GHAR Weekly E-mail

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: 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.

JOIN US FOR REALTORS^® TAKE TIME "OUT" ON NOVEMBER 10! -
Hosted at Nolo's Bar & Restaurant at Rich Valley Golf Course on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, this event is for GHAR REALTOR^® members as an after hours social. Network, Mix, Mingle and just “Take Time Out”!

A cash bar and light hors d’ oeuvres will be available from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. REALTOR^® Members may register online at www.ghar.info through the Members Only section or call the Association Office at (717) 364-3200. Pre-Registration deadline is Monday, November 2, 2010. This is a REALTOR^® Members Only Event. Only Pre-Registered REALTOR^® members are eligible for door prizes and must be present to win.

Thank you to the following sponsors of this event:
Gainer Home Inspections, LLC
Members 1st Federal Credit Union
Landmark Homes

This event is brought to you by the Greater Harrisburg Association of REALTORS^®as a venue to meet and socialize with colleagues. Overt and direct recruiting practices during these events are not acceptable. The Association requests that all attendees drink responsibly. Payments to the Greater Harrisburg Association of REALTORS^® are not deductible as charitable contributions for Federal Tax purposes; however, such payments may be deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses.

2011 AFFILIATE SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FORMS HAVE BEEN MAILED!
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.

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.)

December 6, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. sponsored by Mid Penn Bank
January 19, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. sponsored by Members 1st Federal Credit Union

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

DECEMBER ICI HOLIDAY LUNCH - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2
The December ICI Holiday Lunch is sponsored by Carrow Real Estate Services. The Holiday Lunch will be held at 150 Corporate Center Drive in Camp Hill. This event will follow the networking format. We once again will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for the U.S. Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots Campaign. Please consider bringing a new, unwrapped toy to the lunch. Attendees also are encouraged to bring marketing materials to the meeting and to utilize the Marketing Exchange Table. Registration is at 11:45 a.m. The lunch begins at 12:00 noon. Reservations are required by noon on Wednesday, December 1. Register online at www.ghar.info, e-mail GHAR to register, or call (717) 364-3200. Commercial REALTORS^®: the deadline to submit PowerPoint slides for the ICI Listing Slideshow is Monday, November 29, at 4:00 p.m.

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.

24th ANNUAL THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE - YOUR DONATION IS NEEDED! CALL TODAY!
This year, your donation is needed more than ever to help us make our goal of feeding 650 families in the South Central Pennsylvania Region. To make a donation over the phone, call the Association Office with your Visa, Mastercard or American Express today!

Checks may be made Payable to: Greater Harrisburg REALTORS^® Foundation and sent to: 424 N. Enola Drive, Suite 1, Enola 17025.

The suggested donation is $25, or you can sponsor a family for $40! With your generosity, each family will receive a turkey and a Giant gift card for purchasing the remaining meal items.

**New for 2010 - Closing Gifts!
As a closing gift, please consider sponsoring an entire family ($40) in honor of your client(s).
It is as easy as 1, 2, 3 to participate!

Contact Cindy Cuddeford at the Association office to order your note cards(s).
Pick up the note card(s) at the Association during regular business hours. Payment is required at the time of pick-up.
Give the note card(s) to your client(s) at settlement.

PLEASE HELP US MAKE THIS THANKSGIVING SPECIAL FOR EVERYONE!

PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR DONATION IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
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.

P5 AVAILABLE
Effective Monday, November 15, 2010 Paragon 5 (P5) will be available to all agents. The URL to access P5 is http://cpml.fnismls.com/ParagonLS/Default.mvc/Login and there will also be a link on the homepage of Paragon 4 on that date. Your Login and Password will be the same in P5. The data remains the same, the difference is only in how it is accessed. All contacts, auto emails etc will be in P5.

P5 is still a beta site and everything is not working 100%, however I want all agents to have the opportunity to see what is new and what improvements have been made. One of the biggest changes is the fact that P5 is now compatible with your MAC.

I will be offering a “Sneak Peek” at P5 on Friday November 12^th and Tuesday November 16^th. These will be a short 2 hour session designed to show you the new features and changes in P5. Demo times on both days will be 9:00 am, 11:30 am (feel free to bring your lunch) and 2:00 pm. Please call the CPML office at (717) 761-8440 to register. I will not be doing any detail training on using the Paragon system. Beginning with the Paragon training on November 18, 2010, all training will be done in P5.

Paragon 4 will remain active until P5 is 100% complete. At that time, I will announce a cutoff date that Paragon will be turned off.

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:
November 18, 2010 December 9, 2010

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.

TRIPLE PLAY REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
Real estate professionals from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and surrounding states attend the annual Triple Play REALTOR^® Convention & Trade Expo in Atlantic City for a unique opportunity to attend professional development courses presented by nationally recognized speakers and maximize their business potential through networking with colleagues from across the tri-state area and beyond.

This year's Triple Play will be held from December 7-9, 2010 and will feature a variety of quality workshops, keynote speeches, exciting social events and more. For details on how you can register, click here.

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 LAUNCHES CALL-TO-ACTION FOR PRIVATE TRANSFER FEES LEGISLATION!
On October 27, the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS^® launched a Call-to-Action for Senate Bill 1481, legislation that will ban private transfer fees (PTFs) in Pennsylvania. A PTF is a covenant attached to the deed that forces the seller to pay 1% of the purchase price to a private third party corporation for 99 years. PAR has been working to advance this legislation over the last several weeks. SB 1481 previously passed the Pennsylvania Senate on October 14. PAR is asking for your help to move this legislation through the Pennsylvania House of Representatives!

Click here to read more about this issue on PARJustListed.com. For additional information, please contact Sherri Pursel.

RESULTS OF THE GENERAL ELECTION!
Click here to visit the GHAR Web site to check out the results of the November 2 General Election. Congratulations to Stephen Bloom, our area’s newest state representative! Representative-elect Bloom will replace retiring Representative Will Gabig (R-199). For more information, please contact Sherri Pursel.

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.

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:

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

CONDOLENCES
Our Condolences go to Donald Klaiber of Realty Services Group whose mother, Dorothy Klaiber passed away last week.

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.

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