SMTAR Bits and Pieces http://www.SMTAR.com News and Important Info from the Southern Middle Tennessee Association of REALTORS en-us APRIL 2010 BITS AND PIECES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT'S INSIDE THIS EDITION
  1. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
  2. FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
  3. DON'T FORGET THE TAX ID
  4. PINCHING PENNIES - YOUR REALTRACS SERVICE
  5. HEALTHCARE REFORM
  6. ANNUAL DUES INCREASE ANXIETY
  7. ANNUAL LOCKBOX MAINTENANCE & SERVICE FEE
  8. Q & A OF THE MONTH - SEE MY LISTINGS
  9. UPCOMING EDUCATION
  10. DATES TO REMEMBER
  11. GET WELL NOTICES
  12. SYMPATHY NOTICES
  13. IMPORTANT CONTACTS
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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

SMTAR is pleased to present new members for the month of March:
  • Patricia Kelvasa - People's Choice Realty, Pulaski, TN

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FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

Hope everyone had a nice Easter and is enjoying the beautiful spring weather we are having. I want to encourage participation in our Scholarship Golf Tournament that is coming up May 1 at Stoneybrook Golf Course. Mary sent an email out with the details of the Tournament. Some ways you can help--get a foursome up from your office or sponsor a hole ($100), contribute toward prizes or items for our goody bags. The proceeds go toward our scholarships--we hope to give eight this year. It takes a lot of cooperation from all members to make this a success. The deadline for the teams is April 21. You may contact Bonnie Hickman, Scholarship President or myself to register your teams. We think it will be a fun day, so plan to come out!

Happy to report we had a National Call to Action about the Rural Development Funds & the National Flood Program last week. If you have not answered this call, please do so right away. Our local Association has contacted Rep. Lincoln Davis & Sen. Lamar Alexander, who are on the subcommittee for these bills. Hopefully when Congress comes back from recess, they will give this immediate attention. Without the RD funding & the continuing flood program, our housing market will probably come to a grinding halt!

See you at the Golf Tournament!

Fay Robinson
President

Check out our info page on the Golf Tournament!
To take action NOW on the National Call to Action regarding Rural Housing (Section 502) and the National Flood Insurance Program. Visit your REALTOR(r) ACTION CENTER.
Rural Housing - Section 502 Info
National Flood Insurance Info

SMTAR's Facebook Page

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DON'T FORGET THE TAX ID

SMTAR Directors and staff attended a REALTOR(r) Family Meeting with our Lincoln County members in March. One of the topics that came up during our meeting was whether or not TAX ID's are required by MLS. Please make a note that a TAX ID IS REQUIRED for all of your listings. Please be sure you are placing the appropriate TAX ID for the property in this field. In some cases, multiple TAX ID's may represent one property, or the TAX ID may include a portion of the property that is NOT being sold. In these cases, you should still enter the TAX ID's that cover the property, and make a note in the Remarks section indicating the discrepancies.

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PINCHING PENNIES - YOUR REALTRACS SERVICE

Everyone is looking for ways to save money in this economy. It's not a secret. We are thinking twice about pedicures, our phone and internet services, and even the amount of high-end coffee we consume. How many of you, though, are looking for the money munchers in your office invoices such as your statement from RealTracs?

Over the last several months, many agents have opted to retire their license. We've had several calls from member firms who want to know why RealTracs is still billing them for some of these licensees. The answer is simple - it is the firm's responsibility to notify RealTracs when an agent is no longer affiliated with their firm. The SMTAR office is not allowed to notify them on your behalf. If you fail to do this, the RealTracs office has no way of knowing that the retired agents should be removed and will continue to bill you a monthly fee for those agents.

The current monthly (per agent) fee is $37.34. In at least one of the cases we are aware of, our member firm paid for more than a year's worth of service on an agent who had retired. That's almost $500! (50,000 PENNIES!) This is one place where it's worth the time to scrutinize your invoice and be sure you are being billed for the number of agents who are actively licensed in your firm. While you're at it, be sure you are not being billed for personal assistants who are no longer with your agent or company, as well.

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HEALTHCARE REFORM

The Health Insurance reform topic has thousands running around like crazy monkeys who have lost their bananas. In fact, it's a topic this article-writer would just rather avoid like the H1N1 virus. We can't run forever, and I'm thankful that NAR is keeping tabs on everything for us. If you have the nerves for it, take a look at NAR's latest info on Healthcare at the link below.
Click here to Visit NAR's Health Insurance Reform Page

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ANNUAL DUES INCREASE ANXIETY

Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines the word "annual" as "occurring or happening every year or once a year".

Despite the fact that most of us know and understand this term, and the fact that SMTAR staff uses the term regularly to describe the frequency of dues billing, many members are surprised when the dues bill rolls around each year. We want to make every effort that we can to ensure that you understand your dues obligation and have plenty of opportunity to pay. That's why we want to let you know that you will have to pay your annual dues again next year if you want to continue to benefit from REALTOR services. As always, they are due on January 1st. This is your first notice. You have a little more than 8 months to submit your payment. We know that dues will be AT LEAST $420 for 2011, and we will be happy to accept PREPAYMENT of your 2011 dues. You can't pay in installments after the due date, folks, the next 8 months are your only chance.

We've set aside our gentle nature for a moment (on purpose) in hopes of getting your attention. Only a handful of people took us up on our prepayment offer last year, but several asked about paying in installments after the due date. We are always here to help and guide you. Unfortunately, with your dues obligation (and SMTAR's dues obligation to TAR & NAR), that help and guidance has a cut-off date. We have placed the statement "There's nothing I can do for you." into a locked vault because we sincerely hate having to use it. It goes against everything that the staff members of our office strive for. We want you to succeed in your business, and we never want to send you away without a solution to your problem if we can, at all, help it. If you have taken offense to our curt words, we hope that it was short-lived and that we are forgiven. :-)

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ANNUAL LOCKBOX MAINTENANCE & SERVICE FEE

The annual Lockbox Maintenance & Service Fee will be billed to membership in June with a due date of July 1st. This fee is billed to any member who falls into one of the following categories: 1)Members who currently borrow lockboxes directly from the SMTAR office; or 2)Members whose firm has an in-office inventory of lockboxes borrowed from SMTAR. The amount of this fee has not yet been approved by the Board of Directors. Prepayment cannot be accepted for this fee.

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Q & A OF THE MONTH - SEE MY LISTINGS

This one is too lengthy to put in our regular Q & A format. A member firm contacted us last month for more information on the "See My Listings" Application available on Facebook. This little "app" is a cool way to showcase your listings that are entered into RealTracs on your Facebook profile. A few of our members have installed the app with unsuccessful results due to one little "error" (it's not really an error - the app fails to clearly define the information it is looking for). With a few of our members attempting to use this, and a possibility for violation of state law if you DO choose to advertise your listings on your profile, we felt it would be worthwhile to provide you with a little more information regarding this app and advertising on Facebook.
Please click here to visit our Facebook Tips and Tricks page.

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DATES TO REMEMBER

  • Tuesday, April 20 - Deadline for Scholarship Application Submission
  • Wednesday, April 21 - Deadline to sign up a team for the Golf Tournament on May 1st.
  • Saturday, May 1 - Golf Tournament at Stoneybrook
  • Monday, May 31 - BOARD CLOSED FOR MEMORIAL DAY
  • July 1, 2010 - Due Date for Lockbox Maintenance & Service Fee
  • January 1, 2011 - Due Date of 2011 Annual Dues

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GET WELL NOTICES

  • Most of those who know Ann Reed with Re/Max Elite in Columbia are already aware that she has been under doctor's care for a challenging illness for several weeks. We want to send many blessings and well-wishes her way as she recovers.

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SYMPATHY NOTICES

  • Margie Torretto - mother of Paulette Torretto with Blue Ribbon Realty.
  • Gladys Ingram- mother-in-law of Cyril Evers of Evers & Jones Realty, and grandmother to Lifetime Member Cathy Evers Cook.
  • Camille Baker -mother of Jennifer Graham with Crye-Leike REALTORS(r).

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IMPORTANT CONTACTS

Association Office   931.381.5556
     Mary Scott, Association Executive scottm@realtracs.com
     Rebecca Head, Office Manager rebeccah@realtracs.com
     Tammy Brown, Administrative Assistant tammyb@realtracs.com
     
SMTAR 2010 President    
     Fay Robinson   931.363.7515
     robinfay@realtracs.com    
     
RealTracs (Middle Tennessee Regional MLS)   800.397.9282
     Member Login: www.RealTracs.net    
     Public Login: www.RealTracs.com    
     
2010 MLS Director    
     Matt Collins   931.359.6231
     matt@grovercollins.com    
     
Tennessee Association of REALTORS(r)   615.321.1477
     www.TARNET.com    
     
Tennessee Real Estate Commission   800.342.4031
     www.state.tn.us/commerce/boards/trec    
     
National Association of REALTORS(r)   800.874.6500
     www.REALTOR.org    
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