GHAR Weekly E-mail

December 23, 2010

In this Email:

ASSOCIATION NEWS

2011 DUES STATEMENTS - DUE JANUARY 3
On November 1, the Association mailed the 2011 dues statements to all members. Dues statements were mailed to your preferred address. If you did not receive your dues statement, please contact the Association at (717) 364-3200 immediately.

The 2011 dues are $346.00. The Greater Harrisburg Association REALTORS^®, Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS^®, National Association of REALTORS^® and Public Awareness Assessment dues remains the same as the previous year.

Please note the following dues payment policies:

REALTOR^® dues are due and paid in full on or before January 3 (with a grace period until January 5) and are considered past due after that date.
Payment of dues is non-refundable.
Dues may be paid by cash, check, VISA, MasterCard, or American Express
The $35 NAR Public Awareness Assessment is required.
The $49.50 RPAC contribution is encouraged but voluntary.
RPAC contributions, in any amount, may be made when paying dues either by credit card, check or online through our Web site, www.ghar.info.
Payment must be received by the Association - not postmarked to be considered paid by a certain date.
After January 5, you will be assessed a $50 late fee.
If not paid by January 17, you will be assessed an additional $50 late fee.
If paying by check or credit card, please mail to GHAR, P.O. Box 244, Elizabethtown, PA 17022-0244 - this is our bookkeeping service - please do not mail payment to the Association office.
You may pay online at www.ghar.info with VISA, MasterCard, or American Express. Go to Members Only section. Paying online is EASY; however, you must know your password to sign on to the Members Only section. Call the Association if you do not know your password.
Brokers are notified of all past due accounts.

PLEASE NOTE: Next year the dues bill will be sent electronically.

Questions regarding dues should be directed to Martha Cuneo at martha@ghar.info or Kathy Ludwig at kathy@ghar.info.

2011 AFFILIATE SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES - PLEASE RETURN YOUR COMPLETED FORM!
All Affiliates should have received their 2011 Sponsorship Opportunities Form. Please review the opportunities and indicate your initial interest in sponsoring the events listed and return your form to the Association office by January 3, 2011. All requests are granted on a first come first serve basis.

If you are a GHAR Affiliate Member and have not received your Sponsorship Opportunities Form, please e-mail Sara Bradnick, Member Services Manager at sara@ghar.info.

2011 COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Thank you to all of our members who volunteer to serve the Association and the industry by serving on a committee - you do make a difference! If you are interested in serving on any Association or Foundation committees in 2011, please notify the Association as soon as possible. The Association is creating our 2011 committees. If you were an active member of a committee in 2010, you will be automatically assigned to serve on that committee again in 2011. If you were not an active member of the committee, you will be dropped from the committee. If you have any questions, please contact Cindy Cuddeford or Kathy Ludwig at 364-3200.

ORIENTATION
Orientation is required for all new REALTOR^® members. You must meet this requirement within the first two offerings of applying for membership. Learn what it means to be a REALTOR^®, your obligation to abide by our Code of Ethics, and the many benefits and services that the Greater Harrisburg Association of REALTORS^®has to offer. A boxed lunch is provided by the sponsor of the orientation.

Orientation will be held on the following dates and times: (Registration begins at 9:45 a.m.)

January 19, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. sponsored by Members 1st Federal Credit Union
March 2, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. sponsored by A Plus Mortgage Solutions, Inc.

Remember failure to attend orientation as required may result in paying an additional application fee.

COMMERCIAL NEWS

SAVE THE DATE - FEBRUARY ICI BREAKFAST & MARKETING EXCHANGE - FEBRUARY 3, 2011
The February ICI Breakfast is sponsored by the Hershey Center for Applied Research. Please watch for more information in future Weekly E-mails. Commercial REALTORS^®: the deadline to submit PowerPoint slides for the ICI Listings Slideshow is Monday, January 31, 2011.

GREATER HARRISBURG REALTORS^® INSTITUTE

GHRI E-MAIL IS SENT THE SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAYS OF THE MONTH
To help decrease the size and scope of the weekly email, the Association has decided to send out a separate e-mail highlighting upcoming classes held at the Greater Harrisburg REALTORS^® Institute.

REQUIRED COURSE FOR NEW LICENSEES
GHRI will offer the General Module, Commercial Module and the Residential Module, the courses required for new licensees, again in the spring. Watch for more details.

Foundation news

SAVE THE DATE! FOUNDATION COMEDY NIGHT!
The Foundation's Comedy Night will be held on Friday, February 25, 2011 at Duke's Bar & Grill in Wormleysburg. Two shows available: 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Cost is $20 per ticket.

Comedy Night tickets make a great holiday gift for friends, family and clients! Please note: For those wishing to give Comedy Night Tickets as a holiday gift, the Association Office will be closing at 12 Noon on Thursday, December 23, 2010 through Sunday, December 26 for the Holiday.

Interested in being a sponsor? A $250 sponsorship gives your company event promotions, recognized at the event and you may submit a company banner to be displayed at each show. Contact Sara Bradnick at the Association office by calling (717) 364-3200!

Note: The official registration and financial information of the Greater Harrisburg Association of REALTORS^® Foundation may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

CPML NEWS AND PARAGON TRAINING

SUPRA iBOX EXCHANGE
The SUPRA iBox exchange will take place on January 19 and 20, 2011 at the Penn Harris Radisson in Camp Hill. You will be exchanging your iBoxes for the new Bluetooth (BT) iBox. The BT iBox connects with Active Keys, infrared devices as well as Bluetooth enabled devices, without the use of an additional piece of hardware. Since the iPhone requires an authentication chip, it still requires the attachable device.

You will be exchanging iBoxes based on the number of boxes assigned to you in our system. You will only receive the new iBoxes based on the number you return, up to the number that is assigned to you. If you are unsure the number of boxes you have, you can request this information by sending an email to CPML @cpml.com. We will email you the number of boxes you have as well as the serial numbers for them. There will be no cost to you for the exchange, the fee to lease additional BT iBoxes will be $99.00 + tax. ($104.94) You will NOT be able to lease these boxes at the exchange

Watch for information to be delivered to your office or look on the home page of Paragon for this information.

FREE WEBINAR TRAINING
Webinars have started for training on P5 (Paragon 5). For a short period of time the webinars will be held 3 times a week and twice a day. The topics will include:

P5 Essentials-Learn Navigation, Multi-Tasking, Inline Auto Complete. Customizing Searches, Emailing, Printing, Customizing Reports, Mailing Labels and Browsers.

Contact Manager and Client Connect - Learn Contact manager Wizard, Saving Searches to Client, Client Connect Customer View, Client Connect Set-up, Agent Notification.

CMA - Learn CMA Wizard, New Themes, CMA Setup and Navigation.

Listing Input - Learn Bulk Photo Upload, Inline Auto Complete, Features and Geo Coding

Preferences - Learn how to Upload Photos and Logos, Client Connect Preferences, E-card, Market Monitor Customization and CMA Customization.

For complete schedule and registration, please see link on home page in Paragon.

PARAGON TRAINING SCHEDULE
Training classes have been scheduled on the following dates for the PARAGON system:
January 13, 2011
February 24, 2011

Basic class will be held at 9:00 a.m. The Basic Class covers simple searches, descriptions of terms used in the PARAGON system, introduction to input sheets, CPML input rules for paragon as well as system requirements. The Basic Class also provides a brief look at the financial program.

Advanced class will be held at 1:00 p.m. The Advanced Class covers creating CMA's and using the Contact Manager to manage clients as well as send automatic emails. You need only attend one day, but you may attend more than one class if you choose. Please call the CPML office at (717) 761-8440 to reserve a time. Classes are held at the GHAR Office at 424 N. Enola Drive, Enola, PA 17025.

CPML OPEN HOUSE WEB SITE
Are you advertising your open houses on the web site? Are you advertising the Open House web site on your web sites? Consider adding the Open House web site to your ads when you advertise the open house. The consumers are using this web site; don’t let your Open House be missed because you are not on our site.

Open Houses on the Centralpennopenhouse.com web site now appear on an interactive map. The home page of the web site shows all available open houses marked by a balloon. Click on the balloon and see the property information. Zoom-in, Zoom-out or change area of map you wish to view. Consumers can still enter search parameters and the map will show only the properties that belong to the search. The map will then display the 8 properties on each page.

It is important now that your Open House information be entered into the Paragon system. You can find instructions on entering your open house data under MLS DOCS in the Paragon System. Open Houses entered into the Paragon system will appear on the web site in about 4 hours.

We are promoting the site with radio and newspaper ads; we need you to promote this site to your clients and potential clients through your web sites.

We have added our affiliate members to the Open House site. Our affiliate members have the ability to add a link to their name; this will allow the consumer to learn more about their company. Do you use a particular home inspector, lender or pest control company? Encourage them to add their link to our site.

PAR AND NAR NEWS

JOIN JUSTLISTED.COM TODAY!
PARJustListed.com from the PA Association of REALTORS^® has all the news you need to get your day started, with economic and industry news and weekly podcasts. This is such a great source of industry information and we hope you are taking advantage of it. If you haven’t registered for PARJustListed.com’s free daily e-news, visit the link below to register. Each weekday morning you will get updated real estate industry news in your inbox or mobile phone.

http://tinyurl.com/parjl-email

JOIN THE PAR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS NETWORK (YPN)
We are looking for members who would like to join as Charter Members of the PA chapter of the Young Professionals Network! REALTOR^® Magazine launched the Young Professional Network in 2006 as a way to help the younger generation of REALTORS^® build a stronger link with the magazine and the real estate industry, in general. There is a lively blog, YPN website and social events that are designed to give its members the tools they need to advance their careers – and have fun in the process!

NAR approved Pennsylvania's Chapter on October 19, 2009. YPN is a member-driven organization that helps young real estate professionals excel in their careers by giving them the tools and encouragement to become involved in four core areas:

REALTOR^® Associations. Attend REALTOR^® conferences and pursue leadership roles with their local, state and national associations.
Real estate industry. Take an active role in policy discussions and advocacy issues; be informed about the latest industry news and trends.
Peers. Network and learn from one another by attending events, participating in online communication and seeking out mentoring opportunities.

Benefits of Membership

Exclusive invitations to YPN events.
Stay abreast of industry happenings. Through the blog on the YPN national site members stay in the loop on hot issues. YPN also has special educational sessions at REALTOR^® conferences that address strategies for success in real estate. The PA chapter has a group on Facebook.
Get involved. Many people who are new to the industry want to get involved with their local, state or national association but either don’t know how to go about it or they find it too intimidating. YPN encourages members to explore leadership opportunities at all levels.

How to Become a Member
Contact Adrienne Loughery (E-mail | Facebook) or PAR staff liaison to YPN, Brenda Florida, if you are interested in being a member or if you have any questions.

PAR ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR PENNSYLVANIA BOARDS
PAR currently is taking applications for vacancies on several Pennsylvania Boards including the State Real Estate Commission, the Housing Alliance of PA, and the Federal Home Loan Bank. Members interested in serving on these Boards should apply to PAR. PAR then will select applicants to "recommend" to serve on these boards. Click here for a complete overview of the process and a list of Pennsylvania Boards. Click here to submit an application.

REALTORS^® FEDERAL CREDIT UNION - JOIN TODAY!
REALTORS^® Federal Credit Union is proud to be a REALTOR Benefits^® Program Partner! NAR has partnered with industry leaders to provide REALTORS^® with value-added offers and significant savings on products and services they use every day. Through unique understanding and real partnership, we guide members to securing their financial independence, while supporting NAR's mission and benefiting the greater community.

REALTORS^® FCU Now Offers:
·         Highly Competitive Interest & Dividend Rates
·         Traditional & Money Market Savings
·         Traditional, Roth & SEP Individual Retirement (IRA) Savings and Certificate Accounts
·         Free eChecking with MasterCard Debit Card
·         Surcharge-Free ATM Transactions at Thousands of CO-OP Network & CU24 Network ATMs
·         Your own Virtual Branch
        o        Remote Check Deposit, Online Bill Pay Online Statements, Electronic Statements, Alerts, Messaging and more
                    o        myMortgage Center
·         Personal Loans & Credit Lines
·         New & Used Vehicle, Boat & RV Loans
·         Home Loan Financing
·         Certificate Investments
·         Business Savings & Money Market Accounts

As a REALTORS^® Federal Credit Union member, you have access to our diverse portfolio of products and services. Our cooperative approach to financial services allows us to provide you with great rates and fewer fees. Eligible members include anyone who is a member of or works with the NAR as well as their immediate family or household members. You can become a member of REALTORS^® Federal Credit Union as early as your first day of membership or relevant affiliation with the National Association of REALTORS^® or any time afterward. Join today!

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS NEWS

HOT TOPICS

CALL-TO-ACTION! HARRISBURG CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER TWO HOUSING BILLS
On December 30, the Harrisburg City Council is scheduled to consider two bills making changes to the City’s buyer notification inspection program and the rental licensing program. As proposed, Bill No. 13 of 2010 would make significant changes to the City’s rental licensing and inspection program. Among other requirements, the bill would mandate all rental units be inspected once every five years, and property owners not living or working in Cumberland, Dauphin, or Perry Counties would be required to designate an “agent” for their property. In general, GHAR opposes rental licensing and inspection programs, and we are especially concerned with the residency requirement in the Bill.

Bill No. 14 of 2010 would eliminate the buyer notification inspection for most property transfers in the City of Harrisburg. However, Bill No. 14 would require language to be added to an agreement of sale, and it would impose some liability on REALTORS^® - two parts of the Bill GHAR opposes.

Despite receiving both written and verbal suggested changes from GHAR, the City Council has NOT modified the language of either bill to address these specific concerns.

GHAR is encouraging members to attend the City Council meeting to voice your concern with the bills as proposed. The Council meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 30, at the Harrisburg City Government Center, 10 North Second Street, Harrisburg. If you would like talking points for this meeting, or if you need any additional information, please contact Sherri Pursel.

HARRISBURG CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO TAX ABATEMENT PROGRAM
On December 30, the Harrisburg City Council will consider amendments to the City’s Tax Abatement Program. The program is set to expire on December 31, 2010. City Council and Mayor Linda Thompson have worked on a compromise to extend the program with changes. Click here to read more about this issue on the Central Penn Business Journal Web site.

CONTACT GHAR TO SCHEDULE A GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS OFFICE VISIT!
Is your office interested in a government affairs update during one of your sales meetings? Are you looking for more information about what is going on at the local, state, and national level? If so, please contact Sherri Pursel at the Association to schedule a Government Affairs Office Visit. Sherri will come to your office during one of your sales meetings and make a 15 to 20 minutes presentation about government affairs and the important issues facing REALTORS^® at all three levels of government. It is a great opportunity to learn more about legislative “hot topics” and what is happening in government affairs! Feel free to contact Sherri at sherri@ghar.info or by calling (717) 364-3200.

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS NEWS

INACCURATE E-MAILS CIRCULATING ABOUT HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION AND A 3.8% TAX
In recent months, and e-mail forward has been making its way around the Internet stating that the recently passed health care legislation will impose a 3.8% Medicare tax on property transfers beginning in 2013. This statement is very misleading. While the tax is part of the health care legislation, the tax will only impact a select number of individuals under specific circumstances. The tax does NOT apply to ALL property transfers. According to NAR, the new 3.8% tax would only potentially apply to households with Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) over $200,000 (single filer)/$250,000 (married filers). Even if AGI is met, certain net investment gains need to be met in order to trigger the tax. Click here for a more detailed overview from the NAR Web site.

NAR’S 2010 LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Visit the NAR Web site for a detailed overview of the many legislative challenges and REALTOR^® victories at the national level during the past session.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS NEWS

CARLISLE BOROUGH COUNCIL RECEIVES PUBLIC COMMENTS ON RENTAL LICENSING AND INSPECTION PROPOSAL
On December 9, the Carlisle Borough Council received comments from various residents and groups about the idea of approving a rental licensing and registration program for the Borough. A citizens group presented a draft proposal to the Council and asked it to draft and approve a rental ordinance. Other groups, including GHAR, spoke out against the idea. In general, GHAR is opposed to rental licensing and inspection ordinances. GHAR believes that municipalities have a wide variety of codes and regulations in place to assist them with ensuring a quality housing stock. Furthermore, licensing and inspection programs targeting rental units are unfair and an infringement on private property rights. After receiving public comment, Borough Council decided to form a task force comprised of various stakeholders to discuss this issue further. The Borough will be accepting applications to serve on this task force. If you are a Carlisle resident, and you are interested in serving, please contact Sherri Pursel for additional information. Please watch for updates about this issue in future Weekly E-mails.

SIGN-UP to be a MUNICIPAL Political CONTACT!
GHAR is still searching for volunteers to be Municipal Political Contacts. As a Political Contact, GHAR will work with you when issues impacting REALTORS^® and the real estate industry arise in your municipality. GHAR’s goal is to identify REALTORS^® from each municipality in our tri-county area to be Political Contacts. We are still in need of contacts for the following municipalities:

Cumberland County – Hopewell Twp.; Lower Mifflin Twp.; Middlesex Twp.; Newburg Borough; North Newton Township; South Newton Twp.; Upper Frankford Twp.; and Upper Mifflin Twp.
Dauphin County – Berrysburg Borough; Conewago Twp.; Gratz Borough; Halifax Borough; Halifax Twp.; Highspire Borough; Jackson Twp.; Jefferson Twp.; Lykens Borough; Lykens Twp.; Mifflin Twp.; Millersburg Borough; Paxtang Borough; Penbrook Borough; Pillow Borough; Reed Twp.; Rush Twp.; Steelton Borough; Swatara Twp.; Upper Paxton Twp.; Washington Twp.; Wayne Twp.; West Hanover Twp.; Wiconisco Twp.; Williams Twp.; and Williamstown Borough
Perry County – Blain Borough; Bloomfield Borough; Carroll Twp.; Centre Twp.; Jackson Twp.; Landisburg Borough; Liverpool Borough; Liverpool Twp.; New Buffalo Borough; Northeast Madison Twp.; Rye Twp.; Southwest Madison Twp.; Spring Twp.; Toboyne Twp.; Watts Twp.; and Wheatfield Twp.
York County - Carroll Twp.

If you are interested in participating in this vital program, please contact Sherri Pursel.

Questions? Comments? E-mail Sherri Pursel or visit the GHAR Government Affairs Web site.

COURTESY ANNOUNCEMENTS

BECOME A HUD CERTIFIED LOCAL LISTING BROKER
Beginning as early as next week, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) properties will be back on the market, after being pulled from the market a couple of weeks ago. Matt Martin Real Estate Management, a HUD property management firm has been awarded a contract with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) for the management of HUD properties in 16 states including Pennsylvania.

Matt Martin (MMREM) is looking for local listing brokers to become HUD Certified Local Listing Brokers. Listing brokers must register at www.mmrem.com. Click on the gold bar “Broker Registration Now Available.” in the upper left corner of the main page. All brokers interested in selling HUD properties must register with www.hudhomestore.com to sell the properties once they become active listings.

Feel free to visit the GHAR Web site by going to the HOME page. Back to Top