GHAR Weekly E-mail

The 2012 dues are $386.00. This includes dues for the Greater Harrisburg Association REALTORS^®, Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS^®, National Association of REALTORS^® and Public Awareness Assessment. This $386.00 total must be paid in full by January 2, 2012 to fulfill the dues obligation.

Questions regarding dues should be directed to Kathy Ludwig at kathy@ghar.info.

2011 HOLIDAY LUNCH AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS INSTALLATION - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9
The 2011 Holiday Lunch and Board Installation is scheduled for Friday, December 9 at the West Shore Country Club, Camp Hill. This year, awards will be presented for REALTOR^® of the Year, Affiliate of the Year, Professional Merit and Hall of Fame. Registration and cash bar begins at 11:00 a.m. with the program and lunch beginning at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $25 per person.

Members may register online at www.ghar.info through the Members Only section or by calling the Association office at (717) 364-3200 by noon on Tuesday, December 6. Please remember reservations not cancelled by noon on Tuesday, December 6 will be billed regardless of attendance. You may pay in advance or at the door.

Special thanks to The Central Penn Multi-List, Inc., George W. Weaver & Sons, Inc., Members 1^st Federal Credit Union, Orrstown Bank, The Patriot News Company, RSR REALTORS^®, and Sun Trust Mortgage, Inc. for sponsoring this event!

Donate to Project S.H.A.R.E.!
Please consider donating one or more non-perishable food items or personal care items to Project S.H.A.R.E. You may also write a check payable to Project S.H.A.R.E.

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 12, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. - sponsored by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
February 23, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. - sponsored by McNaughton Homes

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

DECEMBER ICI HOLIDAY LUNCH - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1
The December ICI Holiday Lunch is sponsored by the Hershey Center for Applied Research. The Holiday Lunch will be held at the Hershey Center for Applied Research, 1214 Research Blvd., Hummelstown, PA 17036. 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, November 30. Register online at www.ghar.info or call (717) 364-3200. Commercial REALTORS^®: the deadline to submit PowerPoint slides for the ICI Listing Slideshow is Monday, November 28, at 4:00 p.m.

GREATER HARRISBURG REALTORS^® INSTITUTE
The Greater Harrisburg REALTORS^® Institute is offering a couple classes in the coming weeks.

Monday, December 5 - 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon - Foreclosure and Fraud and Effects on Neighborhoods

Michelle Bradley is the instructor for both classes. Each class is $45. Registration opens a half hour before the class starts. Attendees must be seated at the start of class to receive continuing education credit. To register, go online or call (717) 364-3205.

CONTINUING EDUCATION AND LICENSE RENEWAL DEADLINE - MAY 31, 2012
The continuing education requirement to renew your real estate license is 14 continuing education hours by the deadline of May 31, 2012. For licensees licensed between December 1, 2009 and November 30, 2011, you have must take the required courses. The two required courses are the General Module and the Residential Module or the Commercial Module. For more information call (717) 364-3205.

REQUIRED COURSE FOR NEW LICENSEES
GHRI is offering the Residential Module on December 7. This course is one of the required courses for new licensees. For more information call (717) 364-3205.

CODE OF ETHICS TRAINING DEADLINE - DECEMBER 31, 2012
Every four years, a REALTOR^® is required to take 2 ½ hours of ethics training. GHAR and GHRI have developed a 3 ½ hour continuing education course that will fulfill the Code of Ethics Training requirement. GHRI will offer this course many times between January and May 31, 2012. Watch for more information class dates and times.

25th ANNUAL THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE FEEDS MORE THAN 700 FAMILIES!
Today, the GHAR Foundation distributed 725 turkeys and Giant Foods gift cards to 22 area organizations as part of the 25th annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. In celebration of the 25th year for the Food Drive, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Vance (Cumberland), Representative Sue Helm (Dauphin), and Representative Glen Grell (Cumberland) provided Senate, House of Representatives and Gubernatorial citations to the GHAR Foundation.

Thanks to the generous contributions of REALTORS^® and affiliate members, the Foundation was able to raise enough funds to feed over 700 families in the greater Harrisburg area this year. Over the last 25 years, the Thanksgiving Food Drive has provided food for more than 9,000 families in the greater Harrisburg area. Thank you to all those who gave to this Drive!

Special THANK YOU to companies who sponsored this year's Thanksgiving Food Drive:

Horn of Plenty Sponsors:
Central Penn Multi-List, Inc.
Joy Daniels Real Estate Group, Ltd.

Gobbler Sponsors:
A Plus Mortgage Solutions, Inc.
A'nS Company, Inc.
Central Penn Land Transfer, LLC
Cody Financial Mortgage Services, Inc.
Fulton Mortgage
Greg A. Myers, Inc.
Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Harrisburg Sales & Marketing Council
Members 1st Federal Credit Union
Rhoads & Sinon, LLP

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.

PARAGON COMMUNITY SUPPORT
The feedback button at the top of your screen has been replaced by Community Support. This is an area moderated by LPS Solutions Staff as well as MLS staff. You can ask questions, share ideas, report problems and even give praise if there is something you really like in P5 or if somebody in LPS support was really great.

INCLUDE EXACT PROPERTY DIRECTIONS IN YOUR LISTINGS
Directions to a property are a very important part of your listing in the Paragon system. Please provide exact directions from a given point. Example: Starting at GHAR building, turn right on Enola Dr....... Telling an agent or consumer, if they receive the listing in an email to "Use MapQuest" is not acceptable. If you are unsure of directions, you can use MapQuest to find the directions.

REALTORS^® PROPERTY RESOURCE (RPR)
CPML data is on RPR!!!! Do you know that Realtors Property Resources (RPR) lets you look at 147 million public property records in a single location? Did you know you can search for properties in your own MLS using value retention heat maps, flood maps and even school zones?

The web address is www.narrpr.com

RPR IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO REALTOR® MEMBERS, YOU WILL NEED YOUR NRDS NUMBER TO CREATE YOUR PROFILE!!!

PHOTO LABELS AND DESCRIPTIONS
Please look under MLS DOCS on the P5 system for documentation on adding labels and descriptions to your photos.

PARAGON TRAINING SCHEDULE
CPML is now offering four different classes on P5. You may come to any or all, and you may come as often as you feel is necessary. For new agents, the two Basic Classes are required.

Basic Classes:
An Overview of the P5 Home Page and User Preferences - 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. This class is an introduction to P5.

Search, Print and E-mail - 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Learn the three basic tools an agent needs. Search/Print/Email: How to customize and search by map, as well as multi-class searches. Now that you found your listings, view various reports, and you are ready to Print and/or Email.

Advanced Classes:
Contact Manager - 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Set up Client Connect Preferences, set up client, and learn what types of notifications are available for you and your clients.

CMAs - 3:30 p m - 5:00 p m. In this class, you will learn to set up CMA preferences, how to create and save a CMA.

Please call the CPML office at (717) 761-8440 to register for a class. Classes are held at the GHAR Office at 424 N. Enola Drive, Enola, PA 17025.

PARAGON 5 WEBINAR TRAINING
Webinars are available for P5. You have a choice of live or prerecorded webinars. The topics will include:

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

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.

SAVE ON THESE NAR MARKETING MATERIALS TODAY!
We wanted to inform you first about some exciting new offerings at the completely redesigned online store, (www.REALTOR.org/Store), for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^® (NAR). They’re offering the latest must have products to help you take advantage of the changing market. They’re also giving you 10% off your next purchase when you use promotional code GH2 at checkout.

The newly designed online store has everything you need to be a successful REALTOR^® from products on:

sales and marketing
commercial
investment
home buying and selling
technology
mortgages

Visit the site often, as it is constantly updated, with offerings based on member feedback and changes in the market. Included in this special offer are items printed using the new Print on Demand Program.

Help turn a “changing” market into a marketing opportunity by visiting www.REALTOR.org/Store and take advantage of your special 10% discount today when you use code GH2 at checkout.

CONGRESS APPROVES ADDITIONAL EXTENSION OF FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM TO DECEMBER 16
NAR has announced that Congress once again has approved a temporary extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. The program was set to expire once again on November 18, 2011. However, Congress recently passed a temporary extension through December 16, 2011. NAR intends to continue working on a long-term reauthorization before the new December deadline expires. Click here for more information on the NAR website. Click here to visit the REALTOR^® Action Center to contact your elected official about this important issue.

RESULTS OF THE 2011 GENERAL ELECTION!
On November 8, Pennsylvanians went to the polls to cast their votes for judicial and local races. For Election results, please click on the links below:

A special congratulations to the following REALTORS^® who were elected to local office!

Matt Madden, Hooke, Hooke & Eckman, LLC – Carlisle Borough Council
Rick Woodard, Century 21 Realty Services – Camp Hill Borough Council
Mike Yingling, RE/MAX Delta Group – East Hanover Township Board of Supervisors

MAKE YOUR 2012 RPAC INVESTMENT WHEN YOU PAY YOUR DUES!
As you are paying your 2012 REALTOR^® member dues, don’t forget to make your 2012 RPAC investment. By investing in RPAC, you are ensuring that the REALTOR^® voice is heard in your municipality, in your county, in Harrisburg, and in Washington D.C. RPAC allows NAR, PAR, and GHAR to protect and advance your interests as real estate professionals. Please consider investing today. You also can invest online through the GHAR Web site. Thank you in advance for your commitment to your profession! For more information, please contact Sherri Pursel.

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.

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.

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