It`s All About You! - Greater Lansing Association of Realtors

2013 Annual Report
It’s All About You!
Table of Contents
Presidential Message
2013 was a good year for real estate, most of us felt the return of business as usual. Not
only did our profession see a rebound but our local Association had a successful year as well.
This year the Greater Lansing Association of REALTORS® completed a 3500 square foot build
out of lease space at the Association building and added two new tenants.
President’s Letter: Find out what your 2013 President
has to say about the past year................................ Page 2
2013 Highlights: What is the Association proud of in
2013? See all the big highlights this year.............. Page 3
Advocacy: Important REALTOR® related legislation
happened in 2013. Are you updated? Read more on Page 4
Member Services: How many new members did the
Association gain in 2013? What’s new with the MLS?
Learn all of this and more on...............................Pages 5 and 6
The Association provides you the tools to become a
better REALTOR®.
The focus of the year was providing valuable tools to the membership that keep
REALTORS® at the center of real estate transactions. A new rental property type and
corresponding forms were created to help meet the ever changing demands of REALTOR®
members. This will allow REALTORS® to market rental properties within the MLS system.
Along with the new rental property type, the MLS system also incorporated a new program
to assist agents in finding properties that qualify for down payment assistance programs. In
our local market there are currently 18 down payment assistance programs available to home
buyers, this information is a powerful tool to use when working with both buyers and sellers.
Not only will this be significantly beneficial to our agents in keeping them at the forefront of the
transaction but it will be a wonderful resource for the public to use when considering a home
purchase. Consumers need to know that local agents provide a wealth of information on the
process of buying and selling real estate.
Our Association has recognized we are working in an ever- evolving market. In response,
a new Association designation was created; the Michigan Leadership Academy. The Leadership
Academy is a series of four premier classes that will help to prepare members to make a
difference in our industry and their local communities, by teaching and building leadership skills
and growing their knowledge base.
All of this would not have been possible without a hard-working team. The 2013 Board
of Directors, committees, CEO Meghan Webber and the dedicated staff of the Greater Lansing
Association of REALTORS® have invested time and effort to build up our profession. We are all
working hard to support you as you strive to achieve your best. I would like to thank the membership and leadership teams
for affording me the opportunity to serve as your 2013 President. It
has truly been an honor, and privilege, to represent such an amazing
group of REALTOR® professionals at the state and national levels. It’s all about you, now it’s up to you!
Advocacy
Achievements
2013 Highlights
Placemaking:
$2,000 in grants awarded to REALTOR® applicants
for the Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper Challenge
$17,366
2013 goal from
Michigan Association of
REALTORS®
$30,000
Slater Park Bench,
sponsored by Pete Holoway
Handicapped accessible grill,
at Durant Park, sponsored by
Diane Sanborn
2013 Association goal
Free Library Box at
Ferris Park,
sponsored by
Mitch Crank
$39,732
Amount raised by
Association in 2013
228%
Exceeded past state goal
by this percentage
34%
Member participation
RPAC is the real estate industry’s insurance to promote and protect the real
estate profession for all members. It provides a unified voice for more than 1
million REALTORS® nationally and has been recently successful in advancing
REALTOR® interests. There are new issues and ideas being introduced constantly
that may hinder the way we do business and RPAC is your protection.
Proration of the Principal Residence
Exemption Public Act 114 of 2012 –sponsored
by Senator Dave Hildenbrand (RLowell) creates two Principal Residence
Exemption (PRE) filing dates; one on
June 1st, and the other on November
1st. Additionally, this legislation allows
bank-owned properties to retain their
PRE so that buyers can qualify at the
lower rate of taxation.
Statewide Taxation Reform - The
legislature recently passed historic
legislation containing much needed
structural tax reforms, along with the
elimination of the Michigan Business
Tax (MBT) and its burdensome 22%
surcharge. The passage of this legislation
creates a positive business environment
in this state to attract and retain jobs.
Prohibition of Private Transfer Fees
Public Act 34 and 35 of 2011 providing a pre-emptive strike on
practices that have sprung up in other
states where a private party collects
a fee every time a property is sold
in a development is now law. These
fees are an excessive restraint on the
transferability of property and also prey
upon homebuyers.
Property Tax on New Construction
(HB 4134) - The bill would treat
inventory or spec homes as unimproved
property for the purposes of taxation.
Statewide Septic Code Proposal - work
continues to provide a streamlined Septic
inspection process that minimizes the
burden on real estate transactions while
fostering uniform enforcement and
innovation.
What does my RPAC donation do?
Chair of the Year
Paul Brown
RPAC Task Force
Keller Williams Realty
REALTOR® of the Year
Pete Holoway
Coldwell Banker
Hubbell Briarwood
Affiliate of the Year
Robin Stewart
Lake Trust Credit Union
-Supports REALTOR® friendly legislation
-Protects private property rights
-Preserves the American dream of home ownership
-Fights for real estate tax reforms
-Reduces burdensome regulations on our business
To learn more about what RPAC does for your business, scan this code
Member Services
Member Services
Along with great new MLS features, 2013 brought
growth to the Association in membership and an average
of more than one class per week. Check out the figures
on this page for exact figures from this year.
33
MLS education
classes in 2013
New
Features
Authentisign
Data Co-Op
ReaList 2
Down Payment
Resource
What’s New in 2013:
Authentisign, the secure electronic
signature solution through
Transaction Desk, was launched.
This application allows members to
work towards going paperless and
use tablets or computers to complete
forms and get signatures remotely.
Data Co-Op was opened to
members who can now search for
information including RealComp.
Along with RealComp, the
Association has access to SWMRIC,
Ann Arbor, Flint and Shiawassee.
Down Payment Resource (DPR)
was installed in the system in
December making it easier for your
clients to find homes that qualify for
assistance.
Watermarks were added to
Association photos going forward
so that other websites cannot take
the photos without permission. Page 5
Affiliates that perform services for REALTORS®
are now able to obtain dkeys and ekeys so that
they can do their jobs without meeting the
broker/agent at the property.
The MLS Committee, after much discussion,
decided not to print the comparable sales books
any more after 2013. Since September 15, 2013
the listings will be stored in our MLS until further
notice.
Changes to MLS Rules and Regulations were
added to the virtual tour field and definitions
for proposed builds were put in place to help
clarify what should/should not be done. Updates to forms including language
specifically about the authorization of
lockbox usage.
Other form changes were made: adding a status
called A-B, Active – backup, making all “showing
fields” match for each property type, adding
“short sale” to the style field and allow more than
one pick for that field, change “cable available,”
to “cable installed,” to make it very clear if it
has been installed, and adding a field that will
go to syndication sites which will allow agent
information to be fed to all sites. Membership:
78 new REALTOR® members
74 new Affiliate members
25 rejoining members
177 TOTAL NEW MEMBERS
2013 Education at your Association
85 classes
129 con. ed. hours
About 10% of classes are
taught by affiliate members
Association hosted third annual
reGLAR Camp atttracting
REALTORS® from across
Michigan
Page 6
The Association provides you the tools to become a
better REALTOR®.
The Greater Lansing Association of REALTORS® reserves the right to
make changes to any policies or procedures, course availabilty or program
requirements described in this brochure at anytime without further notice.