SUMMER/FALL 2018
SAN GABRIEL VALLEY CONNECTION
REALTOR® Action Fund (Page 4) REALTOR® Safety Month (page 6) Member Appreciation Week (page 8) Upcoming Events and Classes (page 11)
ASSOCIATION NEWS 1
SUMMARY
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REALTOR® Action Fund
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REALTOR® Safety Month
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Member Appreciation Week
10 Key Facts: Yes on Prop 5, No on Prop 10 12 Upcoming Classes
Hello Members of the West San Gabriel Valley Association of REALTORS®, This quarter has been full of exciting events. Thank you to all our committees for working hard to give us these great classes and networking opportunities. The Education Committee put together a wonderful Tech Summit on July 14. We had speakers come teach about using social media and video tours to enhance selling and buying homes. They also hosted the Commercial Summit on Aug. 24. Speakers discussed taxes, land opportunities, and things happening in San Gabriel. They also had the REALTOR® Safety & Self-Defense class and Broker Symposium. Thank you to all the speakers for sharing your knowledge with us. The Education Committee is working hard for the upcoming Property Management Summit so please save the dates and come show your support. Global Business Council (GBC) hosted their Global Summit on July 25. Two of the speakers from C.A.R., presented the economic updates and the current local real estate issues and challenges. From Sept. 4 to Sept. 21, GBC has been on an outbound Trade Mission to Vietnam, China, and Taiwan. We are looking forward to a detailed report after the mission. The Council will be hosting the Global Festival on Oct. 26.
6 WSGVAR Quarterly Magazine 1039 E. Valley Blvd., #205B San Gabriel, CA 91776 (626) 288-6212 Executive Officer Albert Tran Editor in Chief Rachel Yelinek
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info@wsgvar.com www.wsgvar.com
Special Events Committee hosted our annual Fourth of July MLS Breakfast Meeting and in August put together our Member Appreciation Week. Thank you for your dedicated work in showing how much our members mean to us. Many members enjoyed the movie night, ice cream, and membership picnic. They are working hard for their upcoming Affiliate Appreciation Day on Oct. 3. YPN held an Ice Cream Social for the kids at Maryvale in Rosemead on Aug. 9. The Committee gave the kids backpacks and school supplies for the new school year. WSGVAR also had the RAF Sweepstakes in August! Thank you everyone who donated and showed support. It will help make our voices heard and allow C.A.R. to fight for us and the rights of homeowners. We couldn’t do it without your contributions. My Best, 2018 President Helen Marston
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would include all real estate related services. RAF is also fighting a number of housing threats like state wide rent control in the form of Costa Hawkins Repeal, threats to Prop 13 which reduced property tax rates on homes, businesses, and farms, and affordable housing issues like Proposition 10.
Steve White, 2018 C.A.R.
President, had this to say about the RAF. “Our industry is under
The West San Gabriel Valley Association of REALTORS® encourages its
members to become involved in civic life, to become knowledgeable about issues impacting their businesses and the real estate market, and to support initiatives that promote and ensure a healthy and sustainable real estate market. That also means learning about one of the main ways to help fight for your rights and the rights of your clients; the REALTOR® Action Fund.
REALTOR® Action Fund (RAF) raises money to advance goals of our
REALTOR® Political Action Committee (RPAC) at the local, state, and federal levels of government. RAF is non-partisan and helps get real estate friendly candidates elected on all levels of government from local to state to federal. RAF helps us work with our elected officials so we can work with them to protect REALTORS® and homeowner rights. A third of all proceeds can be used locally to help combat local issues.
attack like never before from multiple legislative and regulatory proposals that could greatly affect the ability for Californians to own their own home. Therefore, every REALTOR® must contribute to the REALTOR® Action Fund. The need for the REALTOR® advocacy this provides is critical to the health of the housing market and our industry. Your individual contribution is vital to our united effort. Please contribute today!”
WSGVAR does it’s best to encourage members to donate.
We recently had our RAF Sweepstakes in which two members won iPads! Congrats to our two winners: Sandy Sun and Olivia Hemaratanatorn. Please continue to support the RAF and donate today!
We must continue to support RAF to fight
against a number of Ongoing Issues. Help from the RAF has allowed C.A.R. to fight against the elimination/reduction of the Mortgage Interest Deduction that allows homeowners with a mortgage to deduct the interest paid on their mortgage in a given year. They are fighting against California’s push for statewide service taxes, which ASSOCIATION NEWS 4
Sandy Sun
Olivia Hemaratanatorn ASSOCIATION NEWS 5
REALTOR® Safety Month September is known as REALTOR® Safety Month. It is important to know how you can stay safe not only when working but also during your personal time. There are small things that can be done to make sure that you stay safe in the office and at open houses. When in the office, there are a few things to think about. Office employees should always use a buddy system when working. There should always be at least two employees in the office in case of emergency. Never leave someone alone. Also hide valuables from sight. Make sure that nothing important or costly can be seen from windows of the office to deter thieves. Have employees take down any new client’s information and make copies of their driver’s license. Make a check-out board for the office to know where employees are. The employee can write where they will be, who they’ll be with, and an estimated time of when they’d be back. This gives others information in case the employee goes missing they have some leads for police to look at. When planning an open house make sure to keep a few things in mind. Once again use the buddy system. Having someone helping at the open house will deter most aggressors. Let neighbors know about the open house so they can keep an eye out for anything unusual. They probably know the neighborhood more than you do and can spot things out of the ordinary. Make sure your phone is charged before going out. Last thing you want is to be in the middle of an emergency without a way to contact others. Plan out a distress code with the office and have a call time set up for them to contact you. That way if you’re in trouble you can tell them without alerting anyone else that something is wrong. Be sure that the homeowners have all valuables and medications put away in a safe location so no one can swipe them. When possible show properties before dark. If you have to show a house when it’s dark make sure you have all the lights on and keep all blinds and curtains open. Once the open house has ended make sure to check all the rooms and the backyard for any stragglers. Also have the homeowners walk through afterwards to make sure nothing is missing. Just because September is REALTOR® Safety Month doesn’t mean safety should be forgotten afterwards. Remember to stay prepared, know your surroundings, always have a buddy, and if you can take a self-defense class. Do what you can to stay safe. ASSOCIATION NEWS 6
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Member Appreciation Week We hope everyone enjoyed Member Appreciation Week this year! We had four days of celebration, honoring you, our members. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was showing at our office, Wednesday, August 22. There was popcorn, hot dogs, and lots of laughter as everyone enjoyed the movie.
Thursday, August 23, we had a coffee bar for everyone to enjoy during the MLS Breakfast Meeting. Members got to enjoy cappuccinos, frappuccinos, iced coffees, and more!
The finale to Member Appreciation Week was the Picnic at Whittier Narrows Park on August 25. Members enjoyed burgers, hot dogs, and tacos while their kids enjoyed games, jumpers, and face painting. People also got to drench some of our directors and committee members in the dunk tank. We hope all of you enjoyed the week of fun. Thank you for being members of West San Gabriel Valley Association of REALTORSÂŽ.
WSGVAR helped members cool off Friday, August 24, with some ice cream. Members could come in during the afternoon and grab a tasty treat to enjoy on the hot day.
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REALTOR® engagement in the upcoming November election is CRITICAL to addressing California’s housing crisis through the protection of homeownership and private property rights across the state. There will be two initiatives on the statewide ballot this November that could dramatically affect housing opportunities, private property rights, and the availability of affordable housing. The first is Prop 5, an initiative that will allow seniors, the disabled, and victims of natural disasters to move to a home better suited to their needs without facing drastically higher property taxes. Seniors often live in homes that no longer meet their needs because their homes may be too big or too far from family. If these homeowners want to downsize or move closer to their children, they could face a doubling or tripling of their property taxes, or what’s being called a moving penalty. Proposition 5 provides appropriate relief by allowing those eligible the ability to transfer their current property tax base to the purchase of another home in any of California’s 58 counties. The new property tax for that individual would be based on their original home’s assessment, in addition to an adjustment consisting of the difference in value between the sale price of the original home and the sale price of the new home. Proposition 5 would provide respect to seniors (many on fixed incomes), the disabled, and disaster victims by allowing them the flexibility to move to a more suitable home. Right now, too many feel locked in place. This will help boost the housing inventory in existing neighborhoods as older homeowners move from their single-family homes that no longer meet their needs and free up housing for the next generation.
Proposition 10 will reduce availability of affordable and middle-class housing. Academic experts from the University of Southern California, U.C. Berkeley, and Stanford agree that it would drive up rents, while discouraging new construction and reduce the availability of affordable and middle-class housing. Even the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst has found that passage of Proposition 10 would both discourage new construction and result in existing rental units being taken off the market, reducing availability of rental housing. Proposition 10 will increase the cost of existing housing. Proposition 10 will cause homeowners to sell or convert rental properties into other more profitable uses, such as short-term vacation listing services like Airbnb. That would increase the cost of existing housing and make it even harder for renters to find affordable housing. Proposition 10 will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars per year, reducing revenues available for education and public safety. The Legislative Analyst also said that Proposition 10 would likely reduce the value of rental properties and single-family homes, driving down local property tax revenues by up to hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Driving down home values will hurt middle-class families and will also reduce the funding available for vital services like schools, public safety, road repairs, education, and fire safety. Proposition 10 will eliminate homeowner protections by repealing protections homeowners have enjoyed for over 20 years, and lets the government dictate pricing for privately owned single-family homes, controlling how much homeowners can charge to rent out their home – or even just a room. Proposition 10 might even lead to bureaucrats imposing oppressive surcharges when an owner takes a home off the rental market and chooses to occupy it. Please vote YES on Prop 5 and NO on Prop 10 on November 6th. Here’s what every REALTOR® should do to help: • Register to vote at registertovote.ca.gov and vote Yes on 5, No on 10. • Share information with your fellow REALTORS® and with your clients. • Volunteer to help. Contact your local association or email prop5@car.org for more information. • Follow C.A.R. on Facebook (@CAREALTORS) and Twitter (@CARGovAffairs) to get the most recent updates.
The other measure of concern on the November ballot is Prop 10, the so-called “Affordable Housing Act,” that would actually make the housing crisis worse by repealing the long-standing Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, eventually allowing local governments to impose draconian rent control measures. ASSOCIATION NEWS 10
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