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Welcome to our Virtual Association Headquarters.
The Howard County Association of REALTORS® represents over 1700 REALTORS®
and we hope that you visit our web site often.

Volunteers Needed Consider lending your interests and expertise to an HCAR Committee in 2009.
There are many new and exciting opportunities to volunteer short or long term. For questions about the committee contact the Chair listed.

If you are interested in volunteering and uncertain of the time you have to contribute, contact Deb Poquette at Deb@thecampinscompany.com who will place you on an as needs basis call list.


2009 HCAR Committee List
Affiliate Outreach
Chair: Harry Hearn
Exit Right
harry@hearn1stclassrealty.com
Communications
Chair: Michael McKenna
Weichert - New Colony
mmckenna@weichert.com
Community Service/Care
Chair: Gary Pakulla
RE/MAX Advantage
pakulla@comcast.net
Education
Chair: Kathy Malone
Met Life
kmalone@metlifehomeloans.com
Events
Chair: Shannon Miller
Keller Williams
shannonmiller@kw.com
Fair Housing Cultural Diversity
Chair: Susan Huerta
Long and Foster
susan.huerta@longandfoster.com
Membership/Ambassadors
Chair: Suzi Padgett
Coldwell Banker
spadgett@coldwellbankermove.com
New Member Orientation
Chair: Barb Seely
Long and Foster
barbara.seely@longandfoster.com
Rookie Society
Chair: Dick Caldwell
RE/MAX 100
richardcaldwell@wesellmore.com
RPAC:
REALTOR® Political Action

Chair: Bianca Smith
RE/MAX 100
biancasmith@wesellmore.com
YPN: Young Professionals
Network/Green

Chair: Kelly Renfro
Weichert - Caton Properties
kellrenfro@yahoo.com

December Home Sales Statistics are Now Online >>
GULF COAST REBUILD TRIP FOR HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Habitat for Himanity
February 9 - 15, 2009
(Work days February 10 -14th)
at the Musicians Village
MAR will provide free ground transportation.

Click here for details and reservations >>

New Short Sale Addendum!  Available in Members Only >>
REMINDER!
If you have not already done so, time is running out
to renew* your Membership Dues for 2008 - 09.

PLEASE NOTE: HCAR Dues Billing is Paperless!
2009 dues billing is being done completely by email and online!

Payments are accepted on-line, by FAX or US Mail
The dues increases for 2008 - 09 reflect the mandated fee structures from NAR and MAR. Due to economic conditions, HCAR has maintained our fee schedule from 2007 - 08 without an increase.

  Howard County Association of REALTORS®   $200  
  Maryland Association of REALTORS®   $191  
  National Association of REALTORS®   $115  
  Total   $506  

Thank you for your support of HCAR and your industry this past year!

*The annual renewal was due by November 30th.

Between December 1st and 31st, a late fee of $50.00 was assessed.

If payment was not received by midnight, January 2, 2009, a $100.00 reinstatement fee was added to the $50.00 late fee and membership will be terminated during January - including SentriLock lockbox and key services.

What is RPAC: RPAC is a political action committee that pools its resources to support candidates who support our industry. There are over 4,000 PACS in America that legally disburse over $12 Million in support of these candidates. With your participation, your association will be able to achieve 100% of its goal.

RPAC Voluntary Contributions (REALTOR® Political Action Committee): "Contributions are not deductible for Federal Income Tax purposes. Contributions to RPAC are voluntary and are used for political purposes. You may refuse to contribute without reprisal. 70% of each contribution is used by MD RPAC to support state and local political candidates. The balance is sent to the National RPAC to support Federal candidates and is charged against your limits under 2 U.S.C. 441A."

Use our fast and secure Online Dues Payment today!

FREE ROOKIE REALTOR® SEMINAR
MAR Rookie REALTOR® Society FREE Seminars

NETWORK, NETWORK, and NETWORK SOME MORE

Friday, January 9, 2009 — 10 a.m. to 12 noon
at La Fontaine Bleu, 7514 Ritchie Highway, Glen Burnie

Jump start the New Year by making lasting business relationships with past clients, and people you come in contact with every day. Use the traditional and easy networking avenues, such as joining and speaking at social clubs to broaden your ever important "Sphere of Influence!"

FREE for MAR Rookie REALTORS® (in the business for four or fewer years).

REGISTER AT WWW.MDREALTOR.ORG

SEND US YOUR SHORT SALE HORROR STORIES

NAR is putting together information to present to legislators regarding short sale horror stories. Your horror stories and examples are needed!

NAR staff needs to fully understand the kinds of issues that REALTORS® are experiencing in the short sale process. To that end, NAR staff has asked for specific examples of instances where REALTORS® were forced to reduce and/or waive their negotiated compensation as a condition of getting lender approval on a short sale offer.

If you have had this experience, you are encouraged to share it by sending to staff@hcar.org with the subject line of Short Sale Horror Stories.

Please be as specific as possible and include the following:

  • Information on the note holder, specifically noting whether the loan was owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA or whether it was a loan held by a private lender;
  • Property address;
  • What you would have been paid had the listing agreement and subsequent offer of cooperation been honored versus what you were actually paid;
  • The circumstances that lead to a reduction in your compensation;
  • Who required the reduction - the servicer, the loan holder, some other party; and other areas of frustration that you experienced as a result of that particular transaction.
NAR HOME BUYER AND SELLER SURVEY SHOWS RISE IN FIRST-TIME BUYERS, LONG-TERM PLANS
The latest consumer survey of home buyers and sellers shows first-time buyers have risen in market share and plan to own their homes longer than buyers in the past. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a higher share of first-time buyers makes perfect sense, and it's a trend he expects will grow. (Walter Molony, November 8, 2008, NAR)

More Information . . .

NEW HELP COMING FOR MORTGAGES
BACKED BY FANNIE, FREDDIE
The Bush administration announced another plan to modify hundreds of thousands of distressed mortgages held or backed by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. To qualify for the new program, homeowners whose loans are owned or packaged by Fannie and Freddie must be 90 days or more past due on their payments for single-family dwellings in which they live. (Kevin G. Hall, November 12, 2008, RISMedia)

Full Article >>

Contact Your Legislators:
Support 4-Points Towards Economic Health
Congress may consider a second economic stimulus bill this month. If they do, there are a number of changes that could help to provide more stability to the nation's real estate markets - which most agree is a necessary step towards recovery.

NAR members and supporters are urging Congress to include the following provisions in any future legislation:

  1. Make the $7500 tax credit available to all purchasers and eliminate the repayment requirement.
  2. Make the 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent.
  3. Get the Emergency Treasury bank relief program back on track by targeting more funds to mortgage relief efforts and increasing efforts to mitigate foreclosures. Don't just give the banks unrestricted cash.
  4. Permanently bar banks and banking conglomerates from engaging in real estate brokerage and management.

Take action now!
For more information on each of these ideas, visit Realtor.org.

Web 2.0: How Do YOU Rate?

Are you a 3 star, 5 star?

Haven't looked . . . not bothered to surf the new interactive web yet?

Log in to Members Only for a revealing presentation from Gar Anderson, NAR Spokesperson and Expert in Real Estate Technology, to our Broker / Maagers.

Law & Ethics

Law_and Ethics

How to Reduce Your Risk of an IRS Audit

As a self-employed person, you are three times more likely than an employee who receives a
W-2 form to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service.

Full Article >>

Helping Homeowners & Home Buyers Navigate
the Credit Crunch Maze
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has prepared an overview memo and chart to help answer YOUR questions and your customers' questions about the credit crunch. Also, what is NAR doing to make sure there are responsible policies to help mitigate the effects and deal with the uncertainties of the mortgage market? Plenty!

Click here >>

One Day Showing Codes with SentriLock >>
Lockbox Reciprocity for RAYAC and MARS >>

 

 

 
Click here for the Howard County REALTORS® Events Calendar

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