Weekly E-Update           January 26, 2010

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Announcements/Events
MLS Updates
Educational Opportunities
ISC Corner
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Click here for a list of upcoming events

New TAR Affiliate Sponsor!
Thank you to Tom Heath, of the The Heath Team, Consolidated Lenders who is our new Copper Sponsor! Thank you to our other current sponsors: Platinum Sponsor, Nova Home Loans and our Copper Sponsor, Prime Capital. Affiliates! Here’s your chance to take the opportunity to increase your exposure to the 5,800 members of TAR through our Affiliate Sponsorship Program. Click here for more information. The Association and Board of Directors appreciate your support of the Association. For more information, please contact Laura Kruszewski at 382-8775.

TAR Dues Billing
Important Dates to Remember:
January 11th, 2010: A $25 late fee has been assessed on all outstanding invoices.
January 31st, 2010: Any member who has not paid their invoice and late fees by this date will be suspended from TAR and MLS
February 28th, 2010: Any member who has not paid their invoice, including late fees, by this date will be terminated from TAR and MLS.
In the event a member is terminated for non-payment of TAR dues, they are subject to a $300 TAR application fee, as well as the TAR fees due at the time of invoice.

Thank you for your membership with Tucson Association of REALTORS®! Click here to access your 2010 Dues Billing Invoice. You will be prompted to log in first using your agent ID and Password (same as MLS). You can still print your invoice, mail in or bring in your payment or you can pay online. If you did not receive your dues billing statement by email, please email Andrea Ballard at Andrea@tucsonrealtors.org. 

Short Sales and Foreclosures Course, Thursday February 18th 8:30-5:00 with Instructor Hercel Spears
A great discount of only $50.00 for members!!! 6 hours of Legal CE. This course fulfills the main requirement for NAR’s SFR Certification. (Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource Certification). If you have taken this course before, this course will also fulfill the ABR elective for the ABR Designation. For further questions, please contact Dee Corona @ dee@tucsonrealtors.org or 327-4218. Sign up today!

Save the Date! TAR Habitat for Humanity Committee Events
April 24, 2010 - 2nd Annual At Bat for Habitat Softball Tournament
October 22, 2010 - 5th Annual Golf Fundraiser

TAR Habitat for Humanity Committee Volunteer Drive
Help the TAR Habitat for Humanity Committee reach our goal of 1,300 volunteer hours by organizing a build day with your office or volunteering at the Habistore. Dates available are: January 28 and February 11. Click here for more available dates. For more information, contact Christine Sanchez at 382-8776.

Residential Green Building Rating Systems: Dive into the Details
Learn how to use the Regional Residential Green Building Rating System, LEED for Homes and the National Green Building Standard to design, build and sell energy efficient, water efficient healthy homes.
Three in-depth sessions, RSVP for all or only the ones you are interested in:
February 1 Site and Water
February 8 Energy and Envelope
February 15 Materials and IEQ
All sessions will be held at TAR, 2445 N Tucson Blvd from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. For Questions, contact: Rich Franz-Ünder at rich.franz-under@pima.gov 520.740.6892 Click here for more information. Click here to Sign Up Now.

Haitian Recovery Effort - Donate at TAR
The Tucson Association of REALTORS® will be collecting items for the Haitian recovery effort. Bring your donation to the Association (2445 N. Tucson Blvd). We will continue to collect donations for the next several weeks. Critical items needed are: Antibiotic creams and ointments, Antiseptic wipes, Band-aides, Gauze, Medical tape, First-aid kits, Gloves (latex), Bleach in tablet form, Water, Non-perishable food items.

NAR Update: Help for Haiti, A message from Vicki Cox Golder, 2010 NAR President
By now, we all know about the severe devastation caused by the earthquakes in Haiti. NAR is helping answer the calls for help in two key ways.First, we are contributing $550,000 to charities that will help bring much-needed supplies and care to the people of Haiti. Included in that sum is $100,000 donated by our REALTOR Benefits® Program partner, Lowe’s®, which we have matched at $100,000. From that we will donate $50,000 to The Harvest of Haiti, founded by REALTOR® Patrick Moore, a 2007 Good Neighbor Award winner. Patrick has done great work for several years in Haiti supporting orphans, delivering clean water and providing medical care for more than 3,500 people a year. Click here to read more.

Association’s 2010 Message, “Tucson’s Ready!”
What do you say when a friend or client asks you about how the market is doing? As a member of TAR, we encourage you to utilize a message developed for you to use when talking about the market. Tucson’s Ready!
1. Lifestyle Opportunities - No matter what area or type of home you are interested in, you have a variety of options.
2. Financial - Multiple financing opportunities are available
3. Talk to a REALTOR® - With the complexity of a real estate transaction, you need a REALTOR®.
For email banners, flyers and more click here.

Annual Election Balloting and Tabulation Procedures
Pursuant to ARTICLE XVI, Section 6 of the Tucson Association of REALTORS® Bylaws you are hereby noticed of the annual election balloting and tabulation procedures established by the Board of Directors. Click on the following link to review the Voting Procedures. Contact Cheri at cheri@tucsonrealtors.org should you have questions regarding this information.

Attention Brokers Save the Date
February 19th, 8:00 – 11:30 in the Boardroom.
ADRE Commissioner, Judy Lowe, will be in Tucson on Friday, February 19th to continue communication with respect to proposed legislation and changes and updates in the Department. Seating is Limited.  Please RSVP to Cheri at cheri@tucsonrealtors.org.
Save the Date for future meetings:  April 26 & May 24

ADRE Office Hours
The State of Arizona is facing a crucial time in regard to the budget. As a result and so as to continue to provide optimal customer service to the Industry and Public in Southern Arizona, the ADRE’s Tucson office will have the following business hours:
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday– the office will be open to conduct business as usual.
- Hours: 8 AM to 5 PM
- Closed Noon– 1 pm
- Tuesday & Thursday-the office will not be open to the public.
So as to avoid unnecessary trips to the Tucson Office, please call ahead to ensure that staff is available. The number to call: (520) 628-6940.
Remember to use our Online Services-www.azre.gov

Not All Real Estate Market News is Bad
New Year...new questions about the Tucson real estate market. Get comprehensive stats and more in easily generated reports from Clarus MarketMetrics®. Clarus MarketMetrics® pulls Tucson MLS data nightly to assist you to establish strategic price-point discussions, realistic client expectations, and build credibility for short sale offers or listing presentations. Take the program one step further and use the robust Pricing Analysis section to set a competitive listing or offer price. If you don’t already have an account, try it out for 30-days free at www.clarusresource.com/mm with promotion code TAR110. It is then just $29.99/month month-to-month) or $19.99/month (annual commitment).

TAR Facility Rental
For business and social events in Tucson, the Tucson Association of REALTORS® has the perfect facility. Our building, centrally located at Tucson Blvd. and Grant Rd., offers upscale meeting and conference facilities at reasonable prices. Our spacious conference center and state-of-the-art computer training center are available for rental by both Association members and the public. For more information, contact Dannetta Watkins-Owens at 382-8790 or Dannetta@tucsonrealtors.org.

The GRI Scholarship Program
Help your agents get on the fast- track to success by encouraging them to submit an application for this scholarship. Click here for more information.

Marketing Sessions and Home Tours Join us!
Networking begins at 8am with the session kicking off at 8:30am. Click here for the tour schedule and for information on how to get your listing on a tour!

Click here for Industry Events of Interest and Community Opportunities.

Conference Center Events (not a TAR endorsed event)
Friday, January 29:  CRS-111: Short Sales & Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients Interest
Earn your SFR Certification PLUS 1 Core Course Unit toward a CRS Designation. Be the first to become certified by NAR. SFR application fee ($175) waived through 3/31/2010. Rise to meet the challenges and opportunities of Today's Real Estate Market! This is a HOT new class designed to prepare you for the Foreclosure & Short Sale Market facing REALTORS® today.
Join us on January 29 from 8:30am - 4:00 pm, at Tucson Association of REALTORS®, 2445 N Tucson Blvd. CLICK HERE for more information or CLICK HERE to register.

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Flexmls™ Update
In order to best ensure that the transition to Flexmls™ is as trouble free as possible, our conversion date is now scheduled for April 30th. Recognizing that there is a lot of activity in the marketplace due to the extension and expansion of the tax credit and the deadlines associated with that program, we chose to move the date. This change will allow for more training opportunities and a longer time to get acquainted with the system. We will now begin running both systems in parallel on March 1st, allowing two full months of ‘trial’ instead of one. This change also allows for a longer test period, meaning fewer issues and glitches when we make the cutover on April 30th. We will be revising the training schedule to accommodate the extra time available, and will publish that as soon as possible. Watch this space for continuing updates!

MLS Rule Change
Effective immediately, it is against MLS Rules and Regulations to upload ANY document to MLS that references a proposed change to the stated co-op or commission. It is also a violation to make any remarks in MLS that reference a proposed change to the stated co-op or commission. If you have listings that contain any such documents or remarks, they must be removed within 2 business days, or they will be removed by MLS and subject to a minimum $100 fine per occurrence. If your listings contained any such documents or remarks, it is recommended that you state ‘call before showing’ in the remarks to alert cooperating members that co-op or commission negotiations may occur.

Quick Fixes for Common ActiveKEY Issues

Green Features In MLS
Effective the week of November 16th, we turned on Green Features in the MLS. This allows for more accurate listings by enabling the broker to include those aspects of the property that address environmental efficiency. To see the list of green features and a brief description of what they mean, click here: Green Definitions

To view the revised Residential Input Sheet, click here: Residential Input Sheet

Input needed for new MLS system
As we begin the transition to Flexmls, we want to ensure that the new system is as complete as possible. Please forward any subdivision, school, or utility information that has been missing from Rapattoni MLS to us. Send requests to techsupport@tucsonrealtors.org, once the information is verified, we will forward to Flexmls for inclusion into the new system.

The MLS Board has voted to change MLS systems!
Our new MLS software will be FlexMLS from FBS Systems. This decision was not made in haste, and is the result of an extensive due diligence process. There is a lot of work to be done, but we expect the cutover to the new system to occur in March of 2010. We will begin updating on a weekly basis important information regarding the change, training, etc. Please read carefully the Weekly Update and any email or system communication posted.

Search San Carlos MLS!
San Carlos has turned on access for our members to their listing data. Go to http://tucson.interfacexpress.com Your Tucson MLS username and password work for San Carlos. Remember, access to this information is not intended to imply that you may sell real estate in Mexico; you must be licensed in the State of Sonora in order to practice real estate there. This is information may be helpful to you in servicing your clients, and may foster the development of referral networks.

Access To Arizona Foreclosure Information!
MLS has entered into an agreement with RealtyTrac that will allow Tucson MLS members to access foreclosure information for the state of Arizona for a discounted rate of only $19.95 per month. There is no minimum term required to sign up. The links to register for this service are located in the MLS under the ‘links’ tab, and there is also a button on the tucsonrealtors.org website.

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