the trip within the grand prize allowance.) Days 1 & 2: Arrive in Berlin Spend the morning at the Gemäldegalerie museum, viewing some of the great masterpieces of early German artists as well as an array of international painters (especially rich in the Italian department). If the weather’s fair, take a boat tour of the Spree (the main river of Berlin) and have lunch in a typical tavern. In the afternoon, climb the dome of the Reichstag, the German Parliament building. On Day 2, begin your morning with a tour of Schloss Charlottenburg, one of the great baroque Summer 2009

Day 3: A side trip to Potsdam

Day 4: Munich Take an early morning train to Munich, and witness the Marienplatz, where at three times during the day you can witness a miniature “tournament” on its Glockenspiel, the city’s clock tower. For your night fun, follow the oom-pah-pah sounds to the Hofbräuhaus, the world’s most famous beer hall. Day 5: Ludwig’s Castles Visit Germany’s two most famous castles at Neuschwanstein, the fairy tale castle of King Ludwig and Hohenschwangau. REALTOR® Review

percent. Though the rate is one of the highest in the Triangle over the past 25 years, the area still is faring much better than the state’s other two major metros.

Triangle keeps winning accolades for livability By Ray Larcher, RRAR Executive Vice President

The Triangle region continues to receive national recognition as a premier area to live and work. Once again, a national publication has lauded the area as one of the best. Often the accolades go to our larger communities but not this time. Apex is now receiving national attention as one of 100 Best Places to Live among small towns in America! This was released in a survey by Money Magazine July 13. Our congratulations go out to this community! Apex finished in 44th place on the Money list. “Apex offers the convenience of a nearby large city (Raleigh), the culture of three nearby universities (Duke, UNC and NC State), and the charm of a small town,” the article noted. CNNMoney.com defined its rankings this way: “Using statistics from data provider Onboard Informatics, MONEY crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America’s best small towns for families – those with populations of 8,500 to 50,000. The winners 4

REALTOR® Review

were chosen by measuring and weighting the factors that Americans value most.” The Money survey is just the latest triumph for the continuing good news about the Triangle market and its favorable conditions to work, play and live. Some of the other positive items over the last few months include: • Overall appeal. The No. 1 City Where Americans Are Relocating is the Raleigh-Cary Area, according to Forbes.com in May. Also, Kiplinger’s list in July of Best Cities in America ranked Durham at No. 2 and Raleigh-Cary at No. 24. • Future economic growth. The No.1 City with the Best Economic Potential is Raleigh, as judged by fDi magazine in its April issue. • Current employment. While no part of the state has been immune to job losses, the Triangle has been most resilient in the face of bad news. According to a May article in Triangle Business Journal, “The combined RaleighDurham area’s unemployment rate for April checked in at 8.2

The Charlotte area’s unemployment stood at 12.1 percent in April, while the jobless rate in the Greensboro-Winston-Salem area was 11 percent.” The article added that numbers done by county, Orange stood at 5.8 percent, Durham at 7.3 percent and Wake at 7.9 percent. For more reinforcement, Forbes.com cited Raleigh-Cary again, this time as the No. 8 Best Big City for Jobs in April. • Business climate. Forbes.com salutes the region one more time, putting Raleigh as the No.1 Best Place for Business and Careers and Durham at No. 3. • Dining options. In May the Food Network selected the Raleigh Times Bar as ranking among its choices for 50 Best Burgers. A month earlier, Travel + Leisure magazine selected The Pit in Raleigh as one of its 50 Best New U.S. Restaurants. • Cultural activities. ArtBistro.com placed Raleigh-Cary as its No. 5 Top City for Designers and Artists in May, while AmericanStyle magazine put Raleigh as the No. 24 Top Arts Destination among Mid-Size Cities in April. • Sports. Cary was one of six cities across America chosen in March to participate in the new “NCAA Championship City” pilot program. The Championship City pilot program will feature multiple host opportunities of NCAA Division I, II and III men’s and women’s championships through 2012. The centerpiece of the program [See Triangle on page 20] Summer 2009

mission statement The Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS®, the area’s voice of real estate, promotes the highest ethical and professional standards and cooperation among its members; provides products, programs and services to meet the evolving needs of the real estate industry and consumers; and serves as a leading advocate of private property rights and community involvement.

vision statement “Anticipating and meeting the opportunities and challenges of our industry.” RRAR 2009 COMMITTEE CHAIRS Bylaws: Theresa Clark Building: Stacey Anfindsen Community Service: Teresa Connor Governmental Affairs: Asa Fleming RPAC: Theresa Clark Housing Opportunity: John Hartofelis Personnel: Carolyn Kasdorf Grievance: Marty Willson, Lewis Grubbs, Mary Erazim, Seth Roberts Professional Standards: Harriette Doggett, R. Gilliam Kittrell, Bill Owens, Amy Poole-Butler Strategic Planning: Theresa Clark Nominating Committee: Eddie Speas 2009 COUNCIL CHAIRS Contemporary Real Estate Council: Dayne Luck International Council: Helen Tam Top Producers: Jill Fink and Jill Kirby Women’s Council: Louise Griffin RRAR STAFF DIRECTORY: Main Office: (919) 654-5400 Fax (919) 654-5401 www.rrar.com RRAR Company Store: (919) 654-7253 Executive Vice President: Raymond C. Larcher, Ext. 218, rayl@rrar.com Summer 2009

Governmental Affairs Director: Taralyn P. Lightner, Ext. 215, taralynl@rrar.com Governmental Affairs Assistant: Debra Shaw, Ext. 235, debras@rrar.com Education Director: Cara Mottershead, Ext. 211,caram@rrar.com Facilities Coordinator: Mary Rachel Bowling, Ext. 210, maryrachelb@rrar.com Director of Member Services: Betsy Ramsey, Ext. 217, betsyr@rrar.com Member Services Assistant: Priscilla Erwin, Ext. 216, priscillae@rrar.com Communications Director: Patricia Gregory Rand, Ext. 239, patriciar@rrar.com Communications Associate: Caroline Shipman, Ext. 238, carolines@rrar.com RRAR Company Store: Yukari Powers, Ext. 201, store@rrar.com Receptionist: Shelia Clark, Ext. 200, receptionist@rrar.com TMLS STAFF DIRECTORY Vice President of Operations: Rachel Wiest, Ext. 219, rachelw@trianglemls.com Executive Assistant: Christy New, Ext. 220, christyn@trianglemls.com MLS Services Director: Kathy Matheson, Ext. 233, kathym@trianglemls.com

TMLS Training Specialist: Allan Nielsen, Ext. 208, allann@rrar.com Compliance Coordinator: Letitia Santos, Ext. 234, letitias@trianglemls.com Compliance Assistant: Raina Joyner, Ext. 242 Computer Training Coordinator: Lynne Brid, Ext. 232, lynneb@trianglemls.com Web Master/Data Distribution Manager: Carol Hamrick, Ext. 213, carolh@trianglemls.com Media Coordinator/Data Distribution Assistant: Bonnie Eaddy, Ext. 207, bonniee@trianglemls.com Technical Operations Manager: Matt Nagy, Ext. 225, mattn@trianglemls.com Customer Support/Help Desk: J. Stepp, Ext. 226, js@trianglemls.com Jennifer Horton, Ext. 227, jenniferh@trianglemls.com FINANCE/MEMBERSHIP DEPARTMENT Financial Director: Alma Palmer, Ext. 223, almap@rrar.com Accounts Receivable Coordinator: Pat Long, Ext. 222, patl@trianglemls.com Accounts Payable Coordinator: Randi Gaines, Ext. 221, randig@trianglemls.com Membership Coordinator: Susan Jones, Ext. 224, susanj@rrar.com Membership Assistant: Kelly Hunsucker, Ext. 209, kellyh@trianglemls.com REALTOR® Review

Screening for green:

Uncovering a home’s environmental virtues By Julie Hawkins

REALTOR® Review

Summer 2009

Solar. Geothermal. Wind. If you find a home with renewable technologies, you can be pretty confident it’s green. But beyond that, how do you know if you’re buying or selling a green home? Valuable green features aren’t always as obvious as solar panels. Many attributes that we may take for granted or simply don’t notice (insulation, for example) can make a home much more environmentally friendly and less expensive to operate—and, if you know how to market it, more attractive to prospective buyers. Bone up on your knowledge of green building features so you can advise buyers and sellers alike. If a home you’re going to list doesn’t have these features now, your clients may want to consider adding some of them while preparing the home for sale.

Is it green? Most features that can be considered green fall into one or more of these three categories: energy efficiency, resource efficiency and better indoor air quality. Energy efficiency is first. Take note of Energy Star-qualified windows, doors, compact fluorescent lighting, appliances, [left] These Ikea birch veneer cabinets on particle board are low-VOC. Volatile organic compounds are common in building materials, cabinets and carpeting. Summer 2009

programmable thermostats and heating and cooling equipment. Good insulation, air sealing and weather-stripping are tremendous assets, so inquire whether the client has any knowledge of these. Tightly fitting storm windows can be almost as efficient as new windows. In warmer climates, a light-colored asphalt roof is appealing because it reduces a home’s cooling needs. Does the home make good use of daylight to brighten rooms? That saves on the cost of lighting. If deciduous trees or roof overhangs shade the windows in summer but let in sunlight in winter, that’s green, too. Resource-efficient products use fewer natural resources, whether they’re harvested (wood), mined (stone, metals, coal) or pumped (water, petroleum). Recycled materials, like recycled content carpet and reclaimed wood, fall into this category, as do materials made of rapidly renewing resources, such as bamboo flooring and linoleum. Was the 1950s bathroom tile reglazed or repaired rather than replaced? If so, that was resource efficient. So are the recycled glass or concrete countertops, refinished wood flooring and low-flow toilets. Good indoor air quality (IAQ) is a great selling point because it’s personal. Anyone with an asthmatic child or allergies of their own will appreciate a home with superior indoor air quality. Products that emit fewer pollutants, such as low- or no-VOC

paints, cabinets and carpet fall into this category. So do products that remove excess moisture and help prevent mold, such as whole-house fans, Energy Starqualified bathroom fans, and Energy Star-qualified dehumidifiers. Hard-surface flooring with a low- or no-VOC finish is preferable to carpeting for buyers with IAQ concerns.

Tricks of the trade You want to point out a home’s green attributes, but don’t make any claims about the “greenness” of a home unless they can be easily proven. Keep marketing materials simple and factual. Help potential buyers understand the benefits of the green features in the home using messages about improved comfort, lower utility bills and doing more for the planet. A few great resources to help you craft such messages are the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing www.pathnet.org/homeowners, Energy Star www.energystar.gov, and the Department of Energy’s Energy Savers site at www.energysavers.gov. Be prepared to offer proof for claims made about the property. Receipts, manufacturers’ information for appliances, energy audits and before-andafter utility bills will help. If new equipment or appliances have been purchased, ask for the labels and any Energy Guides that came with the product. If the client has lost the information, look to the manufacturer’s Web

[See screening for green on page 8] REALTOR® Review

[screening for green continued from page 7]

Valuable green features aren’t always as obvious as solar panels. Many attributes that we may take for granted or simply don’t notice can make a home much more environmentally friendly and less expensive to operate. site. Include the home’s green features on the MLS, and use photos to draw attention to them. For example, if the home has Energy Star-qualified appliances, add a caption like this: “This home features Energy Starqualified appliances, which use less energy and save you money on your utility bill!” A majority of consumers now recognize the Energy Star label and what it means. Use other online marketing sites, such as Greenhomesforsale.com, Listedgreen.com and Greenbuilder.com to market homes to buyers seeking green features. Use these sites in addition to—not instead of— the MLS. Once you draw potential buyers into the home, use simple but informative signage on items you wish to highlight, especially if they could not be included in the MLS listing. Be creative. To assess the home’s efficiency, use Energy Star’s free online tool called the Home Energy Yardstick, which grades home energy performance on a scale from 0 – 10. It could report something like, “Your score is excellent and your energy use is well below average; 83 percent of U.S. homes use 8

REALTOR® Review

more energy than yours.” Visit energystar.gov and click on Home Improvement to find this tool. If you can determine that the home is reasonably efficient, ask the utility company to send copies of the last three to five years of bills so you can share with potential buyers how little the home costs to live in relative to comparable homes in the area. Remember that energy bills are a good guide, but without an energy audit, you can’t really compare how green one home is to another. However, you can point out the features that make a home more efficient, comfortable, and affordable. In a tight market with high energy prices, these features, along with your usual de-cluttering and staging, can create additional interest in a home—and might just help you close the sale. This green kitchen features engineered quartz countertops. Like granite, quartz is highly durable and will likely last as long as your home. Unlike granite, quartz is nonporous and therefore resistant to mold and bacteria. Summer 2009

An induction cooktop produces a magnetic field that heats only the pot, but not the stove. Induction cooking is therefore safer and about 90 percent energy efficient. A solar tube is a small, roofmounted skylight that allows so much natural light into a room, it can avert the need for artificial daytime lighting.

Become an agent of change The U.S. Department of Energy’s Real Estate Initiative (REI) works with real estate industry partners to reduce energy consumption in existing homes. The Initiative helps real estate professionals educate home buyers and sellers about energy efficiency, provides free tools and resources to the industry, and works with multiple listing services to make it easier for agents to locate and market energy-efficient features for clients. To learn more, contact REI at realestate@energystar.gov.

Simple ideas for a greener home • For energy efficiency, insulate to Energy Star-recommended levels and air seal as needed. Energy Star’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to Sealing and Insulating with Energy Star is a great resource. Visit www.energystar.gov; click on “Home Improvement,” then “Air Seal and Insulate.” • For water efficiency, fix all leaks and add low-flow showerheads and aerators for faucets. If you have to replace a toilet, choose a low-flow model. Learn more at www.epa.gov/ow; click on “What You Can Do.” • For better indoor air quality, choose paints, finishes, flooring, and carpeting with low or no levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Learn more at www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html. Julie P. Hawkins is Project Manager for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Real Estate Initiative, and a licensed real estate agent, REALTOR®, and LEED® Accredited Professional. Contact Julie at jphawkins@drintl.com.

Help potential buyers understand the benefits of the green features in the home using messages about improved comfort, lower utility bills and doing more for the planet. Summer 2009

REALTOR® Review

What does the ARRA Act mean to me? By Andy Borter, Primary Residential Mortgage

What is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? Hopefully this article will provide answers to some of the glaring questions and help identify ways for REALTORS® to find benefits for themselves and their clients. First, an explanation of the Act. The Act, passed by the administration this year, was created in the hopes of stimulating the economy. It is multifaceted and appropriates hundreds of billions of dollars to many segments of industry. The portion of the Act that most pertains to us is the First-time Home Buyer Credit. As defined by the Act, the credit applies to anyone buying a home between Jan. 1 and Dec.1, 2009, who has not owned a home in the previous three years (if married, both husband and wife cannot have owned a home within the past three years). These people must purchase a home located within the United States and cannot be buying a home of a related person (or acquiring a home by gift or inheritance). These homeowners may receive a tax credit equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price, not 10

REALTOR® Review

to exceed $8,000, and there is no repayment requirement as long as the home is owned for at least three years as a principal residence. Now, there are income limitations as defined in Act. For the full credit, a home buyer may not have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of more than $75,000 (filing single) or $150,000 (married filing jointly). There is a phase-out period for home buyers who go over the income limit for a potential limited credit. Clearly, this opportunity is the first of its kind for firsttime home buyers. It is already an unimaginably great time to buy, with historic low interest rates and an excellent

inventory out there. First-time home buyers are the largestgrowing segment of home buyers, but if you don’t have any, where can you find them? Some obvious places to market are apartment complexes and through seminars, but there are other places that aren’t as commonly targeted. Market this to parents you know and past clients in your database. Just because they may currently own a home doesn’t mean that someone in their family cannot benefit from this Act! Maybe they have a child in college and can act as a co-signer (yes, their child would still be eligible for the credit!) Market to wedding planners to get lists of their clients… imagine Summer 2009

how far $8,000 would go toward paying off the expenses of the wedding. How about marketing to new parents out there? They may need to buy a new home due to their increased family size or desire to move to a more childfriendly neighborhood and they could use the tax credit to start a savings account for their newest family member (or to pay for all the diapers that baby will use over the next few years!). Permanent and nonpermanent resident aliens are also eligible for this tax credit and many have not gotten word that they would qualify. The bottom line is that there are plenty of folks out there who could qualify, and this is a fantastic opportunity we have to offer to them. They can file this on an amended 2008 return or

wait until 2009 for the refund, but either way the money is readily available to them through the federal government!

your buyer who might be on the fence to buy NOW. Imagine how they would feel if they closed Dec. 1 and missed out on this credit because the closing date was moved.

Here is the thing though, folks.

These buyers need to have closed on The Act, passed by the administration this the home on or year, was created in the hopes of stimulating before Nov. 30, 2009. That does the economy. It is multifaceted and not leave much time appropriates hundreds of billions of dollars to find the buyer, the home of their to many segments of industry. dreams and close on the deal. The clock For further information about is ticking. The mortgage industry the Act, visit http://www.irs.gov/ is going to be overwhelmed in put-pdf/f5405.pdf or consult a October and November, trying local CPA. to accommodate for all the last(Andy Borter is Regional Manager with minute shoppers trying to capture Primary Residential Mortgage. You can reach this money, so strongly encourage him via e-mail at aborter@primeres.com.)

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REALTORÂŽ Review

New Firsttime Home Buyer Tax Credit FAQs The government is now offering even more incentive for first-time home buyers to buy NOW. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which includes $787 billion in economic stimulus measures, created a new tax credit for firsttime home buyers. Here’s what you need to know: Who is eligible?

Effective dates for the tax credit

The new tax credit is available to first-time home buyers only. A first-time home buyer is defined as someone who has not owned a principal residence for three years or more.

The credit applies to homes purchased by qualified buyers between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2009. The purchase date is the date when closing occurs and the title transfers. This new tax credit provides an unprecedented opportunity for people looking to buy their first home. Not only will they receive an $8,000 tax credit, they also will be taking advantage of record-low interest rates, a large selection of homes to choose from and competitive home prices.

Income limits Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. How much is it?

What types of home qualify for the credit?

House hunters will also find that many builders have inventory that is “move-in ready,” and may offer upgrades or other incentives to seal the deal. Also, owners of existing homes who are looking to trade-up or relocate are ready to bargain. And, as a long-term investment, home ownership still remains a solid investment for Americans.

The tax credit can only be used with the purchase of a home that will be the buyer’s principal residence. It cannot be claimed for the purchase of a vacation home or property to be used as a rental.

Also, the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency has some great down payment assistance features to help first-time home buyers. www.nchfa.com

The new legislation provides a tax credit equal to 10 percent of the sale price of the home, up to an $8,000 maximum. It is a true tax credit. It does not need to be repaid, unless the home owner sells the home within three years of the purchase.

REALTOR® Review

For more information on the new tax credit, visit www.FederalHousingTaxCredit.com.

Summer 2009

Get to know your candidates

By Tara Lightner,

RRAR Government Affairs Director

Statistics show that voters take many things into consideration when hitting the voting booth. For example, a voter may like to know what a candidate’s position is on things such as environmental preservation, tax policy and small business issues, in addition to political party or other personal characteristics. Did you know that as an RRAR member you have an opportunity to learn about these issues and take part in the association interview process for state and local candidates? Several years ago, the association decided that members might not have the time or opportunity to sit down and discuss industry issues with all the candidates running for office in their areas. The association leadership noted this would be a value for members to know how candidates felt about our most important real estate issues. For the past 12 years, candidates have been invited to meet and share their philosophies on governing with RRAR’s Government Affairs Committee. This process is open to all candidates filing for elected office (with the exception of judicial candidates and Water and Soil Conservation Districts) in Wake County. There are significant benefits to interviewing and ultimately endorsing candidates. We begin to build relationships with new candidates who may be leaders of the future. Secondly, it gives candidates a chance to learn more about our association and our issues. Often candidates are surprised to learn that RRAR has nearly 6,000 members involved in numerous programs and activities such Summer 2009

as the Leadership Academy and the REALTOR® Foundation of the Triangle. We get to ask, first-hand, what their positions are on our most critical issues. They are often misinformed or simply uneducated on our issues (especially nonincumbent candidates), and we are able to lay an important foundation of industry knowledge. In addition, there are other things that are simply not learned until you sit down face-to- face with candidates; whether or not a person is charismatic, pragmatic, dynamic and ultimately electible is often determined during the interview. The entire process allows us to inform, be informed and share that information with our members and decide who gets our RPAC support. The world is run by those who show up, and politics is not a spectator sport. While it is impossible to always pick winners, we hope that members understand the benefits of being involved. This year candidate interviews are scheduled for Aug. 3-7 and Aug. 24-28. The endorsement decisions are made by the Board of Directors at its September meeting. If you would like to get involved in our Government Affairs Committee or have questions, please contact me at 654-5406. REALTOR® Review

bits & pieces

Exercise your rights! Each year, the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® elects half of its board to serve a two-year term. Your vote is very important. Please remember to exercise your right as a member and vote Sept. 14-18 in the online elections for the upcoming term. For more information, visit www.rrar.com/rrar-board_elections.

Come mingle with candidates running for state and local office throughout the region and hear what these folks have to say on issues that affect our livelihoods. You can even cast your vote in a straw poll at the end of the event. Sponsors for this red, white and blue evening are Toll Brothers, K&L Gates, CDM, Pulte Homes, The John R. McAdams Co. Inc., Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® and the Triangle Commercial Association of REALTORS®. Visit www. tricc.org for more details.

Don’t take safety for granted Don’t miss RRAR’s free Safety Seminar Sept. 3. You’ll also find valuable resources through the National Association of REALTORS®, such as a new video that provides tips on REALTOR® safety on the job, on the road and at home. Take a moment to watch it now. NAR also offers a complete, interactive online REALTOR® safety course through REALTOR® University. This 3-hour course uses 3-D graphics to teach the tenets of staying safe on the job, at home and in the car. The course costs $49, and NAR is seeking approval in a number of states for continuing education (CE) credit. Take the online course. REALTOR® University is NAR’s online education system. It offers Internet-based courses leading to official NAR designations and certifications. For information about discounts for bulk purchases for associations or brokers or about continuing education credit, contact Colleen Ryan.

Pig Pickin’ goes political If you’ve never been to an oldfashioned political rally and candidate’s forum, then you’re in for a treat. The Triangle Community Coalition is hosting a Political Pig Pickin’ from 5:308:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 27 at Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh. 14

REALTOR® Review

It’s Homeapalooza time! In conjunction with the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County, RRAR is supporting Homeapalooza! 2009 New Homes Expo from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 6, in the Kerr Scott Building at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. This is an ideal venue to learn about the area’s newly built neighborhoods and to experience the latest products for real estate professionals. For more information, visit www.hbawake.com/ upcoming-events

Hone your presentation skills There’s no better time than the present to sharpen your presentation skills at a special training workshop from 8:30-11 a.m., Wednesday Sept. 23, at the RRAR office. The speaker, Sharon Delaney McCloud, is an Emmy Award-winning communications professional who brings 18 years of media experience to her clients. Come and learn how enhancing your presentation skills can increase your sales. This workshop will focus on defining the purpose of your presentation, analyzing your target audience and learning how your body language and nonverbal communication can make or break a sale. Summer 2009

learning opportunities Mark your calendars and don’t miss your chance to learn from one of the best communications professionals in the area.

Learn about the year’s trends at Octoberfest For the fourth year, the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® will host the Real Estate Trends Octoberfest. Guest speakers, including Real Estate Appraiser Stacey Anfindsen, will present updates on market performance for the first three quarters of 2009. Look for more details as the event date approaches.

Show me the deals! Here’s what you’ll find on special at the RRAR REALTOR® Store this summer: • Spring polos with REALTOR logo – Look great and encourage new business, while enjoying a tax write-off for these great quality polo shirts. Available in a variety of colors/sizes. Reg. $32.99 – Now only $24.95* ®

• Laminated MLS wall maps – Reg. $21 – Now 15% OFF – Only $17.85* • New, Stylish E-organizer/case for your BlackBerry® or iPhone®. Padded for protection. Clips easily to belts or purses. Features a 3-inch by 3-inch unlined notepad, an external elastic pen loop, and Velcro closure. Graphite color. Only $6.99 • New book titles: Realty Blogging: Build Your Brand and Outsmart Your Competition, by Richard Nacht and Paul Chaney. The New Rules of Marketing & PR: Leverage the potential of Web-based communication to build a personal link with your market, by David Meerman Scott. *Sorry, sale offers cannot be combined with other discounts. Visit www.trianglemls.com/rrar-store for photos and more information. Summer 2009

2010 Triangle REALTOR® Leadership Academy is now accepting applications The Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® has begun accepting applications for the 2010 Triangle REALTOR® Leadership Academy. Leadership skills are essential for your success as a leader in your industry or a volunteer in your community. Whether you are interested in leading people or leading organizational change, the Triangle REALTOR® Leadership Academy will help you increase your effectiveness as a leader and equip you with a resiliency that is important in our everchanging profession. The 2010 Triangle REALTOR® Leadership Academy will consist of seven program modules spread throughout the year. Topics discussed will range from leadership concepts, planning and administration, communication skills, spokesperson training and media relations, financial programs, issues and budgeting considerations as well as attending the “State of the Triangle” and NCAR Legislative Day. Taught by a nationally recognized faculty, the Triangle REALTOR® Leadership Academy [See Learning Opportunities on page 16] REALTOR® Review

learning opportunities [Learning Opportunities continued from page 15] will prepare REALTOR® members for existing and future association, community, civic, religious, political and personal leadership opportunities. Enrollment for the Leadership Academy is extremely limited in order to maximize the experience for the participant. You can contact Cara Mottershead at (919) 654-5400 for a complete packet. Deadline for all applications is Nov. 2, 2009. “Being a participant of the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® Leadership Academy of 2008 was one of the most professional and personal growth-promoting experiences I’ve had in a very long time. The academy brings out strengths I didn’t know I had and fine-tuned others that I use in my everyday work and personal life. I look forward to future accomplishments that will be simplified by the leadership tools I developed. The Leadership Academy was an outstanding opportunity and one that I would not trade because of what it now brings to my professional and volunteer endeavors. I’ll work hard to encourage others to apply so they, too, can expand their talents and also know how to tap into those of their peers. I’d love to be able to attend again, just because it was such a positive experience.” Miki Davis, Coldwell Banker Advantage. 2008 Triangle REALTOR® Leadership Academy Graduate.

“Being in the Triangle Leadership Academy helped me grow as a person. The friendships and skills learned during my session were invaluable to me. I am a much more confident real estate agent because of my experience.” Julie Garrison, Prudential York Simpson Underwood. 2008 Triangle REALTOR® Leadership Academy Graduate.

CRS is a designation to strive for The CRS 210, “Building an Exceptional Customer Service Referral Business,” will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 17 – 18, with Mark Given. For more than 30 years CRS has been developing real estate training that helps REALTORS® achieve the next level of success. Our classroom courses 16

REALTOR® Review

provide systems and strategies that can boost your productivity so you can be more effective for your clients.

What is the value of becoming a CRS? However you define success, you can get there faster by earning the CRS designation. CRS training gives you in-depth knowledge about business planning, making listing presentations, negotiating and closing smoother transactions, working in the buyers’ and sellers’ best interest and building a referral business. Once you have completed the rigorous educational and production requirements to earn the Certified Residential Specialist designation, you have many resources at your fingertips — strong referral network of more than 45,000 CRS members; timely and timeless news and information found in the bimonthly magazine, The Residential Specialist; and networking opportunities locally through CRS Chapters and nationally at events such as Sell-a-brations®, the council’s annual educational conference, and national committee meetings held twice yearly.

Why choose CRS and not other designations? Quite simply because you put the most effort into getting it and get the most value back from it. Your mind is open to new challenges, possibilities and opportunities to enhance your business. Your CRS training, mentoring and networking help you decide on the right choices for you and your business. Register today for the CRS 210 by calling Cara Mottershead at (919) 654-5400 or visiting online at http://www.rrar.com/rrar-courses.html

Be a housing hero The Housing Opportunity Committee will be hosting its “Be a Housing Hero” seminar from 9-10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 22 at the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® office. Contact Cara or Sonya at (919) 654-5400 for more information! Summer 2009

Continuing education updates and electives Tips for a successful registration • You can register online at www.rrar.com or contact Cara Mottershead at caram@rrar.com or 654-5400 for a registration form. • Your real estate license number is a vital part of your application. Doublecheck it to make sure it’s entered correctly. • When using a credit card number, be sure to include the expiration date. • Make a copy of your registration; you will not receive a confirmation letter in the mail. • You must present your real estate license pocket card or a copy of your license at check-in before the class begins. • Please check in 20 minutes before class begins. • If space is available, registration will be taken until noon the day before class. • Special services: In accordance with ADA, if you have any disabilities which require special accommodations, please notify us immediately. • Cancellation policy: The full tuition fee less $10 will be refunded if cancellation notice is received at least 24 hours prior to the course. If the class is missed without 24-hour notice, the entire fee is forfeited. The Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS is a nonprofit organization. Any profits generated from this CE program are returned to the association to provide better quality programs for our members. ®

CRS 210 Building an Exceptional Customer Service Referral Business

> Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 2009-2010 Mandatory Update 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Instructor: Bill Gallagher

> Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 Elective: Sustainable Housing and Building Green 1:30-5:30 p.m. Instructor: Bill Gallagher Course description: The movement focused on environmentally sustainable building structures has now moved into the residential market. This course covers the basics of sustainable housing or “building green” and helps familiarize licensees with this emerging market.

> Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 2009-2010 Mandatory Update 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Instructor: Vicki Ferneyhough

> Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 Broker in Charge Annual Review, BICAR: Must be completed prior to June 10, 2010, by ALL brokers-incharge who were designated as brokers-in-charge prior to July 1, 2008, and who wish to remain a broker-in-charge.

1:30-5:30 p.m.

Instructor: Vicki Ferneyhough

> Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 Elective: Financing Dreams 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Instructor: CLE Newsom and Kat Driscoll

Course description: Want to help your first-time home buyers realize their dreams? North Carolina Finance Agency provides low-cost mortgage programs to assist your buyers. The Financing Dreams class will provide information about the NCHFA financing programs.

> Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

Sept. 17-18, 2009

2009-2010 Mandatory Update 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Instructor: Debbie Long

8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

> Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

$300 To register, please contact Cara Mottershead at caram@rrar.com or 654-5400, or online at www.rrar.com CRS designees earn a median income of $110,000 annually. Summer 2009

All courses are North Carolina Real Estate Commission-approved for continuing education

Elective: Eight Creative Strategies for a Slow Market 1:30-5:30 p.m. Instructor: Debbie Long Course description: By the end of the program, students will be able to apply creative strategies to help consumers in a slow or slowing market, such as: seller/owner financing, using the time value of money, discounting mortgages, buyer financing techniques and appropriate pricing techniques, including sellerpaid buyer incentives as well as broker incentives. REALTOR® Review

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REALTOR® Review

Summer 2009

newsmakers

Cobb gives inspirational presentation Kelly Cobb was the guest speaker in Pine Knoll Shores, N.C., for the monthly meeting June 24 of the Crystal Coast Chapter of Women’s Council of REALTORS®. Amy Hahn, WCR Chapter President of Pine Knoll Shores Realty, and Kathryn Gorham, WCR Chapter President-Elect of Green Key Properties and former member of the Kelly Cobb Home Team, received exceptional praise from attendees for the inspirational presentation by Cobb. “Plays Well with Others” was the title of the program on team building presented by Cobb, the inspirational leader of the Kelly Cobb Home Team of Fonville Morisey’s Lochmere office in Cary. She spoke about building a team and how her team works, starting with her as leader providing strength and guidance. Her advice to the attendees was to “take the pressure off;” hire someone to do the details so you can do what you do best, sell real estate. Cobb further advised fellow REALTORS® building their own team to “instill in your team that they are to be of service, not servants.” A graduate of Meredith College, Cobb gave the group real-life examples of finding the right fit for team members. “Above all they need to be personable because we are in a relationship business.” She gave ideas on compensation and how everyone on her team is licensed, and she credited some of her team-building skills and success to 15 years of attending motivational seminars given by speaker Howard Brinton and implementing his tips and ideas. Cobb served as Raleigh Chapter President for Women’s Council of REALTORS® in 1995 and she served as North Carolina State Chapter President Women’s Council of REALTORS® in 1997. She is a member of the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS®, the North Carolina Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of REALTORS®. Summer 2009

Uhorchak earns green designation Kathy Powers Uhorchak, an Allen Tate REALTOR® in the Cary-Stonebridge office, was awarded the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Green Designation. REALTORS® achieve the NAR Green Designation by completing an 18-hour curriculum created by a multidisciplinary team of industry experts, ensuring designees gain a comprehensive knowledge of green homes and buildings and issues of sustainability in relation to real estate. Specific topics included what makes a property green; helping clients evaluate the cost/benefits of green building features and practices; distinguishing between industry rating and classification systems; listing and marketing green home and buildings; financial grants and incentives available to homeowners; and helping consumers see a property’s green potential. “NAR’s Green Designation was developed in response to growing consumer awareness of the benefits of resource-efficient homes and buildings,” said Dick Gaylord, NAR’s immediate past president. “The designation helps consumers who care about energy efficiency and sustainable building practices identify REALTORS® who can help them realize their green real estate and lifestyle goals.”

Real estate professionals earn honors Kim Yontosh, Senior Marketing Manager, was awarded a Major Achievement in Marketing and Excellence (MAME) Award Kim Yontosh for Marketing Manager of the Year. The Triangle MAME awards honor superior [See newsmakers on page 20] REALTOR® Review

newsmakers [newsmakers continued from page 19] achievements in sales and marketing, and recognize leaders who provide cutting-edge solutions to the home building industry. Awards were presented in April by the Triangle Sales and Marketing Council, a joint council of the Raleigh-Wake County and Durham-Orange-Chatham home builders associations.

pat mills

Also receiving a MAME Award is Pat Mills, who was honored as Sales Manager of the Year.

We want you!

We hope you are enjoying your new e-magazine! The Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® staff plans each issue of REALTOR® Review with you in mind. Your news is important to us and other members. We welcome press releases and e-mails regarding your success. A few helpful hints: Information publicizing real estate companies is not allowed but if you recently received a designation, community award or accolade, please send the details to carolines@rrar.com or patriciar@rrar.com. We also welcome feature articles regarding topics that are important to your business. If you have experience in or input about any of these topics, the magazine staff would love to hear from you. As a local “expert,” your views are valued. Thank you for your input! [Triangle continued from page 4] is a long-term agreement between the NCAA and each of the six host cities to bring a wide array of championships and ancillary events to the six geographical areas over the course of several years, quite an achievement for Cary in terms of the much larger cities also participating in the program. • The Atlantic Coast Conference announced that the ACC Baseball Championship will be returning to Durham again in 2011 and 2013. After a successful tournament this year in Durham, the series will return to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park for two more years. The Durham Bulls Athletic Park is the first-class facility found in the heart of the ACC footprint. 20

REALTOR® Review

Long-time ® REALTOR passes away

Joe Lawrence Hodge, 87, passed away Saturday, July 11, 2009 at Mayview Convalescent Center in Raleigh. He was born joe hodge Oct. 14, 1921 to the late John Manning Hodge and Josie Marie Odom in Sumter, S.C. Hodge was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Nadine McGhee Hodge, and his eldest brother, James Monroe Hodge. He was a member of the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® and is a former president of the Raleigh Multiple Listing Service. He and his wife Nadine founded Nadine Hodge Realty in 1968, and he recently retired from Hodge & Kittrell Inc. Jan. 1, 2008 at the age of 86. An avid gardener with a magic touch, Hodge took great pride in his summer tomato gardens and beautiful hosta plants. He graduated from Needham Broughton High School in 1938, and was a WWII veteran, serving in Europe in the 127th field artillery as a staff sergeant. Surviving are his four children: Sharron Hodge Wilson and husband, Lewis P. “Crow” Wilson; Janet Hodge MacCloskey and husband, Edmond “Skeeter” MacCloskey; Joe L. Hodge Jr. and wife, Anna Ball Hodge, all of Raleigh; and Edward Hodge and wife, Lisa Hodge of Greenville, S.C. Also surviving are eight grandchildren, four greatgrandchildren; sisters Irene H. Sykes, Eloise H. Bazemore and Shirley H. Peeler; and brother, Cecil R. Hodge. Memorial contributions may be made to the Needham B. Broughton Capital Foundation, 723 Saint Mary’s St., Raleigh, NC 27605 and to the George A. Kahdy Scholarship Endowment, North Carolina Community Foundation, 4601 Six Forks Road, Suite 524, Raleigh, NC 27609. Summer 2009

Top reasons ‘tweeples’ love Twitter M

ost people who experience Twitter for the first time walk away feeling confused. If you’re someone who just doesn’t get Twitter, today’s column may motivate you to join the twitterverse of tweeting tweeples (people who post messages on Twitter). I had a Twitter account for four months before I started using it regularly. I was following one good friend and was confused by what appeared to be one-sided conversations. In the meantime, my husband was happily tweeting to his friends by taking pictures of his latest kitchen triumphs and posting them on Twitter. Sure, the picture of the beer-can chicken was funny, but who cares? The whole thing seemed to be an enormous time-waster. After six months of doing nothing, I finally committed to filling out my Twitter profile and diving into the conversation. When companies such as Zappos and Dell are building their businesses using this medium, there is obviously a business reason for participating in the Twitter conversation. 1. What’s the real reason people love Twitter? Sixty years ago it was common for several homes to share a single telephone line or “party line.” The local busybodies loved trying to listen in to their neighbor’s conversation. The secret reason that most people love Summer 2009

By Bernice Ross

Twitter is that it appeals to the busybody in each of us. Most people love to listen in on juicy conversations, especially when the people having the conversation don’t know whether we’re eavesdropping. A slightly different way to look at Twitter is that it’s like passing notes back and forth when you were in school. Passing notes in class was a way to have a conversation with your friends when you were stuck in a boring class. Today those conversations are taking place online as tweets and text messages. 2. Twitter works best when it’s fun A common mistake that many people who are new to Twitter make is sending out traditional marketing messages. When it comes to the types of messages that you post both on Twitter and Facebook, it’s smart to follow the 95-5 rule. In other words, spend 95 percent of your time engaged in conversation with other Twitter or Facebook users and only 5 percent of your time engaged in discussing your business. Also keep in mind the busybody principle -- people love to listen to interesting conversations. Thus, instead of posting a tweet that will cause your followers to unfollow you: “Just listed 123 Main Street, 3 bedroom 2 bath view property – open Sunday 2-5,”

Tweet something more interesting, such as: “Have brownies, will travel – yummy open house 123 Main Street. Great deal – save $$, eat chocolate.” Attach pictures of your freshbaked brownies as well as pictures of the property. 3. Twitter -- the best tool ever to find like-minded people A smart move for many real estate agents is to create a niche based upon their previous occupation. For example, if you were a nurse prior to becoming an agent, you could create a niche serving the specific needs of medical professionals who are purchasing real estate. People almost always prefer to work with an agent with whom they share similarities. To find individuals on Twitter who work in a specific industry or profession, visit Twellow.com. Twellow functions as the “Yellow Pages” for Twitter. Much like the regular Yellow Pages, Twellow allows you to find tweeples in specific careers. 4. No more door-knocking or cold-calling! If you go door-knocking or cold call, most people don’t want to talk to you. On the other hand, when you meet them on Twitter, they are eager to have a conversation. One of the best [See top reasons on page 22] REALTOR® Review

Top reasons ‘tweeples’ love Twitter [top reasons continued from page 21] ways to build your referral database is to engage in conversations with people who live in your area. NearbyTweets.com displays other active tweeples who live near you. Request to follow them and comment on their tweets. If someone has an interesting tweet, retweet it (i.e. send it out to your followers). The process is pretty much the same you would use when meeting new neighbors. Get to know them, engage in conversations about mutual interests, and have fun. Remember the 95-5 rule -- 5 percent of your posts are about business. Keep the rest of your posts involved in engaging with others on other topics.

there are also plenty of people involved in conversations about foreclosures, short-sale issues and a host of other real estate-related topics. Twitter has just recently added a search function that lets you identify tweets on specific topics. My personal favorite, however, is Monitter.com. This site allows you to plug in three different sets of search terms and see them display simultaneously in real time. Are you ready to dump expensive mailings, doors slammed in your face and cold-calling hang-ups in favor of having fun with people in your local area online? If so, you may soon find even more reasons to love Twitter. Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, trainer and author of “Real Estate Dough: Your Recipe for Real Estate Success” and other books. You can reach her at Bernice@RealEstateCoach.com. Published on www.inman.com

CoTwe up By GahlordDewald

so you’ve jumped scheduling tweets. Y engaging your audience, twee for you, your company and yo CoTweet.

OK,

CoTweet is a service, currently manage multiple Twitter accoun at your brokerage who monito you coordinate responses via Tw Let’s take it for a spin.

Objective: Share management duti company Twitter account, so the perso desk hours can help funnel questions, le prospects appropriately.

As I mentioned, CoTweet is curr invitational beta. So you’ll have to ask to and then wait for your invite code. Once your code you can log in.

5. Faster than Google – and searchable Twitter is the best way to be engaged in terms of what is happening at any given moment. While Google takes six to 18 hours before its spidering search engine locates relevant content, Twitter gives you the information the moment it posts. For example, if you love sports, there are plenty of people who will be tweeting about the play-by-play. But 22

REALTOR® Review

Webinar can help you get started in social media

Listen to a recent webinar, where experts walk you through understandi the key tools and concepts in the latest social media technology. Just click on this link: https://realtors.webex.com/mw0305l/mywebex/default. do?siteurl=realtors&service=6 Summer 2009

eet: teaming p on Twitter

on the Twitter bandwagon full force. You’re You’re pushing your listings with tweets. You’re et by tweet. You’ve got multiple twitter accounts our blog. And managing it all is a pain. Enter

y in invitational beta, that helps multiple people nts. For example, if there are two or three of you or the company Twitter account, CoTweet helps Twitter and e-mail.

ies of the on doing eads and

rently in o be let in e you get

ing

Once your account is created you can add up to four Twitter accounts to manage. So you might want your personal account, your company account and your blog account, for example. In the rest of this review I’ll focus on that company account. In your account settings you can configure your “CoTag,” which is a way to let Twitter users know who is using the company account. The recommended setting is to use a caret symbol (“^” -- it’s probably above the “6” key on your keyboard) and then your initials. For example, “^GD” would be my CoTag. This is useful because it helps put a little bit of a human face on a team-run company Twitter account. You can see an example of how this looks at the CoTweet Twitter page. After that’s done, you’ll want to make sure your other co-workers have their accounts set up and enabled for CoTweet as well. Time to get to work. You can view activity on your account by selecting your account at the upper left. In the account view you can view updates to the account’s Twitter stream (all of

Summer 2009

the people the account follows) as well as any messages (either direct or public reply). For every tweet that is displayed, you can send a DM (direct message) to the person, a public reply, or retweet (to repeat or repost someone else’s Twitter post, also known as “RT” in Twitterspeak) -- just like with the standard Twitter service. In addition, you can assign a tweet to one of your account holders. When you assign a tweet, you add a note and then the note and the tweet are e-mailed to the person you assign it to.

An example: Someone on Twitter mentions your company Twitter account and how they’re looking at a specific property from the outside and want some more info. The person monitoring the company Twitter account can assign that Tweet to the person who is marketing that property, which generates an e-mail notification. Why wouldn’t they just call for more info? Who knows. This is just an example. When you make an assignment, it becomes visible in your account view on CoTweet. That way your Twitter-related items are all in one place. Pretty handy. If you want to notify people on your team about a tweet but those people don’t use Twitter, you can just e-mail the tweet to them without bothering with an assignment. CoTweet also has a scheduling function. It has a nice clean interface and works like a charm. (For thoughts on why you might want to schedule some tweets, read my earlier column about Tweetlater.) [See cotweet on page 24] REALTOR® Review

[cotweet continued from page 21] So that’s the account interface, and it’s good for messages that directly reference your company account. But you are probably monitoring specific topics on Twitter too, like conversations about your town or your property type or your favorite television show. You monitor topic-based conversation from the search view, which you select via the little magnifying glass in the upper left. As you enter search terms, columns are created and populated with all the tweets that include your term. This is very much like the Tweetdeck interface. CoTweet remembers your columns so you can configure this to your favorite topics and leave it alone. Just like in the account view, you can assign and e-mail Tweets. So you could monitor conversation about your town using your town name or the town hashtag (keyword) if you have one (Burlington, Vt., uses their airport acronym, “#BTV,” as an example). When something relevant surfaces, you can forward it along to the right team member. Using a tool like CoTweet can ease the burden of maintaining the company Twitter account by sharing the effort across multiple people. Also, just as there are likely people in your office who are better at blogging or better at video, there is probably someone who is more familiar with Twitter. Using the assignment and e-mail functionality, that person can leverage their Twitter skill for the whole team. (Gahlord Dewald is the president and janitor of Thoughtfaucet, a strategic creative services company in Burlington, Vt. He’s a frequent speaker on applying analytics and data to creative marketing endeavors.) This article was published on Real Estate and Technology News for Agents, Brokers and Investors | Inman News at www.inman.com 24

REALTOR® Review

Lowball offers fail buyers By Tara-Nicholle Nelson

Q: My wife and I are getting frustrated by sellers who seem like they don’t really want to sell their homes – even in this market! This scenario has happened several times: We see a place we like listed at $499,000. We write an offer at $445,000. The seller doesn’t even respond. Then, six weeks later, the place is still on the market and the price is reduced to $449,000 -- if they had issued us a counteroffer at $449,000, we’d have bought it back then. We’re still interested, but we’re not paying the full price, so we offer $425,000 -- and they still don’t even respond. We’ve done this on several houses, over the last four months, and ALL of those houses are still on the market! We think these sellers are just crazy. I wanted to find out about short sales or bank-owned properties, because those sellers might be more motivated, but our Realtor told us she doesn’t know anything about them. Are we doing something wrong? Summer 2009

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are operating in a bubble, consideration for what your market standard pricing and ating practices might be. When y, “We’re not paying the full you are expressing that you renched in your own values and t about what you will and won’t her than trying to get inside the f those who make the decisions pact whether you will or won’t cessful at getting a home and an offer that speaks to their ns. Is that allowed? Sure! Is it o be successful? Nope -- as you lready seen.

n run into buyers who, like you, rm rules of thumb about what hey will and won’t pay, or what hey will and won’t agree to. After se a few homes, I remind them sense of one-upmanship, pride, ory hard-nosed bargaining that e cultivating with those “rules” y meaningless if they don’t ever y of the homes they are trying ep in mind that any “discount” ere after a few months ago obably been eaten up by the es in interest rates in that same eriod.

seller’s position might be ased; some sellers simply get a uck in their heads and refuse to because they think their home hat great. It might owe more to andard practices; in some areas, simply expect to get the asking with no haggling, so for you to ally come in under asking – no how low they drop the price – be perceived as insulting.

e the fact that the sellers are ng their prices to virtually what offered in the first case might baffling, they might be trying the pricing sweet spot that tes multiple offers and bidding he list price. Still other sellers Summer 2009

might have a target they have to hit to pay off their mortgage and move on – and be unwilling to sell if they can’t get at least their bottom line. And it is completely possible that you’ve just had bad luck with sellers – ask your REALTOR® whether or not her other buyer clients are having this experience. Your REALTOR® can and should be advising you about where your offer strategy is going wrong – if she is and you’re simply not taking her advice, shame on you (well, not really shame, but you get the gist). If she’s not, then that’s a different issue. Lots of the problems you’re having reflect areas in which your REALTOR® should be sharing her expertise and information with you. For example, your REALTOR® should be interviewing the listing agents before you write the offer to see what, other than pricing, you might be able to do to appeal to the seller. Some sellers with strong positions of ego around the price of their home will back off after they read a lovely letter from the would-be buyers, with a picture of Ma, Pa, the kids and the dog, expressing why they love the home and all the work Ms. Seller did to it, despite being unable to pay more than the offer price for financial reasons. Others will take a lower-than-desired price with an offer to take the property “as is,” warts and all (after the appropriate inspections for the buyer’s information, of course). But you never know until you ask -- via your agent, that is! By the same token, assuming you’re relating events the way they really happened, your REALTOR® owes you a meatier explanation of why she can’t show you any short sale or foreclosed properties. Are there just very few such listings in your area or that meet your search criteria? Does she prefer not to work with them, because past clients had bad experiences? Is she

showing you properties listed only by her office? If you are a bargain hunter, as you appear to be, it might have been a mistake to work with an agent who has no access or inclination to work on bargain-priced listing types. There certainly are legitimate reasons why an agent might not want or be able to show you short sales or REOs (bankowned properties), but the sort of agent you need would (and will) fully explain her rationale to you. I’d advise you to rethink your offer strategy and push a reset button on communications with your REALTOR®. Ask yourself whether your goal is to get a house or an illusory bargain, then make future offers in line with your true aim -- and only after your REALTOR® has done some digging into the seller’s thought process, expectations and motivation level. I’m not advising you to pay a ridiculous sum for a property, just to take the seller’s position into account when you formulate your offer, or be prepared to be making offers for some time into the future. Ask your REALTOR® to explain why she can’t offer you short sale and bank-owned properties. Ask her to explain how she thinks you need to alter your offer strategy. If you don’t feel that she’s being forthcoming or that her answers make sense (don’t just look to her to tell you what you want to hear, either), consider changing REALTORS® -- ask around for referrals from your family and friends. Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of “The Savvy Woman’s Homebuying Handbook” and “Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions.” Ask her a real estate question online or visit her Web site, www.rethinkrealestate.com Published on Real Estate and Technology News for Agents, Brokers and Investors | Inman News www.inman.com REALTOR® Review

It’s time to graduate to the new school of real estate marketing By Bernice Ross

Are you still relying on oldschool marketing tactics that don’t work well in today’s Web 2.0 environment? If so, now is the best time ever to say, “Out with the old and in with the new!” How much have you spent in the last 12 months on newspaper ads, print magazines, postage and other mailing pieces? How many hours have you spent calling people who don’t want to hear from you? How many weeks (years) of your life have you spent doing floor or opportunity time? As an increasing number of consumers rely more heavily on the Web, old marketing strategies are rapidly giving way to an entirely new approach. If you’re ready to graduate to “new school” marketing strategies, here are six strategies to get you started.

1. Replace your shotgun with a rifle Many people describe traditional real estate marketing as using a shotgun approach. Spread your marketing efforts far and wide. Work with anyone who shows up. Today, to achieve the best Web ranking possible, you must target a very narrow niche. For example, if you specialize in two subdivisions with 200 homes each and one condo building with 50 units, you would target each 26

REALTOR® Review

group separately. This means building three separate “home” pages devoted to the unique lifestyle in each area. Each page would have a separate URL such as FalconCrestHomes78759.com or 90024ChurchillCondos.com. The URLs can be for a stand-alone Web site or they can redirect to different parts of your site. If you choose the latter approach, make sure each of these pages has the appearance of a home page. Use print marketing to drive people to your Web site.

2. “Pull, don’t push” Paul Chaney, president of the International Blogging and New Media Association, in a blog post entitled “Seven Social Media Mindset Markers,” uses the term “pull” as opposed to “push,” to describe the difference between the old-school and new-school approaches. The old-school approach pushes out information in the form of newspaper advertisements, magazine ads and Just Listed and Just Sold cards. Agents “push” their services by door-knocking for expired listings and for-sale-by-owners. While these strategies still work, they are costly and time consuming. The new-school approach involves meeting consumers, not with an unwelcome phone call or door knock, but online where they are willing to engage in a real conversation. Instead of memorizing and regurgitating

a script, the social media community wants to meet the real you that exists outside of real estate. This is an environment where authenticity is everything (i.e. being who you really are.) Potential customers first learn to know you socially and then professionally. It’s through this process that they will determine whether they want to do business with you.

3. Connecting with today’s consumers Gen X and Gen Y think that postcards and newspaper ads are hopelessly outdated. They also have the “don’t call us, we’ll call you” attitude. To reach this demographic, the new-school approach requires you to use their preferred style of communication. This means using text messaging as well as being active on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It also means being visible on the sites where they can easily find you. Both Gen X and Gen Y will investigate your local multiple listing service, Realtor. com, Zillow and a host of other online real estate Web sites to determine which agent best suits their needs.

4. Can the marketing messages When you knock on someone’s door, send a postcard or call on the phone, you are imposing your marketing message without the Summer 2009

other party’s consent. In today’s new social media environment, you must earn the right for people to listen to you. You can do this by providing entertaining and useful content. Another way of saying this is to use “give-to-get marketing.” You must give your reader useful information with no strings attached if you expect them to do business with you.

5. Create “social navigation” Your Web site and/or blog already have navigation tools including a site map, an “about us page,” and links to listings and sales. These tools help your Web visitors find what they want quickly and easily. According to Chaney, the next step is to include “social navigation.” This means including links that take your Web visitors to the other places where you are active online, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

6. Quality, not quantity, matters This is one area where the old-school and new-school approaches overlap. It is better to have a database of 200 people that helps you close 50 sales per year than it is to have a database of 1,000 that helps you close only 10 sales per year. As Chaney concludes in his post, “It’s not how many eyeballs read your content, but who those eyeballs belong to.” Are you ready to leave the tired old-school strategies behind? If so, there’s no better time to graduate than right now. Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com [3], is a national speaker, trainer and author of “Real Estate Dough: Your Recipe for Real Estate Success” and other books. You can reach her at Bernice@RealEstateCoach.com. Summer 2009

NEW MEMBERS FOR june/JULY 09 Alexander B. Andrews Jamie D. Armstrong Maurice Atkinson Patrick D. Baker Ranbir S. Bakhshi Thea Branch Devon U. Brewer Martin Buckwald Sarah R. Burkart Roland W. Ching Lowry A. Cline Angela Cole Erica H. Colleton Fawn A. Diaz Tameika L. Dickens Andrew J. Forster Christy A. Fundurburk Carol Anne Godfrey Larry Y. Harris Chance V. Hart Talisa E. Hill Tricia A. Homan James T. Howard Deborah E. Humphrey Glen W. Hunsucker Daniel P. Kendall Martha P. King Jacqueline Klein Alberta J. Kurtz Carol M. Lewis Christine S. Linn Patricia A. Lockett Onix Lugo Colin D. MacNair Melonie S. Marsh Maggie R. Molina Margaret Moore Wayne Muller Suzanne G. Myers Lucky T. Nguyen Kaicheng Ning Benjamin C. Passwaters Dipak M. Patel Kathleen K. Pattison Venita L. Peyton Nancy A. Piacente Ruth G. Rice Lisa J. Rison Wendy B. Robertson Rodney P. Rowe Lindsey M. Scherer William J. Segreve Daniel J. Serafin Mary B. Severs Marianita Stevans Jeffrey P. Stoker Emily Thomas Harold J. Thomas Cynthia M. Voorhees Kameela Wardsworth Erin L. Wheless Dina F. White Leslie M. Williams Mark C. Williams

Dominion Realty Partners, LLC Fonville Morisey/Kildaire Sales Office Ready To Sell, Inc. Re/Max Integrity Keller Williams Realty Fonville Morisey/Brier Creek Sales Office Haven, A. Real Estate Company Weichert Realtors-Triangle Tango Real Estate Grace Realty Standard Pacific Carolinas, LLC Adams Homes Realty, Inc. Fonville Morisey/Stonehenge Sales Office C-21 Vicki Berry Realty C-21 Vicki Berry Realty Keller Williams Tarpley & Rigsbee, Inc. Golden Realty & Management Howard Perry & Walston Realty Northside Realty, Inc. Realty Executives Parrish Realty WSR Home Buyers, LLC Realty World Partners Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston Keller Williams Realty Fonville Morisey/Chapel Hill Sales Office Plexus Realty, LLC LaChapelle Properties, LLC Re/Max Capital Realty C-21 Vicki Berry Realty Realty World Partners Zip Realty, Inc. RealPro Realty, LLC Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston ERA Pacesetters Realty Castle Creek Realty, LLC Hometowne Realty Group Spencer Properties C-21 Vicki Berry Realtly CHK Realty Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston AKM Realty Fonville Morisey/Lochmere Sales Office Daymark Realty Changing Streets.com Barrington Homes, Inc. Pinnacle Realty C-21 Vicki Berry Realty RP Rowe Appraisal Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston Carolina Realty Group, Inc. Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston Fonville Morisey/Brier Creek Sales Office Prudential York Simpson Underwood Block & Associates Realty Castle Creek Realty, LLC Professional Appraisal Company Fonville Morisey/Frank Matthews Team Weichert Realtor/Triangle Fonville Morisey/Brier Creek Fonville Morisey & Barefoot Keller Williams Realty Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR A NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION, PLEASE CONTACT CAROLINE SHIPMAN AT 654-5400. REALTOR® Review

Realtor Snapshot Doing good deeds RRAR’s Housing Opportunity Committee hosted a successful telethon Tuesday, May 26, at the NBC 17 news station.

RRAR President John Wood, President-elect Theresa Clark and Director Eddie Brown help prepare to send off more than 24 boxes to support the USO in Bagdad. RRAR’s 2009 Housing Opportunity Committee chair, John Hartofelis, and fellow REALTOR® Teresa Connor serve as a resource to the community at the Housing Fair in Triangle Town Center.

(above) RRAR’s Community Service Committee spends Saturday building ramps for Resources for Seniors. Pictured here are general contractor Graham, Dan Flynn, Patricia Tchume and son, Mary Erazim, Julie Garrison, Lana Wray, Kelly Bennerson and Suzanne Burton.

(above) RRAR’s Community Service Committee serves lunch at the Shepherds Table Soup Kitchen, with the members here lending a hand: Teresa Connor, Kelly Bennerson, Lana Wray, Sharee Bowman, Mary Biathrow, Julie Garrison, Jenny McLeod and Priscilla Erwin.

RRAR Director Carol McCormick poses for a picture with Jared Hollis after presenting him with one of the three Community Service Scholarships.

Congratulations to RRAR’s 2009 Community Service College Scholarship winners – Scott Hefner, Svyatolslav Petrov and Jared Hollis.

REALTOR® Review

Summer 2009

Members stay busy with summer events Dick Sears, mayor of Holly Springs, Jan Faulkner, mayor of Morrisville, and Ronnie Williams, mayor of Garner, pose for a photo following the Young Professional Network “Meet the Mayors” meeting June 17.

(left) More than 200 REALTORS® gathered at the board for the June 18 appraisal luncheon, sponsored by RRAR’s Government Affairs Committee. (right) More than 300 REALTORS® gathered July 8 to learn more about the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers.

It’s all in the body language The Top Producers Council hosted a national speaker event with body language expert Jan Hargave. Agents learned that there is a method, and a style, to successfully understanding the true thought being expressed. Top Producers Kelly Cobb and Ida Terbet pose for photo with Jan Hargrave following the presentation.

Teeing it up for a good cause Burks Crumpler, Tom Smith, Justin Mascow and Larry Pugh enjoy a day out on the Devil’s Ridge greens at RRAR’s annual charity golf tournament.

Summer 2009

REALTORS rock! ®

Special thanks to Walnut Creek, Linda Trevor and John Wood for securing free tickets for 400-plus RRAR members to the Doobie Brothers and Bad Company concert. A good time was had by all! REALTOR® Review

Single-Fam #N/A Townhouse-Condo

Local Market Updates

A free research tool from the Triangle Multiple Listing Service, Inc.

Entire Triangle Region All TMLS Activity

June

Year to Date

2008

2009

Change

2008

2009

Change

New Listings

4,903

4,107

- 16.2%

30,405

24,415

- 19.7%

Closed Sales

2,798

2,211

- 21.0%

13,581

9,586

- 29.4%

Median Sales Price*

$206,000

$187,000

- 9.2%

$192,500

$182,900

- 5.0%

Average Sales Price*

$254,361

$233,034

- 8.4%

$240,050

$225,018

- 6.3%

Total Dollar Volume (in millions)*

$711.1

$515.2

- 27.5%

$3,258.4

$2,156.4

- 33.8%

Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale*

97.6%

96.9%

- 0.7%

97.4%

96.3%

- 1.2%

+ 10.1%

102

+ 12.4%

22,985

21,125

- 8.1%

Average Days on Market Until Sale Inventory of Homes for Sale *Does not account for seller concessions.

Some of the figures referenced in this report are for only one month worth of activity. As such, they can sometimes look extreme due to the small sample size involved.

Activity—Most Recent Month

Activity—Year to Date 2008 2009

4,903

2008 2009

30,405

4,107

24,415 2,798

- 16.2%

Closed Sales

Median Sales Price

- 29.4%

- 19.7% New Listings

Closed Sales

Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale

$187,000

2008 2009

$192,500

97.6%

June

$182,900

Year to Date

Days on Market Until Sale 96

+ 10.1% June

96.9%

- 5.0%

- 9.2%

9,586

- 21.0%

New Listings

$206,000

13,581

2,211

2008 2009

97.4%

96.3%

- 1.2%

- 0.7% June

Year to Date

June Inventory of Homes for Sale 2008 2009

102

22,985

+ 12.4% Year to Date

21,125

- 8.1% 2008

2009

All data provided by Triangle Multiple Listing Service, Inc. Reports are created and maintained by 10K Research and Marketing. For further information regarding TMLS Market Trends and Analysis please visit: http://www.rrar.com/tmls-stats.html

REALTOR® Review

Summer 2009

Single-Fam #N/A Townhouse-Condo

Local Market Updates

A free research tool from the Triangle Multiple Listing Service, Inc.

Wake County

June

Wake County, NC

Year to Date

2008

2009

Change

2008

2009

Change

New Listings

2,552

2,176

- 14.7%

16,041

13,152

- 18.0%

Closed Sales

1,531

1,150

- 24.9%

7,536

5,124

- 32.0%

Median Sales Price*

$221,500

$202,776

- 8.5%

$212,063

$200,000

- 5.7%

Average Sales Price*

$277,293

$253,899

- 8.4%

$264,787

$247,631

- 6.5%

Total Dollar Volume (in millions)*

$424.5

$292.0

- 31.2%

$1,995.1

$1,268.9

- 36.4%

Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale*

97.7%

97.1%

- 0.6%

97.7%

96.7%

- 1.0%

+ 15.4%

+ 16.6%

11,244

10,507

- 6.6%

Average Days on Market Until Sale Inventory of Homes for Sale *Does not account for seller concessions.

Some of the figures referenced in this report are for only one month worth of activity. As such, they can sometimes look extreme due to the small sample size involved.

Activity—Most Recent Month 2,552 2,176

Activity—Year to Date 2008 2009

16,041 13,152

2008 2009

1,531

7,536

1,150

- 14.7%

- 24.9%

New Listings

Closed Sales

Median Sales Price $221,500

2008 2009

$212,063

New Listings

$200,000

June

Year to Date

Days on Market Until Sale 94

+ 15.4%

97.7%

97.1%

- 5.7%

- 8.5%

June

- 32.0%

- 18.0%

Closed Sales

Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale

$202,776

5,124

2008 2009

97.7%

96.7%

- 1.0%

- 0.6% June

Year to Date

June Inventory of Homes for Sale 2008 2009

11,244

10,507

+ 16.6% Year to Date

- 6.6% 2008

2009

Summer 2009

REALTOR® Review

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BUY • HOST • JOIN

Summer 2009

REALTOR速 Review

RRAR events August 10 CE with Bill Gallagher: Mandatory Update,

8:30 a.m.to 12:30 p.m.

17 New Member Orientation,

8:30 a.m to 3 p.m.

17&18 CRS 210: Building an Exceptional

Customer Service Referral Business with Mark Given, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day

18 Leadership Academy: Communication Skills

with Bo Boylan, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

23 CE with Cle Newsom and Kat Driscoll:

Financing Dreams, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Presentation and Sales Skills with Sharon Delaney McCloud, 8:30-11 a.m.

Sustainable Housing and Building Green, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

Communications & Public Relations Committee meeting, noon to 1 p.m.

27-30 NCAR Convention, Savannah

Tech-Savvy Web Site Focus Group, 11 a.m. to noon

User-Friendly Web Site Focus Group, 1-2 p.m.

October 5 ePro demonstration 7 WCR Meeting (Womens Council of REALTORS®) 8&9 Leadership Academy: McCloud and

12 RRAR Directors Meeting

Summer Leadership Dinner

20 New Member Orientation, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Government Affairs Committee Meeting

27 TCAR Membership Meeting

Triangle Community Coalition Political Pig Pickin’, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Brier Creek Country Club

September 2 WCR Meeting (Womens Council of REALTORS®) 3 New Member Orientation, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

RRAR Safety Seminar, 8:30 a.m to 10:30 a.m.

7 Labor Day (RRAR office closed) 9 RRAR Directors Meeting 14 Housing Opportunity Committee meeting,

9-10 a.m.

14-18 RRAR and NCAR Elections 16 CE with Vicki Ferneyhough: Mandatory

Update, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Broker-in-Charge Annual Review, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

TICOR

REALTOR® Review

Kim Dean, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

12 Housing Opportunity Committee meeting,

9-10 a.m.

Communications & Public Relations Committee meeting, noon to 1 p.m.

14 CE with Debbie Long: Mandatory Update,

8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m

CE with Debbie Long: Elective: Eight Creative Strategies for a Slow Market, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

RRAR Directors Meeting

15 Government Affairs Committee 19 2009 Real Estate Trends – Octoberfest,

8:30 a.m. to noon.

21-22 CIPS Course 22 Housing Fair Seminar 9-11 a.m. 31 Halloween • New Member Tempo is every Wednesday in Computer Training Center (All meetings and events are held at the RRAR office at 111 Realtors Way in Cary unless otherwise noted.) Summer 2009