2008_01-02_Commonwealth

January/February 2008

A journal for real estate professionals published by the Virginia Association of REALTORS® • www.VARealtor.com

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The social media dan ce: How a new way to interact can bring you some real bottom line results

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home equity now close to 50 percent The Federal Reserve recently reported that the total amount of home equity homeowners have in their properties was 50.4 percent in the third quarter of 2007, down from 51.1 percent in the second quarter.

The Fed said it believes home equity could slip below 50 percent in 2008 – marking the first time since it began keeping records in 1945 that homeowners have owed more than they own of their homes.

Builders go green at annual show The National Association of Home Builders is turning Valentine’s Day red into builder “Green Day” at its annual convention in Orlando.

During Green Day at the meeting, set for Feb.14, the NAHB will conduct its National Green Building Program and unveil its new Certified Green Professional educational designation for home builders, remodelers and industry professionals.

The trade association also said it would introduce a scoring tool that will allow builders and consumers to select which energy-saving and environmentally sensitive features will go into their new home.

The Builders show is expected to draw more than 100,000 attendees. For more information, go to: nahb.org.

Lockbox company adds “panic button” GE Security, a manufacturer of Supra wireless lockboxes for the real estate industry, has announced the addition of a “panic button” on its ActiveKEY lockbox that may be used if an agent Volume 15 l ISSue 1

feels he or she is in jeopardy.

The device alerts as many as five emergency contacts and sends them the address of the last lockbox the agent opened and a message programmed by the agent.

NAR notes that violence against agents is rare but includes assaults, robberies and even fatal attacks. In 2005, 2.5 percent of real estate businesses reported incidents of workplace violence, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The panic button was introduced at the NAR meetings in Las Vegas last year.

their listings and open house information on Zillow. The newspapers also will use Zillow to enhance their own Web sites.

Eleven newspaper companies are involved in the partnership: Hearst Newspapers, Lee Enterprises, Media General, MediaNews Group, Morris Communications, Paddock Publications, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, E.W. Scripps, Times-Shamrock Communications, Journal Register Co., and the Day Publishing Co.

newspapers form pact with Zillow

The big question in the housing market is: How bad will it get?

Depending on who’s guessing, the predictions vary greatly but few are optimistic.

Falling house prices are “the No. 1 danger to the economy,” says Torsten Slok, an economist at Deutsche Bank.

A recent Economy.com report predicts home sales will hit bottom in

The home pricing site Zillow.com has announced it has formed a partnership with 280 newspapers to provide local classified information such as listings and open house information.

Under the agreement, agents or FSBOs who advertise in the newspapers will have the option of putting

Differences over when housing will fully recover

“

a recent economy.com report predicts home sales will hit bottom in early 2008, with housing starts hitting bottom mid-2008.”

January/February 2008

1

This Just In

early 2008, with housing starts hitting bottom mid-2008. But prices will continue to drop, and by early 2009 home prices will have fallen about 13 percent nationally from their peaks, according to the report.

Prices will have fallen more than 15 percent if nonprice discounts to buyers are taken into account.

Builders likely haven’t seen the bottom of the market yet, according to James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy at Rutgers University.

“We certainly haven’t hit bottom yet,” Hughes suggests. “We may well be in uncharted territory here. Since the Great Depression, we haven’t had a sustained national downturn like this.”

“Once we hit bottom ... we’re going to stay there for awhile,” at least in terms of new construction, predicted Richard F. Moody, chief economist of Mission Residential, a multifamily real estate investment firm.

On the plus side: The Federal Reserve, Congress, and the Bush Administration all appear to be taking the problem seriously.

Source: BusinessWeek Online and Dow Jones Business News

Senate FHA bill would help ease subprime crisis To help alleviate the current housing downswing and allow the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages for more home owners, the Senate late last year approved legislation that would improve the capacity and flexibility of the FHA to serve the credit needs of subprime and other challenged mortgage borrowers. The bill passed by an over-

January/February 2008

whelming 93-to-1 margin and was expected to get Presidential approval.

“The nation’s home builders applaud the Senate action to modernize the FHA to allow the agency to carry out its mission to spur housing opportunities for America’s working families,” said Brian Catalde, NAHB president and a home builder from El Segundo, Calif. “The measure would offer borrowers a safe and fair mortgage alternative to the volatile subprime market.”

Faced with a severe deterioration in the availability and affordability of housing credit during a period when FHA’s programs have failed to keep pace with procedural and technological advances in conventional mortgage loan programs, S. 2338, the FHA Modernization Act of 2007, would enable the FHA to respond to the needs of borrowers and play an important role in stabilizing the mortgage markets.

Specifically, S. 2338 would: • Increase the current limit for FHA-insured mortgages to enable deserving potential buyers to purchase homes in more markets across the country.

• Grant the FHA authority to establish greater flexibility in setting downpayment requirements for its single-family programs.

• Simplify requirements for condominium loans, which are often burdensome and differ significantly from the rules applied to mortgage loans for detached single-family homes.

• Allow the FHA to insure more “reverse mortgages” and increase the maximum loan amount for such transactions.

Auctioneers launch auction MLS The National Auctioneers Association has launched a multiple listing service designed for real estate auctions, believing more consumers are seeing auctions as an alternative to the standard home sales process.

The site, which can be found at: naarealestateauctions.com, is intended to provide consumers with up-to-date information on real estate auctions taking place in their area. Visitors can find residential, commercial, agricultural, and time share real estate on the site.

At press time, appointment of a Congressional conference committee was pending in order to hammer out final FHA legislation. l

www.VARealtor.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 • Volume 15 Issue 1

21 The social media dance: How a new way to interact can bring you some real bottom line results Today’s internet environment can conjure up fears not unlike that moment in youth when you first confronted a school dance. Will you do something horribly stupid or embarrassing in front of your peers? Or will you be frozen with fear and miss out on something great? Get ready to join the social media dance, because the only thing you have to fear is fear itself…

22 Social Media 101: Let’s get digital Blogging? Facebook? LinkedIn? If you don’t know what these are, it’s time you did. We’ve got easy-to-follow users’ guides to these and other forms of social media you need to understand.

24 Two (warp speed) years later,

high-tech investment is still paying off Technologically, a lot can happen in two years. Two Virginia REALTORS® prove that life on the cutting edge of real estate blogging has its rewards.

26 It’s a brave, (and scary) new world!

Diving into new technologies to market your business promises new opportunities to grow. It also poses new ethical and legal risks, so look before you leap.

28 Take it from a Virginian who knows social media:

PUBLISHED BY THE VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® The Business Advocate for Virginia Real Estate Professionals Pat Jensen, ABR, CRB, CRS, GRI VAR President John Powell, GRI, ABR, CRB, CRS VAR President-Elect Cindy Stackhouse, GRI VAR Vice President R. Scott Brunner, CAE Chief Executive Officer scott@VARealtor.com Lisa G. Noon, ABC, CAE Vice President, Marketing and Communications lgnoon@VARealtor.com Ben Martin, CAE Director of Communications & New Media bmartin@VARealtor.com Valerie Hubbard, Editor Information Manager/Writer valerieh@VARealtor.com For advertising information, Jeff Rhodes at (410)584-1968 or email var@networkpub.com The mission of The Virginia Association of REALTORS® is to enhance its membership’s ability to achieve business success.

Commonwealth magazine (ISSN#10681388) is published bi-monthly by the Virginia Association of REALTORS®, 10231 Telegraph Road, Glen Allen, VA 23059-4578; (804) 264-5033.

Virginia Association of REALTORS® members pay annual dues with a one-year subscription included within their dues. Periodicals postage paid at the Glen Allen, VA post office and additional mailing offices. USPS Per. # 9604.

Postmaster: Send address changes to: Commonwealth magazine, 10231 Telegraph Rd., Glen Allen, VA 23059-4578.

Custom Publishing Services provided by Network Publications, Inc. Executive Plaza 1, Suite 900, 11350 McCormick Road Hunt Valley, MD 21031

Get it? Got it? Good!

A look inside the hard drive of “Real Estate Zebra” Daniel Rothamel

In addition to the print version of Commonwealth, VAR publishes a handful of electronic newsletters at regular increments. Among them:

He’s got lots of experience and an unbridled enthusiasm for virtual social networking. This is the guy you want looking over your shoulder when you’re ready to jump into the likes of blogs and Facebook. So, we asked him a few questions on your behalf…

The online version of our print mag, published every other month.

34 All for one and one for all:

‘Together’ is mantra for VAR’s new president Pat Jensen wants you to know that you are not alone. She is ready to help

you tackle market challenges and make 2008 your most successful year yet.

It’s all about working together.

What’s happening at the General Assembly that affects your business.

DEPARTMENTS 1 6 10 14 16 18 4

This Just In Legal Lines Legislative Update Blogspotting Living the Code Risk Reduction

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

Tools and trends for managing brokers, published monthly.

35 36 38 40 42 44

Specialties Update RPAC Report Housing Opportunity VAR Update VAR Staff Directory The Last Word

Tips and techniques for agents with less than three years experience.

If you’re not receiving one or more of these newsletters via e-mail from time to time, it may be that we don’t have your correct email address. Contact your local association of REALTORS® to enter your address in the database. Also, check the spam filter on your computer and authorize any email from VARealtor.com.

LegAL LInes

by Lawrence E. “Lem” Marshall, Esq.

It’s quiz time...how much do you know about listing rules, contracts and offers you must refuse THIS ARTICLE BEGINS a new feature: a quarterly legal quiz, in which I will test your knowledge of legal issues. So get ready to think like a lawyer. The first question and answer will get you going in the right direction.

Put out a contract

Q.

listing agent is asked by owner to list a new home on which the owner (not a licensed contractor) acted as the general – hiring all subs, obtaining all permits, and going through all inspections to obtain a certificate of occupancy, all totally legit. He has never intended to live in the house. may listing agent safely take the listing, and if so, what if anything must he disclose to prospective buyers?

A. Section 54.1-1101A7 exempts from the requirements of (contractor) licensure “(a)ny person who performs or supervises the construction, removal, repair or improvement of no more than one primary residence owned by him and for his own use during any 24-month period.” The owner does not fall under this exemption, because he did not build it for his own use. Selling the house will subject him to potential penalty for the misdemeanor of practicing contracting without a license, but does it mean a REALTOR® shouldn’t take the listing?

That’s a more complicated question.

Although the owner’s intent when he built the house was to sell it, he probably has not violated any statute until he does sell it. If that is true, the agent should probably not participate in an event that yields the client a criminal. We should also consider that if by selling the house the owner loses his exemption from the requirements of licensure, he is open to enormous civil liability if there is any problem with the house, whether he and the agent disclose what they know or not. It strikes me that we would want to be as far from this as possible.

My sixth sense says to steer clear of this. The owner’s clean as long as doesn’t sell the house before he lives in it.

Selling now creates all the problems, and he’s asking you to be involved in that. If you wander into a situation like this and the roof falls in, and you find yourself charged with aiding and abetting and being an accessory after the fact, even a crack defense team.

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January/February 2008

The Code of silence

Q.

listing agent obtains a contract but it fails when the inspection reveals that the roof is structurally unsound, and might fall in. (He took the listing above.) The listing expires, is picked up by a different company, and shortly thereafter goes under contract. Does the first listing agent have any duty to the new listing agent or buyer to inform them of the problem with the roof?

A. No, and he probably should not. Seller has no duty to disclose the condition of the roof, and telling the buyer or listing agent might breach the duty of confidentiality owed to the former client. This is certainly a tough call, but it reminds us of the irony of sacred rules: We don’t need them when things are easy; they’re most important when their application is difficult. It’s neither hard nor especially important to love thy neighbor when he’s a loveable guy.

The duty of confidentiality is binding.

Inventory this

Q.

looey the lister has a listing on commercial property with retail inventory in it. looey writes an offer for $170,000 “including inventory.” During the pendency of the contract buyer finds out the inventory is going out the back door, and is understandably angry. The contract does not identify or describe the inventory. what rights does the buyer have here?

A. Looey the Lister goofed, and the buyer has every right to be upset (although I hope Looey realizes I mean no disrespect). I assume, because the contract did not say otherwise, that the inventory to be conveyed was the inventory on the premises at the time of contract or its equivalent. Of course, this analysis could be affected by whether the business was a going concern, how long between contract ratification and closing, etc. If we’re talking about the inventory at time of contract, I think seller is holding it in constructive trust for the buyer, and will have to account for it, or give a credit, at closing.

Yeah, credit this.

The contract should be clear as to what personal property conveys, and how it is to be priced. Often, in deals like this, the parties will provide for a valuation of www.VarealTor.Com

VAR Legal Hotline: (800) 755-8271 Is it risky? Quick! To the Hotline… inventory present at time of closing, or they may identify specifically what stays and what goes as a part of the price. Whatever you do, be clear.

An offer you can refuse

Q.

Benny the Buyer’s Guy shows a listed property with an offer of three percent in the MLS. The morning of the showing, the seller and listing firm had just increased the price by 20 G’s and offered a selling bonus of five large, which they communicated to Benny after they found out he had shown the property. Benny produces a lowball offer, and seller comes back down on the price by $15K to get the deal done. During these negotiations, Looey the Lister reputedly tells Benny that the bonus is contingent on a full-price offer, and Looey says Benny was fine with this. This condition was never placed in the MLS. Of course, Benny later demands the bonus, saying it was in the MLS and denying he had agreed to the full-price contingency.

Does Benny get the bonus?

A. This isn’t all Benny’s going to get, is it?

Well, because the facts are in dispute, we’ll have to assume them, for fun. Let’s assume Benny was not told that the bonus was conditioned on a full-price offer (this is supported by the MLS, the lack of any written communication, and Benny’s testimony). Did the bonus apply to any offer Benny produced? That’s hard to tell, but the answer hinges on what offer Benny was responding to. It seems to me Benny set in motion the unbroken chain of events leading to the deal before learning of the bonus, in fact, before the bonus had even been offered. In short, Looey made him an offer he couldn’t accept.

But there’s another fact here. Looey extended the offer of the bonus specifically to Benny after he showed the property. Does this change things? Well, if the offer of the bonus was made without additional consideration from Benny, it’s likely not enforceable (a promise is not enforceable unless supported by consideration). If the offer is unilateral (this one seems to be), Looey could dictate the terms – in this case, a full-price offer – and I don’t see why those terms would not be enforceable. The only question is, were the terms communicated to Benny? That’s an issue of fact for the fact finder (judge, jury or sit-down), who will be able to judge the credibility of the witnesses and hear all the evidence. It’s hard for us to know.

For all you Looey’s out there: If your bonus or other increased offer of compensation is dependent on some event, you must be clear about it. Otherwise you leave yourself at the mercy of those who settle such disputes.

Volume 15 ● Issue 1

The VAR Legal Hotline is a free, members-only risk management tool that is among the top-rated services offered by the Virginia Association of REALTORS®. Through the Legal Hotline, you can receive timely legal information on the issues you confront day-in and day-out in your real estate practice. The VAR Legal Hotline has one major objective: to increase REALTOR® professionalism and decrease professional liability.

Guidelines for Legal Hotline calls:

All principal brokers are eligible to use the Hotline.

In addition, the supervising broker and one other designated person from each office (for example, an associate broker or office manager) may register as designees of the principal broker.

Before you call…

Please note that many of the questions the Hotline receives have already been answered in Commonwealth articles; check the indexed Hotline archives at www.VARealtor.com before calling.

Hours of operation:

Monday through Friday (except holidays) from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

How to contact the Hotline:

By phone: (800) 755-8271 or (804) 2645033. By e-mail: hotline@varealtor.com

Call handling process:

When you call, please have your NRDS number ready, and put it on any e-mailed questions.

Most calls and emails will be handled by VAR Counsel Lem Marshall.

How to sign up:

Registration is easy. Contact VAR at (800) 755-8287, or complete the form found under Member Services at www.varealtor.com.

Questions?

If you have questions about the Hotline, contact Scottie Bosworth in the VAR Risk Management Group at (800) 755-8271 or (804) 264-5033, or by email at sbosworth@varealtor.com The VAR Legal Hotline is not intended to replace your own legal counsel. No questions will be answered on matters that are unrelated to real estate, real estate brokerage, or pending arbitrations.

January/February 2008

legal lines

A (legit) piece of the action

Q.

Goodfellows Realty wants to approach local builders, all of whom are listed with other firms, with a proposal. For a fee, he will advertise their listings on a radio show with all leads generated going to Goodfellows. Goodfellows would then work with the buyers to generate offers on the properties and accept offers of compensation from the listing firms. May Goodfellows solicit advertising from builders currently listed with other firms?

A. You want a piece of the action?

Then you gotta get this one right.

Goodfellows is prohibited (Article 16) from taking any action inconsistent with another Realtor’s exclusive relationship with a client. The REB

January/February 2008

regulations prohibit a licensee from advertising property for sale without the consent of the owner, unless the property cannot be specifically identified and the manner in which you are offering to work with consumers is made clear in the ad, in which case the owner’s consent is not required.

These appear to be the key obstacles to this program.

Is the plan inconsistent with the listing firms’ exclusive relationships with the builders? This is not as clear as you might think. In many ways, it seems complementary, as it will assist the listing firms in selling their listings. In one sense, it seems analogous to placing copies of MLS photos on your office store-front window, or

placing an ad in a newspaper touting the new properties on the market.

These practices are perfectly legal and ethical if the sellers consent, and are also legal without the sellers’ consent if the properties are not specifically identifiable from the advertising.

Our most serious question here is whether it is acceptable to approach the sellers about the proposal. It seems incongruous for a broker to be able to run a newspaper or radio ad that says, “Call me if you’d like my assistance in purchasing this beautiful new home with four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths on a quiet wooded lot in a desirable subdivision” without the seller’s consent (you can) but not to be able to ask the seller to help the broker do so. Now, to be sure, such a campaign could conceivably interfere with other marketing efforts by the listing firm, and the seller might not be the best judge of that, but that would seem to me to be the exception. Even if the program were to present a problem to the listing firm, it seems sufficient that Goodfellows withdraw upon being presented with reasonable evidence from the listing firm that the seller was wrong in wanting to go forward with the ad campaign.

The advertising absolutely cannot give the impression that Goodfellows is the listing firm and should make clear how it intends to work with consumers on these listings. But even then, Goodfellows might expect some resistance, at least until it starts producing buyers for the listings. Then even hidebound listing firms might see that this might just benefit their sellers after all. Even Vinny and Looey and Benny would be happy with that. l

www.VARealtor.com

Ask yourself this: What would Ted do in this situation?

Q.

What if a listing agent is asked by owner to list a new home on which the owner (not a licensed contractor) acted as the general –hiring all subs, obtaining all permits, and going through all inspections to obtain a certificate of occupancy, all totally legit? He has never intended to live in the house. May the listing agent safely take the listing, and if so, what if anything must he disclose to prospective buyers?

Legal Lines is written by VAR Special Counsel Lem Marshall, Please note that answers to Legal Hotline questions are informational only.

Consult your own legal counsel if your situation requires legal advice. More Legal Hotline questions and answers are indexed at VARealtor.com for your reference.

Volume 15 ● Issue 1

A. You can see what VAR Special Counsel Lem Marshall says in his “Legal Lines” column on page 6, but what about the self-professed Dean of the Deal Ted Truitt*? Let’s give this “Whatever It Takes” system expert a turn: What Ted says: What’s the problem here? Look, the home inspector says the house is up to code, and that’s all we need to know. I mean, the fact that he’s the builder’s brotherin-law shouldn’t bother you in the least. So what if this guy might have buried more code violations in this “pig with lipstick” than the owner of Forest Lawn? By the time they show up, you’ll be just a faded memory, but the cash will be green as grass.

Remember, the key to success is as simple as ABC: Always Be Closing.

And you can’t do that if beauties like this never get listed. Your goal is to convince the seller to help you help him help you, and that means list it! Let’s look at some reasons why it’s okay to do this: (1) A certificate of occupancy was issued after all inspections were passed. (We all know these guys

never miss anything – much – right?)

If something goes wrong, it’s not your fault.

(2) Besides, you’ve got insurance.

What are all those premiums for if not to let you take a flyer once in a while? Look, the market’s slow as a Mississippi drawl, and you’ve got to make something happen. You gotta’ make that boat payment!

(3) If you don’t take the listing, someone else will, and when you represent the buyer who wants to see it, you’ll have to find a way to tell them the truth, and that’ll make the deal harder to do. Listing firms don’t have to say anything – after all, what do we really know? – so it’s better for everybody if we step up now.

(4) What’s this about aiding and abetting, being an accessory after the fact? Prosecutors don’t even have time to go after breaking and entering, so they’re going to come after someone for practicing contracting without a license? What’s next, prosecuting dog fighting?

The house looks good, it’s got a CO, the market is slow, and you’re insured. What’s stopping you? l

Who is this Ted Truitt???

Well, if you haven’t yet had the good fortune to meet the Ted, visit TedTruitt.com/va today. Take his five-question “Tedst” today and see if you’ve got what it takes to make it in today’s market. And when you’re done with the Ted’s unusual approach to real estate, visit Codeisgoodbusiness.com/va for the real story on how living the Code of Ethics is a powerful business tool

that leads to more sales, more referrals and more profitable, long-standing relationships with both clients and other REALTORS®.

(And yes, this question and answer by the Ted is indeed a spoof on Lem’s question on page 6 about contracts.)

Visit TedTruitt.com for more Ted antics and check out codeisgoodbusiness.com for practical advice on how to live the code.

January/February 2008

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Your voice can make all the difference AS LEGISLATORS DESCENDED on Richmond in January, even those in the far reaches of the Commonwealth were reminded that it’s that time of year again: the General Assembly has convened once more.

Lawmakers are gathered for a long session this year – 60 days stretching from mid-January to March – to represent your interests. You may not be headed to the polls in the next several months, but you still retain a vested right to weigh in. Here’s how.

Respond to Call-to-Action emails. VAR makes it easy for you to tell your legislators what you think about an important real estate issue. In most cases, the text is already written, and all you have to do is hit “send.” In no more than a few minutes, you have sent an email to your legislators letting them know how you want them to vote.

Attend REALTOR® Day on the Hill on Wednesday, February 13. Join hundreds of REALTORS® and learn about the issues from VAR’s lobbyists. Then, venture up the hill and sit down with your

Governor names Foreclosure Prevention Taskforce Governor Timothy Kaine has named a Foreclosure Prevention Taskforce to bring together real estate and mortgage banking communities to address Kaine foreclosures in Virginia.

In his announcement, Governor Kaine said, “I have formed the Taskforce to bring mortgage industry representatives, housing consumer advocates, policy experts and researchers together to find ways to minimize the impact of foreclosures.”

VAR President-Elect John Powell is among those tapped

by Governor Kaine to serve on the taskforce. Powell will serve as the REALTOR® representative. Other taskforce members include Secretary of Commerce and Trade Patrick Gottschalk, VHDA Executive Director Susan Dewey, DHCD Executive Director Bill Shelton, DPOR 10 January/February 2008

legislators to tell them what issues are important to you.

It’s fast-paced, exciting and effective. Make sure your legislators know that you care. Contact your local association to organize a bus trip with other members from your area.

And VAR makes it easy for you to stay informed and involved about the legislative process. Every Friday during the General Assembly session, VAR delivers Capitol Connections, an e-mail update recapping the week’s legislative actions on important real estate issues. Stay updated on the facts and contact your legislators to tell them how you feel about legislation. Write a letter, send a fax or place a phone call.

None of these takes a long time, and personal contact from constituents is undeniably important to legislators as they consider whether to support or oppose bills.

Lawmakers listen, especially when about 39,000 Virginia REALTORS® have something to say.

VAR is pushing for your (bottom line) needs at this year’s General Assembly Automated Value Models, vested rights reform and burdensome overcrowding enforcement provisions top VAR’s legislative agenda for this year’s General

Executive Director Jay DeBoer and SCC Financial Institutions Commissioner Joe Face.

The taskforce has been asked to: • Collect and analyze data to assess foreclosures in Virginia and determine level of homeownership prevention needs; • Identify and review financial resources available to homeowners to minimize the number of foreclosures; • Recommend outreach, where appropriate, counseling and educational programs that focus on supporting homeowners and prospective homeowners; • Review existing Virginia laws and regulations and recommend appropriate revisions.

“I was honored to be appointed to the taskforce,” said Powell. “It underscores the need to have REALTORS® at the table as we look at the effects foreclosures are having on Virginians.” The taskforce will meet throughout the first quarter of 2008. www.Varealtor.com

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Assembly. Your Law and Policy team is focusing on your needs and ways to better accommodate your clients this year. Here’s what we’re working on at the State Capitol: 1. More clearly defined Automated Value Models Several local associations have reported that they see a higher frequency of Automated Value Models (AVM) used in place of appraisals, without adequate disclosure. An AVM is an electronic method of determining the value of property, based on an on-line search of local government tax records and sales comparables. AVMs are not appraisals. VAR has introduced legislation to define AVM’s or require some form of disclosure.

2. Vested rights reform VAR has introduced legislation further protecting property owners with vested rights from localities seeking to alter past zoning application decisions.

3. Listing and leasing agents’ disclosure A technical flaw in 2006 amendments to Virginia law dealing with the duties of real estate licensees requires listing and leasing agents to disclose material adverse facts pertaining to the property in bold lettering or all capital letters, and in a separate box. Our amendment to the statute eliminates the requirement that the disclosures be made in this way.

4. Clarifying amendments to overcrowding enforcement provisions Currently, localities may assess daily fines against

12 January/February 2008

landlords whose tenants violate overcrowding ordinances.

VAR has introduced legislation to provide that localities cannot continue to impose fees on landlords who have taken legal action to address overcrowding zoning violations.

5. Grantor tax collection interpretation – assessed value versus sales price VAR has introduced legislation to require localities to choose between applying the grantor tax to the assessed amount of the property or to the sales price of the property.

6. Amendments to Property Owners Associations Act VAR introduced legislation that will: • Discontinue excessive fees charged to buyers and sellers; • Implement a disclosure packets fee structure; and • Reform the Property Owners’ Association Act and Condominium Act to help ensure that everyone involved in these transactions understands and has confidence in all aspects of the process; • Provides for the licensure and regulation of professional association managers.

7. Amendment to Wet Settlement Act VAR introduced a change to the Act to clarify that the definition of “settlement” applies to the term as used in the Act and does not apply to the contractual agreements between buyer and seller. l

www.VARealtor.com

Open the Code.

Close more deals.

“Live the Code and you’ll earn their trust and their business.”

Vinh Nguyen REALTOR ®, Fairfax, Virginia

Even though there are many agents in our community, it’s still is a small world. You run into the same listing agents again and again. Living the REALTOR® Code of Ethics helps you earn the trust of both clients and other agents. And when people trust you, they are more likely to do business with you again. Live the Code and you will enjoy along and successful career.

To see how the Code can improve your business, visit www.codeisgoodbusiness.com Earn more business and CE credits to boot. Find out how at www.codeisgoodbusiness.com/va/lessons

BLOGSPOTTING

by Ben Martin

You gotta play to win...

Add blogging to your marketing menu and reap the rewards “BLOGGING TAKES TOO much time!”

“Show me the deals!” “Blogging is a waste of time!” Danilo Bogdanovic from Loudoun County hopes you’ll continue raising all these objections. While you convince yourself that writing a Bogdanovic real estate blog isn’t worth your time or effort, he’s busily raking in prized top 10 Google results for such lucrative search terms as “Loudoun County Real Estate Deals” and “Loudoun Foreclosures.” As he says, “Personally, we have yet to find another marketing tool that comes even close to blogging’s ROI and effectiveness. The non-believers are allowing us to cater to the new demographic of buyers and sellers without much, if any resistance using all this mumbo jumbo. That is why we say thank you.”

Shortcut: www.VARealtor.com/01081

“

Personally, we have yet to find another marketing tool that comes even close to blogging’s ROI and effectiveness.”

Hainge

Allen Hainge, a Reston bloggertrainer encourages his readers to take two steps this year to improve their earnings. First, take a Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) course.

Hainge says, “each course will help you build a better business...and have a

better life!” And second, dedicate yourself to spending an hour per day planning for the future and learning about things that will help you improve your business. Pay a visit to ExpertVillage.com, he recommends, “thousands of excellent videos to help you learn about anything...for free.” And by the way, you can meet Hainge at CRS’s Sell-A-Bration in Fredericksburg, March 12.

Shortcut: www.VARealtor.com/01082

“

Dedicate yourself to spending an hour per day planning for the future and learning about things that will help you improve your business.”

If someone is talking about you on the internet, how do you know about it? How would you like to know if someone writes a blog post about a neighborhood you have been selling in for years? You can! Loren Nason, author Nason of the Future of Real Estate Technology blog has a dead-easy solution. It’s called Google Alerts.

Just go to Google.com/alerts, enter your name or any other phrase you want to track and follow the prompts.

In seconds, you’ll have Google working for you, sending you email whenever it finds your search term. Follow the shortcut for a full explanation.

Shortcut: www.VARealtor.com/01083 ●

VAR increases blogosphere presence Having dipped our toes into the world of blogging with blogs dedicated to the Code is Good Business and the Convention & Expo 2007, the VAR staff has launched VARBuzz.com in concert with this edition of Commonwealth magazine. To debut the blog with this social mediathemed magazine just made sense. You can read all of the

14 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

feature stories in this and future issues of Commonwealth at VARBuzz.com, hear from your fellow VAR members and talk back by leaving a comment.

Catch the buzz and join us in a little virtual conversation. ●

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LIVING THE CODE

by Steve Harney

Managing homeowner’s expectations, when it comes to pricing AS A REALTOR®, your client’s interests come first whether you represent a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant or anyone else in a real estate deal. This is the Queen Mother of all rules in our Code of Ethics. Your client comes first.

It’s not always easy, especially when money and commissions are involved. But if you want to build your business for the long term, you’ll take this to heart.

There is one quick exception to this rule: while your client’s interests come first, you still have a duty to be honest at all times to all people involved in a transaction.

It’s a new era of real estate, and time for you to use the following principles to help you become known as a trustworthy and reliable REALTOR® who delivers results, even in a tough market.

The days of quick home sales, selling for top dollar, and pricing wars on homes are gone. Today you have to educate your clients on how to price their home to sell.

The challenge for REALTORS® is the homeowner’s perception of what their home should sell for. As recently as June 2007, a survey by the Boston Consulting Group found that 55 percent of American homeowners believe their home is worth more today than it was one year ago.

In reality, this may not be the case.

Unfortunately, some real estate agents, who see their income decline as the number of home sales go down, are now operating in a state of fear. As a result, they may be concerned they won’t get the listing, so they tell clients what they want to hear – namely that their home will sell for top dollar in record time. Then when the house doesn’t sell and the client agrees to lower the price, the client relationship becomes strained. Clients can’t help but feel their agent gave them inaccurate information.

The solution is to learn the realities of the market and then tell clients the truth about where the pricing used to be, where it is today, where it will likely be three months from now, and most importantly, why it is that way. Only then will they be able to make a realistic pricing decision that will enable you to help get their home sold.

Here are five pricing considerations you need:

1. Increased inventory Buyers now have a lot more choices and negotiating room. A lot of sellers waited to list their property to catch 16 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

the top of the market. Now that they see the market declining, they list their homes in an attempt to still sell at a high price before the market bottoms out. As a result, we have an overabundance of inventory, up approximately 39 percent from last year.

2. Increased mortgage rates Short term mortgage rates have been increasing. And every time the mortgage rates go up, even a quarter of a percent, a large number of potential buyers are disqualified from the marketplace. Additionally, a number of mortgage companies are going out of business. Surviving companies are nervous about what’s taking place in the mortgage market, and that’s making money tighter. When money gets tighter, sellers are affected because buyers have less buying power.

Less buying power means fewer home sales.

3. Increased mortgage restrictions During the past few years, mortgage companies granted mortgages to just about anyone. But today, with foreclosures climbing steadily, almost all mortgage companies have re-enacted the tight lending restrictions that were common decades ago. Restrictions will help curb abuse and likely constrain consumer credit choices. Because mortgage companies are nervous about the current real estate market, buyers do need down payments now. A co-signer may not be enough, and credit scores need to be high. Each one of those factors and many more disqualify some people from buying, which in turn affect sellers.

4. Increased vacancy rates During the real estate boom, many people and investors bought spec homes with the hopes of flipping the house for a big profit. Today, vacancy rates on these homes are up over 50 percent. Since most of these people don’t want to act as landlords, they have a strong desire to sell the home rather than rent it out. As a result, many are selling these vacant investment properties for rock bottom prices. This greatly affects other sellers in the neighborhood, because when one home sells for a low price, it sets a precedent for the other sales to follow suit. With the surrounding comps having low sales prices, the current listings in that same neighborhood decline in value.

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5. Increased Foreclosures Statistics from First American Real Estate Solution prove that if one house forecloses in a neighborhood, the average house in that neighborhood loses five percent of its value. If eight percent of the houses in the neighborhood foreclose, the value in that neighborhood goes down 20 percent. No one can deny that bank-owned properties drive prices down. So if your clients get a flood of foreclosures in their neighborhood, it’s going to lower the home values drastically. Additionally, no neighborhood – no matter what the geographic location – is immune from the foreclosure fact. Simply go to realestate.yahoo.com/foreclosures to see all the foreclosures in your city or area.

The new era of real estate sales The bottom line is if someone wants to sell their home for a decent price, they have to list now – not three months from now and certainly not a year from now. In fact, no

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one is predicting the market will be back before the end of 2009.

So when you conduct your next listing presentation, be sure to prepare by educating yourself on these five factors, and then explain how these factors impact your clients’ selling decision. Let clients know their options, the realities of the market and what their home will likely sell for given these five considerations. By doing so, you’ll become known as a trustworthy and reliable REALTOR® who delivers results, even in a tough market. ● Steve Harney is a residential real estate and mortgage expert who specializes in negotiation and sales training.

He authors a monthly informational slide presentation for top agents and managers titled, “Keeping Current,” and is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer. For more information visit steveharney.com.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 17

RISK REDUCTION

by Marcy McWethy

Cover your assets with document retention AS A REAL estate professional, your best defense against errors and omissions allegations is documentation. The lack of documentation is a primary cause for loss payments in this industry. By taking the time now to properly document every transaction you are involved with, you can prevent legal battles that often occur simply because you’re missing the appropriate paperwork.

Don’t delete Since Oct. 1, 2006, the federal government requires that all electronic files, including e-mails, be available in pre-trial discovery in federal courts. Since much of the real estate industry is governed by EPA, HUD, and other federal agencies, being in federal court is always a possibility for real estate professionals. If you do find yourself in court and fail to retain transaction e-mails, you could be accused of “virtual shredding” and encounter serious legal accusations.

Even after you have closed a deal with a client, it is critical to save all e-mails and other documentation to help protect yourself from being sued. Some states have a statute of limitations as long as 10 years for a breach of contract. Many lawsuits are brought years after a transaction has closed.

Get a receipt Another method of preventing later allegations is to request notification of receipt of your e-mails. This way, you can have documentation that your client received your message and recognizes having read it. Even if it’s as informal as asking, “Could you please reply that you received this message so I can be sure it wasn’t lost?”

– your client’s reply is confirmation that the information was delivered. Save this reply as proof down the road that he or she received your message.

Fax safely Federal regulations also require electronic fax archiving in court actions. If you fax a significant amount, you may want to try using online faxing to avoid losing valuable faxed information. Online faxing not only saves paper and fax machine supplies, it is also increasingly mobile and easy to use. And faxing documents, whether online or standard, also gives you confirmation of delivery on the other end.

18 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

Text yourself Another habit to include in your daily operations is to send yourself a text message with notes about any transaction to your e-mail address. Most cell phone providers offer this service. It’s important to do it right away when it’s all still fresh in your mind, rather than waiting an hour until you get to a computer. A text message to your e-mail should include any pertinent information about the transaction, such as documents signed, any recommendations of inspections you gave to the buyer, document delivery, etc. This way you’ll have a date/time-stamped record of your meeting with the client.

If in doubt: save it While you are no doubt aware, it bears repeating: it is important to document in the real estate profession. If you’re ever in doubt about whether a transaction or conversation should be documented, err on the side of caution. When a buyer refuses an inspection you recommend, documenting this is your insurance against getting sued. Always get disclosures (past remedied damage, current problems, repairs, future development, etc.) from the sellers in writing and retain these in case the buyers later claim they weren’t told about possible problems.

Remember, if it contains a message of any kind and pertains to your client, keep it. If you don’t have enough memory on your computer, print out the e-mail and place it in the client’s physical file. If you keep digital records of everything, save your e-mails in the client’s folder and be sure to do regular backups so you don’t lose valuable information from your computer. Or better yet, as soon as you close a deal, save everything to a CD or DVD and place it in the client’s file.

Keep in mind that even if you delete something, your client may not. Save yourself some trouble down the road by saving everything as it takes place. ● Pearl Insurance has been the sponsored E&O provider of the Virginia Association of REALTORS® since 1984.

For more information about Pearl’s sponsored E&O programs, call Debbie Bindeman at (800) 455-1154.

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The social media dan ce: How a new way to interact can bring you some real bottom line results

by Daniel Rothamel and Valerie Hubbard

Remember school dances? For many of us, there was a painful awkwardness at some point when we became paralyzed by the fear of having to dance with a classmate, the fear of being rejected or the fear of embarrassment – or all three at once?

Today’s internet environment can be a lot like that.

Let’s face it, if you are a real estate agent who is surveying the current internet landscape and trying to figure out what your next step is going to be, it can be easy to get confused and suffer that same dance-floor paralysis.

The internet provides an overwhelming number of marketing opportunities. Savvy consumers are increasingly taking advantage of new ways to communicate with one another, and REALTORS® must now choose to ignore, co-opt or dive into these new waters of interactivity.

But choose wisely, because consumers, who are growing accustomed to more interactive relationships from service providers, want to feel they are being heard and making an impact.

So sure, you may have your own personal website, complete with all the bells and whistles (content management, user registration, customized property search, lead generation, etc.), but now there are more dynamic ways to capture consumers. It’s no longer enough to have an online presence to move your business forward. But if you want to join the rest on the dance floor, choosing the right partner can be difficult.

Now what?

You’ve heard of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and blogs, just to name a few. The expansion of social media is the latest and greatest phase of the internet, and many Virginia REALTORS® are already leveraging these outlets to grow their business.

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Since the social media options can be so overwhelming, we’ve assembled a basic primer on using some of these business-building sites. There are also strategies for realizing bottom-line benefits from social media.

We’ve even pulled together a list of the best blogs, and the stories of several Virginia REALTORS® who are using social media effectively to grow their business.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive review by any means, but it should be enough to put you on the road to maintaining meaningful relationships with clients, customers, prospects and other professionals you’ve made in the real world. And social media can help you expand your address book and grow your business in ways that were unfathomable even a year ago.

The heart of the internet: communicating The first thing that you need to understand about the social media movement is that it is built around relationships.

Social media sites exist to foster conversation between people. The people who use these sites want to engage with others, not just experience one-way communication.

The majority of traditional real estate marketing is one-way: look at my listings, read about my service, visit my website. Social media sites are different. The expectation of people who use these sites is that they will have a part in the conversation. It’s a good thing. It enables you to cultivate relationships with consumers. Rather than marketing to prospects, you can talk with them and build trust in a more natural and meaningful way.

Traditional internet marketing grabs your hand, drags you on to the floor and says, “dance with me!” Social media sites offer a hand and ask, “shall we dance?” l Comment on this article at VARbuzz.com/SocialMediaDance.

January/February 2008 21

Social Media

Social Media 101: Let’s get digital It’s time to cozy up to the computer and learn social media. Matthew Rathbun of Century 21 Classic Real Estate in Ruther Glen and Daniel Rothamel of Strong Team REALTORS® in Charlottesville offer these primers to get you started.

Blogging 101 A BLOG IS a “web log.” It is online content that is updated on a regular basis with opinions and information. The best part is that the folks who offer this information so freely also allow you to comment on the material.

A blog is your own personal slice of the internet. On a blog, you can show people who you are and what you can accomplish for them. Use them to share your insights and expertise with people as often as you would like. At the most basic level, a blog gives people a way to meet you in their own environment before they ever meet you face-to-face.

Set aside any preconceived notions and fears about this form of communication and get ready to understand it, because if it hasn’t already, blogging is going to impact your business.

There are lots of blogs out there for REALTORS® to provide new marketing ideas and to keep you current in your everyday practice. Best of all, this information comes at no cost to you.

A great feature of blogs is the ability to subscribe using a “reader.” A reader, which is commonly known as RSS for Really Simple Syndication, is a single webpage that you can use to organize all blogs that you wish to read. This allows you to go to one webpage and see all the new articles of your favorite blogs. For a good instructional video on blogging and RSS go to YouTube.com and search for “RSS in Plain English” and “Blogs in Plain English”.

How to use your blog: Use it to talk with and inform your readers. Your goal should be to share with them your insights, opinions and experience is such a way that benefits them. After writing a few posts, and receiving a few comments, you will find that you will be learning just as much as you are sharing.

How not to use your blog: To advertise listings.

There are plenty of other ways to do that. If you really want to use a blog for advertising your inventory, create a separate blog for such a purpose.

22 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

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Facebook 101 Facebook was a website originally created as a way for college students to communicate with each other more easily. Originally the exclusive domain of colleges, the site has since been opened to anyone with an email address.

Joining the Facebook crowd is as simple as filling out a form. Go to Facebook.com and click on the “sign up” button. You’ll be asked to fill in information about you and your business. Presto, you’re a member of Facebook with your own profile page featuring as much or as little information as you desire with folks you designate as friends from the Facebook database. If you’re new to this media, you’ll be surprised by how many fellow REALTORS®, neighbors and clients you’ll find there.

What happens next is entirely up to you. As a social networking site, Facebook can also be a valuable business tool.

How to use Facebook: Use it to establish yourself as an expert in your community and build relationships with people you already know and also with potential clients. Join VAR’s Facebook group by going to www.VARealtor.com/Facebook. If you seek more great ways to use Facebook for business, you can find some at www.VARealtor.com/LinesFromLee and some real estate-specific possibilities at www.VARealtor.com/FutureOfRealEstateMarketing.

How not to use Facebook: Remember that if you are going to use one Facebook profile for both business and personal use, anything that you put in your profile should be appropriate. You may have had a great time at that party, but do you want your clients and prospects viewing that photo of you with a lampshade on your head?

LinkedIn 101 LinkedIn is like the big-business brother to Facebook.

While Facebook is a personal social networking site that people use for business, the explicit purpose of LinkedIn is to foster business networking. The basic purpose of LinkedIn is to start a profile and link yourself to other professionals, thereby increasing your overall network by degrees. The networking potential is enormous.

How to use LinkedIn: If you already have a LinkedIn profile, go to www.VARealtor.com/LinkedIn to identify yourself as a VAR member. If you don’t already have one, sign up and build as detailed and creative a profile as you can. This will be your readers’ first impression of you. Answer as many questions as you can on the message boards as a way of making additional contact by sharing your experience and expertise. Who knows, you may even be able to leverage your network to create new business opportunities.

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The main thing to remember is that social media is about building relationships.

How not to use LinkedIn: Don’t spam people, and don’t use it to advertise your listings. Like all the others, LinkedIn is a networking site, not an advertising outlet. Engage people and become part of the conversation.

Twitter 101 Twitter is like a micro-blogging platform that works with the text messaging feature common on most cell phones.

While many people use it just to publish status updates (telling people what they are doing at any given moment), the site presents infinite business possibilities for those who want to communicate instantly with clients.

Increasingly, hard news breaks on Twitter, since posts can be published quickly and from anywhere you can send a text message. For example, a cameraman sends news from the White House press room. Twitter was used by citizen journalists to report breaking news during the 2007 California wildfires.

How to use Twitter: In a hot market, writing or tweeting about just-listed homes can help enable your buyer to offer the first contract. There are plenty of other innovative REALTOR® uses for Twitter yet to be discovered. Like any other form of communication, to build an attentive audience, you’ll need to provide relevant and compelling content.

How not to use Twitter: While the original purpose for Twitter was to answer the question, “what are you doing?” don’t get carried away. No one wants to know when you are going to grab a cold one from the fridge.

If you are doing something that you think current and potential clients may find interesting, then tweet away. A Tweet that says, “I just listed such and such house today,” does not qualify as interesting. Tweets or text entries are limited to 140 characters, so choose wisely.

It’s all about building relationships Use only as many social media vehicles as you can effectively manage. The main thing to remember is that social media is about cultivating relationships. Maybe you start a blog and see how it goes. Maybe you build a Facebook profile and find some groups that interest you. But it’s definitely time to try. ● Comment on this article at VARbuzz.com/SocialMedia101.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 23

Social Media

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TWO YEARS AGO, Jim Duncan of Century 21 manley associates in Charlottesville and Merv Forney of Choice3 realty Group in leesburg were on the cutting edge. as two of the first Virginia realTors® to explore web logs or blogs in their real estate practice, the two lauded the marketing and educational benefits just waiting to be tapped with this new technology tool in a feature article on blogging published in the march-april 2006 issue of Commonwealth magazine.

“Technology is moving at an incredible rate,” Duncan was quoted saying.

Indeed. Just like dogs who live at a faster pace than we humans, technology also laps us many times in the span of a year. It’s as if its evolutionary speedometer is set somewhere around “warp.” so we wanted to know – are Duncan and Forney keeping up? you bet they are.

24 January/February 2008

AFTER ONLY THREE years in real estate, Forney – a former senior executive with the technology firm EDS – has exponentially increased exposure to his blog askmerv.choice3realty.com. Just Google “Northern Virginia real estate” and see what shows up at the top of the list of results.

“My blog,” Forney says.

“For about the past 12 months I’ve been getting 100 percent of my business from the blog, and the high Google ranking has helped people find me.”

And the blog does not disappoint. From a comprehensive assortment of statistical analyses of the Northern Virginia real estate market to economic news, everything a consumer might need to explore when buying and selling property in the area is included. Forney includes articles on social networking, real estate trends and national housing market news.

“I started blogging at the beginning of the real estate bubble talk,” said Forney. “It was just as the consumer was starting to pay attention to the direction the market was taking, so I decided to provide market data on the site...lots of charts and graphs.”

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Now, Forney says, it’s about taking the fear out of the process of buying and selling real no do estate. He stresses that it’s important to give real oug sum 1. It’s ” Con hat you can you are, th . e s. m , e w o data, not sugar-coated statements about what r post ® in you “me, m nt to know m wh e h t R l wa might be happening, because consumers are savvy.

LTO o tel ® They rget t ou’re a REA o f t ’ TORS n L y “They’re looking for authenticity,” said Forney. o A n D E o i .

R 2 . ent cking e to m Duncan agrees. The 30-something REALTOR® s say iness. ll che s e Be sur u p r post b i s e r d h o t f n a d d a o who started his blog realcentralva.com to provide a their mmar roofre It’s go e gra e to p are of h c m t i e t k o news source to fill what he felt was a void in local real e a 3. D ke th not t etail. . on’t ta at they will n to d estate market news and analysis, says many consumers o i t tional n who d e h att educa g rld t n ’s o ach, i t I o y w r a . e are looking for a way to passively filter out sales pitches app ogs by p l r to th b y u l o r e y e t t a prop ck, al est andid abou in order to make a choice on their own. “They want client feedba re c her re u t e o o r y a d e trusted advisors and non-biased information about the f you d giv they a 4. Rea beg. I this an mments. If t ’ e t n a i o c D e market,” he said. “Blogs create more accountability for 5. appr ake co ill. s will le to m ent, they w p everyone and more transparency in how we do business.” o e reader p m g n’t be r com Although making money was not his motivation in the but do d to write o lle creation of his blog, today he estimates about 50 percent compe of his business comes through it. He spends about two to three hours every day preparing posts – a process that requires lots of reading, processing and analyzing, he says.

“So much is happening in the real estate market And their new technological frontiers? Duncan is using and online that it’s a phenomenal amount to process,” Twitter (see page 23) to connect with other REALTORS® Duncan said. and neighbors throughout the day, but his main tool for Both Duncan and Forney stress that realizing the staying connected to clients is instant messaging and impact of blogging on business takes time. “It’s a gradual texting on his cell phone. About six months ago he process,” said Duncan. “It has not happened overnight, created a page on Facebook, which he admits doesn’t but I am realizing more and more that my business is get a lot of attention – from him or clients. Its cousin, benefitting from the blog.”

LinkedIn is more to his liking because it “feels more Forney, who recently started coaching others in the professional and more focused on business.” profession how to create and maintain blogs, urges those Forney says he’s been distracted by another real who are interested in using blogs as marketing tools not estate-related project to bring together a consortium of to look for instant results. real estate practitioners and educators to address the “For those REALTORS® who are looking for the silver changing nature of the profession, but wants to stay on bullet that will bring them business next month, blogging is top of social media’s evolution. not the vehicle to use,” said Forney. “No social medium is a fix-my-business-tomorrow proposition. It’s something No social medium is a fix-my-businessthat you have to start, and keep doing and doing tomorrow proposition. It’s something to see results.”

The good news is that early hard work pays off for that you have to start, and keep doing bloggers. Forney, who initially posted about 18 to 24 times per month now only posts two to three times and doing to see results.” monthly and hasn’t seen a decrease in traffic to his blog as a result. Duncan says his blog has been an invaluable “We’ve got all of these ways to create relationships with educational tool and made him a “better REALTOR®.” people. They get to know you and then you never know “It’s raised my profile and my credibility in the market. when you’re going to get the call, but you will,” he said. l I’ve gained national recognition and local connections Comment on this article at that are critical to my success.”

VARbuzz.com/TwoYearsLater.

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January/February 2008 25

Social Media

n l gema e He te Counse k a l B a i y b soc ’s As VAR

It’s a brave, (and scary) new world!

New technologies raise new legal issues The expanded use of online marketing and social media within the REALTOR® community has created new and exciting opportunities. However, its use has raised novel legal issues. Here’s how to protect your business when using these new tools.

The Code of Ethics and online advertising The internet is a cost-efficient and effective way to market your brokerage services. It is becoming the norm for many REALTORS® to maintain sophisticated and informative websites to reach customers and other agents. While VAR encourages its members to use this medium, we also caution you to adhere strictly to the rules in the Code of Ethics pertaining to advertising.

This year, NAR amended several sections of the Code to account for the increasing use of the Internet. Below are highlights of those additions (found in Articles 9, 12, and 15): • The name of the REALTOR® firm and state of licensure must be disclosed in a reasonable and readily apparent manner when advertising listed property on its website or a REALTOR® or affiliated non-member licensee’s website.

26 January/February 2008

• Information on REALTOR® websites must be current, and if it is out of date, the information must be removed immediately.

•R EALTOR® websites must present a true picture in their advertising, including URLs and domain names.

The following are strictly prohibited: •E ngaging in deceptive or unauthorized framing of real estate brokerage websites; •M anipulating (e.g., presenting content developed by others) listing content in any way that produces a deceptive or misleading result; or •D eceptively using metatags, keywords or other devices/methods to direct, drive, or divert Internet traffic, or to otherwise mislead consumers.

•R EALTORS® intending to share or sell consumer information gathered via the Internet must disclose that possibility in a reasonable and readily apparent manner.

•T he duty to avoid making false or misleading statements about competitors’ businesses and practices includes the duty not to knowingly or recklessly repeat, retransmit, or republish false or misleading statements made by others using electronic means. www.VARealtor.com

•W hen assisting or enabling a client or customer in establishing a contractual relationship (e.g., listing and representation agreements, purchase agreements, leases, etc.) electronically, REALTORS® must make reasonable efforts to explain the nature and disclose the specific terms of the contractual relationship being established.

Using blogs to connect with the community Blogs raise a number of legal issues that haven’t been thoroughly reviewed by the courts. Chief among these issues is the potential liability a blog operator faces for content posted on the online forum it provides. Despite the lack of established law, we have guidance from the courts and experts in intellectual property.

A recent California Supreme Court case addressed the question of whether a blog operator may be held liable for defamatory statements posted on the blog by third parties. Interpreting the Communications Decency Act of 1996, the court held that plaintiffs who were defamed in an internet posting may recover only from the original source of the statement. Although this exact reasoning has not been applied in Virginia, it is encouraging that an influential court has limited the liability of blog operators. Also, opinions written by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which includes Virginia, have suggested that liability would not fall on Internet forum providers for comments made by third parties.

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A good rule of thumb is to post only material you own, you have permission to use, or that is within the scope of the fair use doctrine (permitting reproduction of certain copyrighted materials without a fee, usually in connection with reviews, research, reporting, or teaching).”

Bloggers may be held liable for copyright and trademark infringement if precautions are not taken. A good rule of thumb is to post only material you own, you have permission to use, or that is within the scope of the fair use doctrine (permitting reproduction of certain copyrighted materials without a fee, usually in connection with reviews, research, reporting, or teaching).

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Also, to prevent liability from third party postings, include in your Terms of Use a statement that subscribers affirm that they have the right to post the material they are using. Another step in reducing liability is to remove infringing content as soon as it is discovered. With regard to trademarks, use only those you have permission to use and delete posts that infringe on others’ trademarks.

Disclaimers in your Terms of Use are important to protect you and your business from liability. Examples provided by intellectual property law expert Lawrence Savell of Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York include: • Parameters of use/requirement of compliance: We grant you a nonexclusive, nontransferable, limited right to access, use and display the blog and the material provided hereon, provided that you comply fully with these Terms and Conditions of Use. • Postings may not be current: The information on the blog may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct or up to date.

• Distinguish firm from individual authors/posters: The opinions expressed on the blog are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm or any individual employee or client.

• External links: Links to external sources are provided solely as a courtesy to our blog visitors. We are not responsible for and do not endorse or warrant in any way any materials, information, goods or services available through such linked sites or any privacy or other practices of such sites.”

There are a few other important steps you should take to limit potential liability. Instruct your employees and members to use caution when posting on your blog; the company may be responsible for anything an employee posts in the course of his employment. You should realize that your blog can be viewed as an advertisement and follow all applicable rules. Also, selecting or editing messages could subject you to greater liability because you are exercising more active involvement in the contents of the publication.

Blogs provide an excellent forum for the exchange of ideas with your customers, and VAR encourages their use. By instituting common-sense precautions and a well-crafted Terms of Use, REALTORS® can limit exposure to liability. l Source: “Is Your Blog Exposing You to Legal Liability?” by Lawrence Savell www.varealtor.com/12071 Comment on this article at VARbuzz.com/BraveNewWorld.

January/February 2008 27

Social Media

Take it from a Virginian who knows social media: A look inside the hard drive of “Real Estate Zebra” Daniel Rothamel

by Valerie Hubbard

IF IT WAS 1825, Daniel Rothamel probably would be the guy packing up the wagons and the horses to lead an expedition west. But since it’s 2008, he’s blazing his trails on the internet.

Rothamel, a REALTOR® with Strong Rothamel Team REALTORS® in the Charlottesville area, began his real estate career in 2003 after graduating from the University of Delaware. In late 2006, he and his wife, Kari, and her mother, Patsy Strong, opened their own real estate brokerage.

Daniel began blogging in 2005 as a way of informing his clients and customers about the Charlottesville area.

He eventually combined his passion for real estate with his passion for basketball officiating and launched RealEstateZebra.com — the referee’s uniform has black and white stripes. Get it?

Daniel views social media as a powerful tool that serves to strengthen the relationship between real estate agents and their customers and clients. He firmly believes that social media can improve your business and at the same time enhance your profession.

With his abundant experience and enthusiasm for virtual social networking, we decided to poke around inside his hard drive, so-to-speak, and find out the why, what and how of Daniel Rothamel’s secrets to marketing real estate in 2008 and beyond….

VAR: When and how did you first get involved with social media?

Rothamel: In real estate, I’ve been blogging about a year and a half. I started doing it as a way of connecting the local community, in Fluvanna County. That was my original blog’s purpose. I didn’t really have a good plan for it. I thought it would be a good place for people to come together and share stuff, but it didn’t really take off. So then I thought maybe it would work with real estate, and I started a blog called cvillearearealestate.com.

It went well and started taking off after a few months.

I was really getting into it, but the name wasn’t catchy enough for me. My wife suggested that I call myself the ‘real estate zebra,’ and I thought that sounded pretty cool.

So that’s how I started realestatezebra.com. Once I got into it, I realized that this was really powerful stuff, and I needed to really be utilizing it.

VAR: What types of social media are you employing now as marketing tools and how effective have they been?

Rothamel: The main tool I’m using is the blogging. I’ve also been using Facebook and Twitter to a lesser extent.

Twitter’s not really a marketing tool. It’s more of a

28 January/February 2008

www.Varealtor.com

relationship/conversational tool, and I’ve used it to connect with REALTORS® all over the country. I’ve done some advertising through Facebook. I’ve used some of the social networking aspects of Zillow.com and Trulia.com.

A lot of people have asked me how many leads I generate using these things. And basically in two years I’ve had two – a buyer and a seller. But, I’m not using these for lead generation. Can you? Yes. And that’s something I’m going to be going for next year.

It has most certainly enhanced my business, so far, though. I’m definitely a better educated agent than I would have been otherwise. In order to blog, you have to have content. In order to have content you have to look for stuff, and as you look for stuff you end up learning. The internet is a treasure trove of information. I’m always finding different things and ideas that have been very useful.

A lot of my clients have really liked the posts I’ve written about pricing a home or the tips for keeping your home ready for showing. Once you put those posts up, it’s a resource for your clients, and they really appreciate that. It also helps me establish relationships with people, because I’ve had a number of people who haven’t called me as a direct result of reading a blog, but in the conversation they’ll say, ‘Yeah, I remember seeing your blog on that,’ so they feel like they know me a little bit. It’s a great way to really establish a relationship with people.

VAR: Tell us about the other types of social media you’re using.

Rothamel: I was amazed at the number of my clients who are on Facebook. I’ve gotten about a dozen clients from there. And then there a number of others…like service providers who are on there, too. The thing that’s been good for me is that it’s a way to stay in touch with those people without having to really expend a tremendous amount of effort. I’ve tried starting groups for buyers and sellers, but I haven’t really had a lot of success with that.

I’m going to try marketing those a different way.

I put an ad on Facebook for the blog, and we’re building a page for Strong Team REALTORS® on Facebook. We’ll probably start advertising for that, too. But I don’t expect the returns to be tremendous. The beauty of Facebook is you don’t have to pay if nobody is clicking through.

Right now I’m using videos on my blog. I started at the NAR convention last fall recording myself giving my thoughts and breakdowns of the days that I was there, and I thought it was pretty cool. One of the things I realized was that people respond differently to the video than to the written word. That’s why on realestatezebra.com now I’m doing both. You learn differently through the video. Also when people can see you, establishing a Volume 15 ● Issue 1

relationship is a little bit easier.

With videos on the blog, you can meet me. I just started getting into it, so I’m trying to think of ways I can utilize them.

“

It’s all about building relationships.

It will definitely pay off in the future.

As the market changes, it’s important to be prepared for those changes.”

It’s all about building relationships. It will definitely pay off in the future. As the market changes, it’s important to be prepared for those changes. I think of my brother, who’s in college now and obsessed with Facebook. He’s going to be buying a home in five to seven years. By the time he’s ready to buy a house, postcards and yellow pages ads aren’t going to cut it.

He doesn’t respond to media that way. If you look at the trends in media in general, it’s trending a lot more towards future generated content. So if you can figure out a way to connect with people that way and make it interesting, it gives you an advantage for the future.

I guarantee you my brother will find his REALTOR® on the internet or from his friends. And that’s one of the beauties of social media, it lets you easily establish relationships with service providers like REALTORS® in a meaningful way. When I have a new client, the first places I go are Google, LinkedIn and Facebook to see if they’re there, so I can stay in touch with them that way.

People who interact on the internet feel more connected with each other. There is a trust established that you don’t get talking on the phone. You can engage in a much more comfortable environment and on your own terms.

VAR: So you believe that blogs will be serving in the future in a much more substantial way.

Rothamel: Yes. Definitely. It’s not as if 80 percent of REALTORS® are going to have blogs, because it’s just not for everyone. But, there are things that everyone can do.

Blogs require the ability to create content. A lot of people just don’t want to do that. It’s not easy.

VAR: What blogs do you read?

Rothamel: I read different blogs for different reasons.

Bloodhoundblog.com is one I read a lot. It’s a leading blog in the industry. AgentGenius.com is another one. I write for that one. There are probably 100 blogs on my January/February 2008 29

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) reader. I scan the posts so it doesn’t take me all day to read through these. Sometimes I stop to read more if the headline grabs me or if the content grabs me. I share all that stuff in my reader that I find interesting. It’s linked in realestatezebra.com. Some people post more often than others.

VAR: How much time do you spend blogging on a daily basis?

Rothamel: Reading and writing, probably an average of two hours a day. At the beginning, it was a lot more time.

Creating content takes the most time. I don’t have to do this everyday anymore. The content is much more important. As long as you’re creating good content, people are going to find it. You don’t have to publish two times a day or even daily. In the beginning it’s important to establish yourself and your readership, but as you get rolling you don’t need to. It’s really not a lot of time.

VAR: What do you say to REALTORS® who are afraid of social media?

Rothamel: The key thing to remember is that there is nothing to be afraid of. Social media is a tool. It’s not an entity in and of itself. It’s not as if there are people out there trying to destroy the practice of real estate. Quite

to the contrary, most of the people you find using social media are some of the most affable, kind, most willing to help people you will find anywhere. Information being shared in real estate blogs is incredible. You won’t find it matched anywhere. Social media is just another tool in the toolbox to help you achieve the goals that you want to achieve in real estate and in life in general. People aren’t scared of continuing education classes, and social media is just another form of that.

There’s that fear of “how do I do this?” and that social media is just going to be “too difficult for me,” – too time consuming. I’m writing a lot right now for realestatezebra.com to try to assuage some of those fears.

If you can learn email, you can learn social media. It’s just not that different.

And another thing about social media is that you don’t have to dive all the way in. You don’t to be involved with every little thing necessarily. For some people, the extent of their social media involvement is going to be LinkedIn, and that’s fine. As long as it works for you, that’s great.

If people would learn how to use RSS they would be amazed at how it will expand your knowledge base and connections to what’s going on. l Comment on this article at VARbuzz.com/Rothamel.

REALTOR®-to-REALTOR®

30 January/February 2008

www.VARealtor.com

The

best

Social Media

of the best:

check out our top 10 real estate blogs

All blogging, like real estate, is local.

Not necessarily in a geographical sense, but local in a sense of closely related ideas and common concerns.

And while the best blog for one REALTOR® is not necessarily best for the next, there are a few blog sites where everyone can find and

contribute REALTOR®-relevant, useful information on any topic you choose. Whether your interest is finding new customers, sharing or finding information on an issue you face, or just figuring out what blogging is all about, these sites are a great way to get started:

1

4

2

5

ActiveRain.com – Join over 60,000 real estate professionals in discussing current happenings and important issues in the real estate industry. Create your own profile and your blog comes with it. The only thing you need to bring are your ideas.

AgentGenius.com – No one blogger is at the center of this online meeting of minds. Posts are a community product developed by agents from across the country, including one of Virginia’s own blogstars. Find out who it is by visiting and clicking “G-Spot” and while you’re there, browse around for the newest approaches to real estate, technology product reviews and application of the next generation of the internet, Web 2.o, to the real estate profession.

3

Inman.com – Real estate information and technology meet to produce one of the web’s most accessed real estate blog sites at Inman.com. Viewed 7 million times per month, Inman provides users the opportunity to network while accessing relevant information from 250 newspapers and 50,000 websites daily. Don’t worry, you don’t have to read it all, but you might want to.

Volume 15 ● Issue 1

RealEstateTomato.com – This site’s main goal is to make REALTORS® more successful; and it does just that. Real estate tomato provides everything a new real estate blogger or e-marketer wants to know, in addition to a few things that you hadn’t thought of.

Bloodhoundblog.com – Get an insider’s view of the mortgage industry, talk screen-to-screen with investors and read and comment on topics that attract real estate professionals from all over the U.S., all on the provocative Bloodhound Blog.

6

RSSPieces.com – Want to learn to blog? Podcast?

Market? Or optimize a search engine? Here’s a site that will teach you for free.

7

MyTechOpinion.com – This blog is a little more focused than some others, but no less useful.

Visit this site to get the inside scoop on how technology is enhancing real estate and provide feedback or get information on how these innovations affect you.

8

RealtyBlogging.com – This site doesn’t receive as much traffic as other general real estate blog sites, which makes it easier to navigate in most cases. The big names in real estate blogging can be found here, but without the visual congestion of some other sites.

9

NARblog1.realtors.org/ mvtype/narinthenews/ Stay in touch with what’s happening at NAR on this blog. Many other sites will talk about NAR’s position on issues, but this is the site for those that want to go straight to the source.

10

RealBlogging.com – Read more than 40 categories of real estate blogs on any topic from advertising and marketing to specialty services and fraud prevention at this site. This real estate community has resources for everyone, from experts looking to talk to other experts all the way down to novices and prospective professionals in need of a real estate glossary.

Last but not least, your business advocate is now becoming your blog advocate. Visit VARBuzz.com for the chance to comment on and interact with the writers and articles in Commonwealth, the latest in Virginiacentric real estate blog posts and an easy introduction into new ways to network and engage clients. l Comment on this article at VARbuzz.com/BestBlogs.

January/February 2008 31

Social Media

Are you staying in the business?

Technology matters

by Matthew Ferrara WORKING A BOOM real estate market is not so hard; with a heartbeat and a license, many inexperienced agents beat the odds. But sticking around through tough markets requires serious players. The competition will be welltrained, well-financed and most likely, well-versed in the technology that keeps them competitive.

That’s why technology matters more than ever.

When markets tighten, competitive advantages are critical. Enhanced technology skills provide competitive advantages across every segment of your business. Every one of these areas can benefit from technology that saves time, cuts costs and expands opportunity to maximize the market. And with agent and broker incomes dropping with the market, technology mastery becomes more critical than ever.

If you’re planning on sticking around, it’s time for your technology to start making a difference. Here are four areas you can focus on right away: 1. Customer acquisition. One of the greatest expenses for real estate professionals is the cost to find new sellers and buyers. Let’s face it: you’re never going to cold call prospects. Your postcard marketing is a passive-aggressive waste of time. And your print ads aren’t going to entice buyers. It’s time to unleash the web. All those for sale by owners online are your best prospects. Start looking them up on their websites and emailing them. They have already made the mental leap to sell and have an 88 percent likelihood of ultimately working with a real estate agent. Talk to them the way they are telling you they want to hear from you: by email. And since these people will also be buyers, the same technique applies if you’re hunting for customers. Use the web (and forget about them coming to your website – which they can’t find.)

2. Communications. The Baby Boomers have already told us their technology preferences: don’t call them; email them (hint: the Do-Not-Call list). Surveys of Generation Y tell us that, if offered the choice, they’d give up 32 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

email in favor of text and instant-messaging. Good news because you can drop your cell phone bill and cut costs, while using mobile email and text messaging to reach more contacts. Text message your open house times and locations to buyers on Saturday. Use an email blast to alert customers of a price reduction on your listing. Tap an instant message to your assistant. In fact, as competition heats up, what you really save with messaging technologies is time.

3. Marketing. Text on the web is old school. Today’s most competitive web sites – in every industry – are alive!

Video, sound, interactive tools, instant chat with real people – each of these technologies creates comparative advantages to the read-me-only websites. Most real estate websites today are glorified Sears catalogs. If marketing technology is going to make a difference this year, it’s time to make your websites grow up – and that means multimedia. First, cut the costs of creating virtual tours by downloading free software like Microsoft’s Photo Story 3 which turns any sequence of photos into animated, voice narrated video clips. Add them to websites, listing presentations and even email marketing. If you’ve already taken 10 photos of the property yourself, the cost to create a virtual tour should be zero by using some software like Photo Story.

Next, start selling your listings using your voice by creating a daily podcast and letting prospects subscribe to your updates. Today’s first time home buyers go everywhere with their iPods. Develop a “daily show” style of podcast that consumers can add to their iTunes for regular updates. Think of it like a talk show for your company – discussing listings, interviewing past clients, educating consumers on finance issues – you name it. It’s like marketing on the radio without having to pay the expensive broadcast fees. Adding a podcast to the web is about as hard as going to Yahoo Podcasting at podcasts.yahoo.com.

WWW.VAREALTOR.COM

4. Client Relationship Management. Sending canned stuff to clients every week is not client relationship management. Contacting them regularly to maintain relationships is. Understanding this will help you use your campaign-manager technology far more advantageously than simply email-blasting some dull templates every week. Using technology is not selling; it merely enhances the sales process. Use a regular reminder on your calendar to reach out to your past clients and current network and refresh your relationship. If past clients really trust you, they’ll come back to you for your insights when they need it. But only if they remember you, which is where technology should focus. Using something as simple as a recurring task reminder in Microsoft Outlook, you can pick two times a month to scroll through your client list and reach out to them personally. And yes, you can still send an email (or even use the phone) as long as it’s personal.

So just to be clear: the market is still sagging, the industry is largely bloated and the average agent doesn’t

VOLUME 15 ● ISSUE 1

“

If past clients really trust you, they’ll come back to you for your insights when they need it.” make enough money to waste it on old-school sales habits.

History shows us that these are the times where simply trying harder won’t protect you. You’re going to have to try smarter – and use technology to make up the difference. ● Matthew Ferrara is CEO of Matthew Ferrara & Company, a technology organization that delivers training, consulting and technical support to real estate companies worldwide, including their new “Support on Demand” REALTOR® help desk service available at (866) 316-4210 or www.matthewferrara.com.

Comment on this article at VARbuzz.com/InTheBusiness.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 33

All for one and one for all: ‘Together’ is mantra for VAR’s new president

Pat’s accomplishments • Six designations, including the GRI, CRS, ABR, and SRES • Past state RPAC trustee • Past chairman of VAR’s Professional Development Advocacy Group • Director of the 2006 VAR Leadership Academy • Member of the VAR Policy Board of Directors since 2003 • State Sales Associate of the Year, 2000 • 2002 president of CAAR • Past recipient of CAAR’s Rookie of the Year, Salesperson of the Year, REALTOR® of the Year, and the Ethics in Action Award • Member of the VAR Honor Society since 1996 • Graduate and trustee of VAR’s Virginia Leadership Academy • Governing Board for the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation • Member, Board of Directors at the Charlottesville Senior Center • Member, Board of Charlottesville’s 21st Century Fund (previously the Retail Merchants Association)

34 January/February 2008

Pat Jensen can sum up her vision for Virginia REALTORS® with one word: together.

“At a time of profound change in our business and uncertainty in real estate marketplaces, I believe VAR does not succeed and Pat Jensen does not succeed, unless we all are equipped to succeed,” said Jensen.

The Charlottesville REALTOR® illustrated her point with an African proverb: “If you wish to go quickly, go alone. If you wish to go far, go together.”

Her leadership roles in both real estate and charitable sectors leave Jensen well-suited to take the helm of one of the country’s top ten REALTOR® associations. She has served in various leadership roles for the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS®, both on the board of directors and as chair of various committees.

“I want this year to be about extending our reach, enhancing our influence and creating genuine connection with our members,” said Jensen. She will tackle a number of major projects including a rewrite of the association’s strategic plan, which is the roadmap driving VAR’s services. She will also oversee the launch of phase two of the association’s Code is Good Business initiative to enhance REALTORS®’ reputation and profit margins.

Significantly, Jensen will

also guide the launch of an unprecedented VAR initiative aimed at harnessing the influence and voting power of Virginia property owners, informing them about key property rights, land use and affordability issues, and partnering with them in advocating sound policy positions on those issues.

Her year will also include efforts to expand programs to build social media avenues, broker outreach, and rookie training.

“Our goal – our mission, really – is to assure that our members’ interests are represented, their needs are met, and we’re moving together in achieving success and confronting marketplace challenges,” said Jensen.

Jensen has been in the real estate industry since 1992. She has been the Broker Manager of Real Estate III in Charlottesville since 2002, a role in which she takes direct responsibility for approximately 60 agents in her brokerage. She also works with her REALTOR® son, Kris Jensen, representing her past clients and referrals.

She and her husband, Doug, have four children and one grandchild. l www.VARealtor.com

SPECIALTIES UPDATE

Commercial REALTORS®: Relax, refresh and renew at the annual SIOR/CCIM conference DUST OFF YOUR financial and investment analysis skills and network with Virginia’s finest commercial real estate professionals at the 18th annual joint regional meeting of the Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® and the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute set for February 22-23 at the Williamsburg Lodge.

CCIM certified instructors Karl Wagner and Doug Sawyer will lead a course on the skills you need to succeed in today’s commercial real estate market and help you apply those skills to real life scenarios – all guaranteed to build your bottom line.

Refresh and relax at the beautiful Williamsburg Lodge resort and enjoy a round of golf at the resort’s renowned Golden Horseshoe Golf Club. For more information and to register, contact the Virginia Chapter, CCIM at (800) 755-8271 or email specialties@VARealtor.com.

“

Find your path to excellence in sales performance and management systems at the 2008 VAR Relocation Council Conference.”

On Relo Day, ‘the price is right’ – March 5-6 Find your path to excellence in sales performance and management systems at the 2008 VAR Relocation Council Conference set for March 5-6 at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville.

Sales and management training expert Mike Berry, will offer his unparalleled guidance on how to boost your sales potential through proven management training techniques in his presentation, “The Price is Right.” For more information, contact the VAR Relocation Council at (804) 264-5033.

Get to the top of your game in residential sales – March 12 Get the specific tools and systems that have propelled high-performing residential agents in the U.S., Canada, VOLUME 15 ● ISSUE 1

the Bahamas and Australia to the top of their game at the Virginia Chapter of Certified Residential Specialists sixth annual Sell-a-bration event on March 12 at the Holiday Inn Select in Fredericksburg.

One of real estate’s leading authorities on using the internet and social media as a communications and marketing tools, Allen Hainge, CRS, will present a program to give you tips and techniques gathered from his nationwide CYBERSTAR® networking group, agents who dominate their markets using today’s technology.

For more information and to register, visit virginiacrs.com.

More opportunities to grow your business (you can’t afford to miss) CCIM Intro – February 14-15 Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS® Get an overview of every aspect of commercial real estate: from property inspection through follow-through after the property is sold. Learn the many ways to profit in the multi-faceted, dynamic field of commercial investment real estate.

More information: chapters.ccim.com/Virginia.

CRS 201 – February 20-21 Charlottesville Association of REALTORS® The quality of your listing skills can give you a strong competitive edge. Learn the proven listing strategies tol win over the client in this course which includes lessons in pricing a home to sell, closing the transaction and marketing and promoting effectively. Create a system for success.

More information: virginiacrs.com.

Investment Real Estate Financing Valuation I&II March 3-4 & 5-6 – VAR Headquarters The IREM classes offered lead to the CPM (Certified Property Manager) designation. This is an intensive program for the individual interested in obtaining Certified Property Manager® (CPM®) – the most prestigious credential for real estate managers of larger portfolios, including those who manage multi-family, office, retail and industrial properties.

More information: centralvairem38.com. ● JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 35

RPAC REPORT

THANK YOU TO all of the investors who made RPAC such a success in 2007. With more than $800,000 raised, RPAC was able to significantly influence elections of REALTOR速friendly candidates throughout the Commonwealth.

Thank you to our major investors for their continued support. This list reflects those making contributions through November 30th, the end of the 2007 RPAC Campaign Year.

GOLDEN R ASSOCIATION ($5,000) Appraisal Alliance, Glen Allen Dulles Area Association, Leesburg

Fredericksburg Area Association,

Fredericksburg Northern Virginia Association,

Fairfax Prince William Association, Manassas Richmond Association, Richmond Roanoke Valley Association, Roanoke

STERLING R ($1,000-$2,499) Barry Allbright, Reston Larry Anderson, Centreville Julia Avent, Arlington Deborah Baisden, Virginia Beach Jerry Bartlett, Springfield Robert Barton, Richmond Gail Belt, Vienna Mary Ann Bendinelli, Manassas

Charlie Bengel, Leesburg Patricia Billheimer, Sterling Karen Bohlke, Hampton Michael Bosley, Alexandria R. Scott Brunner, VAR Elizabeth Burch, Lynchburg David Charron, Rockville, MD Carol Clarke, Charlottesville Billy Coons, Virginia Beach Lynne Creasy, Lynchburg Hugh Cross, Suffolk Robert Dawson, Lynchburg Maggie DelGallo, Reston John Dickinson, Union Hall Sally DiMiero, Woodbridge Angela Dougherty, Williamsburg Mary Dykstra, Roanoke

2008 RPAC $5,000 Golden R Investors

William Chorey

Suffolk

Commission Express

Dennis Cronk

Roanoke

Harrisonburg

Fairfax

Tom Jewell

Leesburg

John McEnearney

Alexandria

Joseph Funkhouser, II

Stanley Palivoda

Dahlgren

Tom Stevens*

Vienna

Dorcas HelfantBrowning

Keith Kreuer

Midlothian

Roanoke

Virginia Beach

Melanie Thompson

Fredericksburg

Thomas Jefferson, III*

Richmond

Jack Torza

Mechanicsville

*Hall of Famers have contributed a cumulative amount of $25,000 to RPAC.

2008 RPAC $2,500 Crystal R Investors

William (Benton) Pat Jensen Charlottesville Downer, III

Steve Hoover*

Michael Minnery Cynthia Schneider

Woodbridge

Alexandria

Charlottesville

36 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

WWW.VAREALTOR.COM

Sandra Ferebee, Virginia Beach Claire Forcier-Rowe, Fredericksburg Scott Fortney, Alexandria Robert Froehlich, Clifton Karen Gaskins, Chesapeake Elizabeth Gatewood, Chester Bill Gearhart, Roanoke Katy Gilliam, Williamsburg Lynn Grimsley, Newport News Kit Hale, Roanoke Margaret Handley, McLean Steven Hill, Harrisonburg Eugene Hobart, Haymarket Amy Hudson, Blacksburg Rita Huggins-Halstead, Sterling Tom Innes, Richmond Margaret Ireland, Manassas Betty Jasmund, Stafford Jo Anne Johnson, Falls Church Pamela Jones, Ashburn James Kanala, Springfield Luis Lama, Falls Church Judith LaMorte, Fairfax Barbara Jean LeFon, Montross George Lyons, Woodbridge Casey Margenau, McLean G. Edmond (Ned) Massie, IV,

Ashland Frank McKinney, Newport News Susan Mekenney, Fairfax Dee Meredith, Lynchburg

John Meyer, Alexandria Tom Meyer, Falls Church Percy Montague, Charlottesville Dale Polen Myers, Ashburn Vicki Nellis, Fairfax Station Jeanette Newton, Leesburg Vinh Nguyen, Fairfax Kathy Nunnally, Roanoke Lee Odems, Woodbridge Forrest Odend’hal, Manassas Mary “Boofie” O’Gorman, Reston Ann Palmateer, Virginia Beach Gwen Pangle, Leesburg Gail Penman, Stafford Tracy Pless, Reston John Powell, Colonial Heights Jane Quill, Fairfax Norris Ramsey, Lynchburg Dewey Reynolds, Richmond Zinta Rodgers, Fairfax Todd Rogers, Richmond Laura Rowe, Virginia Beach Judy Savage, Charlottesville Peter Scherman, Scottsville Thomas Seeley, Charlottesville A. Joseph Self, Jr., Callao Monica Sims, Alexandria James Sipe, Harrisonburg Marion Sparks, Newport News Cindy Stackhouse, Dumfries Wes Stearns, Woodbridge

Suzy Stone, Fredericksburg Thomas “Mack” Strickland, Chester Patricia Szego, Fairfax Richard Thurmond, Virginia Beach Kevin Turner, Bedford Connie Vanderpool, Falls Church Glenda von Dameck, Christiansburg Robert Waring, Virginia Beach Garrett Weddle, Radford Clifford Wells, Norfolk Mary Ann White, Prince George William A. White, Richmond Karen Wilkinson, Woodbridge

ASSOCIATION STERLING R Charlottesville Area Association,

Charlottesville Greater Augusta Association,

Staunton Greater Piedmont Association,

Warrenton Harrisonburg/Rockingham Association, Harrisonburg Lynchburg Association, Lynchburg New River Valley Association,

Christiansburg Virginia Peninsula Association,

Hampton Williamsburg Area Association,

Williamsburg ●

When you’re good to RPAC...

RPAC’s good to you Get invested today at www.RPACofVirginia.com VOLUME 15 ● ISSUE 1

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 37

HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

by Ann Brown

VHDA takes its venerable homeownership class online THE VIRGINIA HOUSING Development Authority helps Virginians achieve one of life’s fundamental dreams: home ownership. And, based on 35 years of experience, the housing finance agency knows that educated homebuyers are more successful when it comes to making their dreams come true.

With foreclosures again on the rise in some areas, VHDA believes education for first-time homebuyers is more important than ever. And, because consumers are busier than ever, an online version of the class has been added for consumers to access at their convenience.

“Homebuyer education programs were begun nationwide in the 1960s and 1970s in response to rising foreclosures,” said Anne Gwaltney, VHDA Homeownership Education program manager. “VHDA has conducted free pre-purchase Intro to Homeownership classes for more than 55,000 Virginians since we opened for business in 1972. Not only to make it easier for them to buy homes but, just as importantly, to prepare first-time homebuyers for the responsibilities of a mortgage so they are able to keep their home.”

“

VHDA’s Intro to Homeownership class also teaches homebuyers how to spot predatory warning signals so they can protect themselves when buying or refinancing their home.”

It’s got it all Mirroring the six-hour Intro to Homeownership class taught by industry professionals, VHDA’s online class gives a complete overview of the homebuying process.

Topics include personal finances, credit issues/scoring, working with a lender, choosing a real estate agent, the importance of home inspections, and what to expect at the loan closing.

“And because misinformed buyers are easy targets for predatory lending, in addition to providing information to demystify the buying process and eliminating misunderstandings about credit,” Gwaltney said, “VHDA’s Intro to Homeownership class also teaches homebuyers how to spot predatory warning signals so they can protect themselves when buying or refinancing their home.”

Before and after Although the online class is taught pre-purchase, it also covers post-purchase responsibilities that go along with owning a home. This includes information on homeowner’s insurance, home maintenance, managing personal finances to minimize the potential for loan delinquencies, and the importance of saving for repairs and emergencies.

“Lenders and REALTORS® tell us that clients who have completed VHDA’s Intro to Homeownership class experience a much quicker and easier buying transaction,” said Gwaltney. “Plus, homebuyers who complete the class may be eligible for VHDA special financing programs or a reduction on insurance premiums.”

Accomodates special needs The class is currently offered online only in English and Spanish, but other languages and specialized classes for those with hearing or visual impairments are taught offline at a variety of locations around the state. All classroom materials are provided by VHDA. ● For a class schedule or to register for the online class or a class nearby, homebuyers can call VHDA’s toll-free Homeownership Hotline at (877) VHDA-123, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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VAR UPDATE

New broker toolkit helps you build your business WOULDN’T IT BE great if all you needed to start and build a profitable brokerage could be packed into one neat box? Like a carpenter and his tools, whenever you wanted to build something all you had to do was reach into your toolkit, and you were ready to go.

Now it can be just that simple.

The Virginia Managers Council has created a free Broker Toolkit to help you carve your way to a profitable brokerage — from soup to nuts.

Some of the things you’ll learn include: • Details on acquisition or formation of a business • The purchase of an existing company • What to expect when forming a new company • Employement issues • Statutory and regulatory requirements of forming and/or owning a business • Employment issues • Selecting and hiring agents • Office Management Check it out. It’s ready for you now at www.VARealtor.com/BrokerToolkit.

a position on the REALTOR® Institute faculty. National real estate instructor Tina Daniel lead the program. a-half of the program to develop and deliver their own instructional presentations. Daniel and your classmates will evaluate videotapes of peer presentations.

If you’re serious about real estate instruction, this is one course you won’t want to miss. Register online at www.VARealtor.com. For more information, call VAR’s Conferences and Professional Development Group at (800) 755-8271.

Do you want to be a real estate instructor?

Go online, learn, earn credit, and more:

Boost your course development skills and presentation delivery techniques at VAR’s three-day instructor training course entitled, “Preparing and Presenting Instruction That Works” at its headquarters April 8-10.

Both experienced and inexperienced instructors alike will benefit from this fresh look at real estate instruction, which is a pre-requisite for anyone who wishes to seek

If you are a veteran REALTOR®, we urge you to reexamine the Code. If you are new to the business, implement the Code into your business (and the great tips we’ve included in these 16 online lessons) and your career will be long and successful. These 16 lessons will get you started – or jump-started – in your career. Visit www.VARealtor.com/ethicslessons today and get going.

Mark your calendars Perfect Opportunities

VAR’s Convention & Expo 2008 Baltimore, MD Sept. 24-28, 2008

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Your business depends on your reputation: Online Code of Ethics lessons now eligible for CE credit Now approved for one hour of ethics for continuing education; one hour elective for post license education by the Virginia Real Estate Board, the 16 online lessons available at www.VARealtor.com/ethicslessons, will help you earn the trust of the people you work with—clients, prospects, other REALTORS® alike. It’s no secret that once you’ve earned that trust, you’ll be more successful in your career.

The Code of Ethics can help you sell more, earn more referrals and repeat business; it’s a powerful business tool that should be the foundation of your daily work life.

Forms are easier to find The new year will bring changes to many of our standard forms. Here is what you will see and when: 1. New REB Disclosure Form: This form is now available on the REB website. Effective January 1, listing agents must be sure this is the form given to all buyers, regardless of whether the listing was taken before that time.

2. The VAR Summary of Rights and Obligations form (SUM-1) has been revised in light of the comprehensive changes to the Residential Property Disclosure Act. It is WWW.VAREALTOR.COM

now available on the VAR website.

3. Also effective January 1, the following forms have also been revised to reflect changes to the Residential Property Disclosure Act: a. Form 600 – Residential Contract of Purchase; b. Form 400 – Exclusive Authorization to Sell; c. Form 410 – Exclusive Authorization to Sell [Limited Service Representation].

4. Most property management forms have been comprehensively revised and, at press time, were on track to be available soon. The following forms are under revision: a. Form 200 – Residential Lease; b. Form 300 – Application for Lease; c. Form 900 – Property Management and Exclusive Rental Agreement; d. Form 975 – Listing Agreement – Exclusive Right to Lease.

We have also added a lease guaranty agreement to our forms list, with the form to be rolled out with the revisions to the PM forms in the near future.

Broker and rookie webcasts: Your secrets to bigger profits.

Webcasts for brokers and rookies are waiting for you right now at www.VARealtor.com. Brokers can learn how to boost their skills in recruiting, selecting, training, compensating and empowering their sales associates.

Rookies can develop and enhance strategies for a successful start through training sessions on selecting clients, negotiating and client presentations.

Working with a nationally recognized real estate trainer, VAR has developed eight of these 15- to 30-minute webcasts. There are four each for brokers and rookies, with more in development, including webcasts on legal topics. Watch your next Brokers’ Digest and Rookie Report e-newsletter for more news about webcasts.

Hackley joins the VAR team Jovan Hackley has recently joined VAR’s Marketing and

Communications staff as the new Marketing Manager.

He is responsible for planning and managing VAR’s wide array of marketing activities, from promoting VAR’s meetings and events to ensuring our members are informed about the benefits of association.

Prior to joining the VAR staff, Hackley was a teaching and research assistant and graduate student at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in Athens, Ohio. ● VOLUME 15 ● ISSUE 1

Power up at VAR’s 2008 Legislative & Education Conference Knowledge is power. In today’s marketplace and techno-savvy world, professional success is impossible without up-to-date relevant information.

At VAR’s 2008 Legislative and Education Conference February 12-15 at the Omni Richmond Hotel you can get the inside track on today’s real estate market; learn how to make the most of your online presence; uncover ways to merge technology and proven tools of the trade; find out the latest on fair housing and other legal issues; and so much more.

REALTOR® Day on the Hill This year REALTORS® together can empower lawmakers – and promote REALTOR® interests.

Join REALTORS® from around the state for VAR’s 2008 Day on the Hill. The morning of February 13, after a short briefing with VAR’s chief lobbyist Martin Johnson, REALTORS® will meet with their representatives from around the state to ensure they understand REALTORS®’ stance on upcoming legislation. It’s your chance to reaffirm REALTORS®’ value to Virginia and its localities as advocates and agents for improving and sustaining the quality of life of Virginians. Your participation in Day on the Hill shows your commitment to your industry, your profession, and your clients and customers.

Get registered today.

Register online at www.VARealtor.com/LegislativeConference by February 4 and save $20 on the registration fee. Just click “Meetings & Events” to get all the information on the conference and registration.

All rooms at the Omni Richmond Hotel must be reserved online.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 41

VAR STAFF DIRECTORY VAR 2008 LEADERSHIP TEAM Pat Jensen, ABR, CBR, CRS, GRI President Real Estate III - North Charlottesville, VA (434) 817-9200 re3@esinet.net John Powell, GRI, ABR, CRB, CRS President-Elect Long and Foster Real Estate Colonial Heights, VA (804) 520-5600 john.powell@longandfoster.com Cindy Stackhouse, GRI Vice President Century 21 Stackhouse and Associates Prince William, VA (703) 580-0880 c21cindys@aol.com John Dickinson Treasurer Hall Associates, Inc. Roanoke, VA (540) 982-0011 jrdickinson@cs.com Melanie Thompson, GRI Immediate Past President Century 21 AdVenture Realty Fredericksburg, VA (540) 898-2900 mqc21adv@aol.com R. Scott Brunner, CAE Chief Executive Officer (804) 264-5033 scott@varealtor.com VAR MEMBER SERVICE PARTNERS PossibleNOW – DNC Solutions (770) 255-1020 (Security Code SC1795VR) Your Tech Online (877) 717-7111 Advanced Access (800) 335-1563 Cultivate – Professional Development www.internal-audio.com/var Pearl Insurance (800) 289-8170 Liberty Mutual Insurance (800) 468-6634 ext. 245 (group number 4624) Broadwing, Inc. (866) 564-6279 UPS (800) 325-7000 MBNA AmericaSM Bank, MasterCard (866) 438-6262 (priority code K22V) FBRDirect (888) 200-4350, Option 2 Office Depot (301) 943-4762, Account 44618691 Outstaffing (888)-OUTSTAFF (888-688-7823) NAR Store (800) 874-6500 (Promotional Code VAR2)

EXECUTIVE R. Scott Brunner, CAE Chief Executive Officer (804) 264-5033 sbrunner@varealtor.com • Strategic Direction • Governance (including Leadership Team, Policy Board and Delegate Body) • Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) • NAR Activities • Member Outreach Anne B. Taylor Executive Assistant ataylor@varealtor.com • Governing Documents • Policy Board, Delegate Body, NAR Director & VLA Logistics • Leadership Team Support • Travel Planning ADMINISTRATION Debbie Talley, CPA Vice President for Administration dtalley@varealtor.com • Financial Management & Budgeting • Local Association Liaison • Investment Management Committee • Facility Management • Special Projects Mike Shepherd Information Systems Manager mshepherd@varealtor.com • Technology Systems • Website Management Anita Bean Member Services Specialist abean@varealtor.com • Receptionist and Concierge • Information Central Robbie Martin Mailroom Specialist robbie@varealtor.com • Mailroom • Copying Accounting/Member Records Valerie Washington, CAE Accounting Manager vwashington@varealtor.com • Financial Records and Reporting Kim Martin Member Records Specialist kmartin@varealtor.com • Membership Records (NRDS) • Receivables Jessica Belle Accounting Specialist Jbelle@varealtor.com • RPAC Records and Reporting Specialties Carole Umbel, RCE Specialties Manager cumbel@varealtor.com • Affiliated Chapter Management • Virginia Managers Council • International Section • Commercial Alliance • Property Management Council • Appraisal Alliance • Relocation Council • Housing Opportunity • Diversity Programs

Lynne Wherry Specialties/Affiliate Chapters Specialist lwherry@varealtor.com • Specialty Group & Affiliate Member Records & Dues • Specialty Education and Event Management MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Lisa G. Noon, ABC, CAE Vice President for Marketing & Communications lgnoon@varealtor.com • Media Relations • Communication/Marketing Strategy • Information Management Advocacy Group • Virginia Home Sales Report • ‘The Code is Good Business’ Program • Research • Member Recognition / Awards Ben Martin, CAE Director of Communications & New Media bmartin@varealtor.com • Member Outreach • Social Media • Publications Valerie Hubbard Information Manager valerieh@varealtor.com • Staff Writer • Publications • Marketing Communication Jovan Hackley Marketing Manager jovan@varealtor.com • Marketing Communication Amanda Arwood Sales Manager aarwood@varealtor.com • Sponsorship Opportunities • Affiliate Memberships • Trade Expo Management • Member Service Partners Conferences/Professional Development Tracey R. Floridia, CMP Director Professional Development tfloridia@varealtor.com • Conference Management • Education Program Management • Professional Development Advocacy Group • Instructor Training Lili Paulk Professional Development Manager lpaulk@varealtor.com • Education Program Management • Continuing & Post-License Education • In-house Systems Trainer • Conference Services

Glenda Puryear Conferences Specialist gpuryear@varealtor.com • Graduate, REALTOR® Institute (GRI) Administration • Conference Services Amy Hafer Professional Development Specialist ahafer@varealtor.com • Education Program Implementation LAW & POLICY John Broadway Vice President/Law & Policy jbroadway@varealtor.com • Public Policy Development and Outreach • General Counsel • Broker Relations • Regulatory Relations • Coalition Building Martin Johnson Director of Government Relations/Chief Lobbyist mjohnson@varealtor.com • Legislative Representation / Lobbying • Political Strategy • Public Policy Advocacy Group • RPAC Trustees Lawrence “Lem” E. Marshall Special Counsel lmarshall@varealtor.com • Legal Hotline, Principal • Risk Management Advocacy Group • Risk Management Education • VAR Standard Forms Subcommittee • Virginia Real Estate Board Liaison Meredith Cox Political Communications Manager mcox@varealtor.com • RPAC Fundraising and Administration • Public Policy Communications Blake Hegeman Public Policy Manager bhegeman@varealtor.com • Policy Analysis • Local Issues Resources & Management • Legal Hotline, Secondary • Federal Political Coordinator Program Scottie Bosworth Professional Standards & Member Policy Manager sbosworth@varealtor.com • Professional Standards Education & Administration • NAR Member Policy • VAR Standard Forms Logistics • ‘The Code is Good Business’ Blog

THE LAST WORD

How my new iPhone is like a beautiful woman Lessons from my latest fling with technology WHAT WORDS TO describe that rush I feel when I turn on my new iPhone?

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate….”

I’m talking connection at a visceral level. Wanton empowerment.

Passion, even.

My wife suggests “addiction” or perhaps “co-dependency,” and rolls her eyes.

Yet it’s more than that (or, clinically speaking, less).

I’m smitten by her svelte beauty; her weightless elegance; her cool competence and companionship (I’m talking about the phone, here, not my wife, who, lest I get in trouble, is all those things, yet in very different ways).

It’s all purely professional – a cozy workplace relationship born out of occupational necessity (well, occupational necessity with shades of sensory overload and random moments of obsession…as in, fighting – and sometimes succumbing to – the urge check my e-mail from my iPhone during church services). Yet I could never have attributed those traits to my old Treo,

44 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

as solid and faithful as it was.

As a device, the iPhone is extraordinary, but she’s also far from perfect.

No third-party applications, like games or documents or expense report software; you get what you get, and that’s all. And her typepad, while incredibly intuitive, is also clumsy, resulting occasionally in random words in emails that I never meant to include or texting people I never meant to text.

Oh, but she’s lovely. She’s opened up for me a new world of information and opinion and sheer, unmitigated connectedness: the world of Web 2.0 and social media (both of which, granted, are vague, enigmatic terms; the first suggests a Spiderman sequel, the second, a group of journalists who write about debutantes).

What I mean is blogs and wikis and tweets (which, come to think of it, sound collectively like the outward manifestations of an intestinal disorder) and other online communications tools I can access from my phone to learn the most arcane or inane or insane things about anything or anybody who’s willing to put themselves out there and share.

Take, for instance, weblogs (blogs, for short) which in essence are online diaries-cum-op/ed pages that exist in an ether-region known as “The Blogosphere.” There are even subblogospheres, as in “the real estate blogosphere” – a self-contained, self-referential little world in which the remarkably astute mingle with the remarkably absurd to assay all that’s right and/or wrong about real estate.

As I see it, blogs are among the purest, rawest forms of self-expression, for they allow anyone – and I do mean anyone – to rail against (or for) the system, to assert his or her views on practically anything, and often to be taken with an astounding degree of credibility. As a buddy of mine says, “Some blogs raise the suspicion that it is entirely possible to take the First Amendment too far.”

I read blogs in my spare time, sometimes on my iPhone. Visit YouTube, too, mostly for laughs at the stupid things people will do for 15 minutes of fame. My spare time seems to be growing as a result.

I’ve also learned about social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook and LinkedIn, which are sort of like pick-up bars for techsavvy professionals where, best I can tell, people go to connect and build networks of friends and associates.

But maybe I’m missing something.

The point is, thanks to my iPhone, I have all my technology and connectivity needs met for the first time in a single device – an imperfect device, granted, but her imperfections merely add to her charm.

In that way, one loves her like one loves a beautiful woman (or even a technology-addicted husband?): In spite of the flaws. ● When he’s not caressing his cell phone, R. Scott Brunner, CAE is VAR’s chief executive officer. Contact him at scott@VARealtor.com.

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