Official Publication of the St. Louis Association of REALTORS速
速
St. Louis Association of
REALTORS速
The Voice for Real Estate in St. Louis7,000 members strong. December 2012
Volume 8 - Number 12
Start With The End In Mind
REALTOR® Report
President’s Message As my term as SLAR President quickly draws to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all those who have made the past year so rewarding.
Glenn Vatterott, 2012 President
I’d like to thank our wonderful SLAR Staff for their support during the past year. They rose to every challenge and demonstrated on a daily basis that they responsibly serve the interests of our members and are committed to making our Association the best it can be. Special thanks to our Chief Executive Officer, Dawn Kennedy, who joined us earlier this year, and whose experience and credibility within the REALTOR® Association world is already bringing benefit to SLAR. My thanks to our SLAR Directors, who continue to guide our Association, and to our Executive team, all of whom have selflessly contributed time and energy and to assure that our association is correctly positioned for the future. While much remains to be done, the initiatives they have undertaken are moving our Association forward.
Thanks, too, to our committee members and committee chairs who have worked to further our common goals, and to our Affiliates, sponsors, and supporters for their invaluable contributions to the success of our events and programs. I would like to thank all of our members for being the backbone of the Association and for giving us the strength in numbers to help preserve our industry and the value of the REALTOR® brand. I hope you take full advantage of the products and services SLAR has to offer. Lastly, thank you for allowing me the privilege of serving as your 2012 St. Louis Association of REALTORS® President. My sincere wishes to all of our members and their loved ones for a joyous holiday season and a happy and prosperous New Year.
Contents 4 8 17
Are You Overwhelmed?
Legislative Report
8
YPN Update 10 CEO Corner 11
Legislative Report
Great REALTOR® Reads
From Around the Industry 19 SLAR Sold Stats
20-22
Code of Ethics
23
New members
24
Calendar of Events
24
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REALTOR® Report
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St. Louis Association of
REALTORS
® 12777 Olive Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63141 (314) 576-0033 – main line (314) 275-7888 - education line (314) 576-7143 - fax www.stlrealtors.com
2012 Board of Directors Executive Committee Glenn Vatterott, President Donna Zerega, President-Elect Elizabeth Braznell, Vice President/ Treasurer Sue Middendorf, Secretary
REALTOR® DIRECTORS: Sandy Hancock, Member at Large Nate Johnson, Immediate Past President David Busker, Commercial DivisionPresident Dawn M. Kennedy, CEO
2012
2013
2014
Barb Keathley Bob Bax Mickey McNearney Carole Mulina Michele Sloan Mulford David Townsend L.K. Wood, III(Buddy) John D. Williams
Mike Carter Tiffany Hamilton Pat Malloy Carolyn Mantia Mike Travaglini
AFFILIATE DIRECTOR:
REALTOR® ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS:
Beale Luebben
2012
2013
2014
Mike Rouhani
LaWanda Elgin
Janet Judd
St. Louis Association of REALTORS® Staff Chief Executive Officer Dawn M. Kennedy, CEO- MSPM, RCE, e-PRO, GREEN dkennedy@stlrealtors.com Direct Line: 314-590-2319
Membership & Finance Patty Bommarito, Executive Assistant pbommar@stlrealtors.com (314) 576-0033 ext. 318
Legislative Celeste Rueter, Governmental Affairs Director crueter@stlrealtors.com (314)590-2307
Commercial Division
Rick Capelli, Senior Vice President of Membership & Finance rcapelli@stlrealtors.com Direct line: (314) 590-2313 Kim Russell, Bookkeeper krussell@stlrealtors.com Judy Partsch, Admission/Ethics Asst. jpartsch@stlrealtors.com
Tammy Williams, Membership Assistant twilliams@stlrealtors.com Jessica Perez, Supra Adminstrator jperez@stlrealtors.com
Public Relations Connie Chartier, Vice President of Public Relations cchartier@stlrealtors.com Direct line: (314) 590-2304
Susan Wagner, Commercial Division Vice President swagner@stlrealtors.com Direct line: (314) 590-230 Tina Luehrmann, Commercial Assistant tinal@stlrealtors.com
Laura DeVries, Director of Communications and Marketing ldevries@stlrealtors.com Direct line: (314) 590-2301
Education
Mid-America Regional Information Systems (MARIS)
Karen Dunn, Education Director Monica Pingel, Assistant kdunn@stlrealtors.com mpingel@stlrealtors.com (314) 590- 2312 (314) 275-7888
REALTOR® Shoppe Hours of Operation Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. For advertising information, please contact Foley Publications at 1-800-628-6983 or visit www.foleypub.com To submit articles for consideration in the REALTOR® Report, email Editor-in-chief Dawn Kennedy at dkennedy@stlrealtors.com.
Communications and Marketing Cheri Albers, Communications Specialist calbers@stlrealtors.com
1714 Deer Tracks Trail Ste. 200, St. Louis, MO 63131 (314) 984-9111 www.marisnet.com Jason A. Darrough, Support Manager Paul Prince, President jdarroug@marisnet.com pprince@marisnet.com Katie Otto, Vice President of Member Services David Price, Senior Vice President & Systems Manager kotto@marisnet.com dprice@marisnet.com Robyn L. McPherson, Account Executive Denise Bielicke, Vice President of Operations rmcpherson@marisnet.com dbielicke@marisnet.com Brad Whitrock, Support Specialist Pattie Elkins, Accounts Receivable Clerk bwhitrock@marisnet.com paelkin@marisnet.com Carol Morrow, Administrative Assistant Tracey Yost, Membership Manager cmorrow@marisnet.com tryost@marisnet.com
Commercial Information Exchange (CIE)
301 Sovereign Ct., Suite 109, Ballwin, MO 63011 (636) 230-6243 www.stlcie.com Bonnie Devine, President/CEO Judith Jakuboski, Executive Assistant bonnie@stlcie.com judith@stlcie.com
REALTOR® Report
Are You Overwhelmed? It’s Your Own Fault Have you ever said to yourself…
If I only had more hours in the day. If I only had someone to do all this for me. I need more technology so I can keep up. Let me be the first to tell you don’t need more hours in the day, someone to help you with all the tactics or invest in more technology. There is no magic bullet to getting more out of your day and please for the sake of your own spirit quit spending money on new technology or marketing ideas until you understand one core concept fundamental to every entrepreneur’s success.
You don’t have a technology problem. You have a thinking problem. Michael Gerber, author of the eMyth asks “Are you working in the business or on the business?” Sadly for most real estate professionals they are working on the business leaving their day passively up to others’ wishes and commands rather than taking a proactive position to separate themselves from the day to day operations. Take a pause to truly understand all of the services you provide, daily tasks, and start to map out everything. Once you see how many things you actually do then the
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Doug Devitre CEO, Doug Devitre International, Inc. bright shiny light bulb will hopefully tell you that you can’t do everything yourself. What happens is that when you create the road map, process, and job descriptions you start separating yourself from the business so you can focus more on client relationships, prospecting, and networking to build your business. Here are some tools that will help you get in control of your business for 2013 and stop the “being overwhelmed” excuse forever.
Mindmeister Start with the end in mind and
Breakthrough Real Estate Technology Seminar Thursday, December 13th/9:00 - 4:00PM at SLAR - Are you scrambling to get everything done and feel drained at the end of the day? - Are you losing deals to the competition and don’t know why? - Ever wondered why the phone stopped ringing and no one reads your emails?
Click HERE to Register hƩp://bit.ly/11b78dn
Make your phone a lockbox key. Android,™ iPhone,® Blackberry,® and more... ®
Android™ is a trademark of Google, Inc. iPhone® is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. BlackBerry® is a registered trademark of Research in Motion (RIM) © United Technologies Corporation 2012. Supra is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security. All rights reserved.
Learn From Industry Expert - Doug Devitre One day only - Limited to the first 30 paid registrations!
REALTOR® Report
start planning every aspect of your business on a mind map so if you were to show it to someone else they would know exactly how your business is structured from an organizational standpoint. For example the center would be the name of your business that branches off into categories of service for buyers, sellers, relocation, for sale by owners, new construction, etc. Then from each category you can list each activity that you are responsible for that you would either do yourself or delegate to someone else.
Diagram.ly This online flowcharting tool will help you create the process of your business. A flowchart or process map is different from a mind map in that a flowchart shows the relationship of how multiple people are responsible for the goal at specific points in the process to make sure it is completed as part of a system. The more you can process out your activities the more you can start stepping away from doing each one of the activities. If you have an iPad download the app called Grafio. This tool creates the process maps which allow you to save as PDF, JPEG, or file format someone else can manipulate.
Evernote Evernote is the ultimate note taking and client service tool for real estate professionals. When you create an evernote on your phone, iPad, or laptop it automatically synchronizes with multiple devices and
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Click here to view Doug’s video
shared with invited participants. One overlooked way to use Evernote is to create job descriptions for each person involved with your business. It is hard to select a graphic designer, SEO specialist, server maintenance specialist, copywriter, affiliate coordinator etc. when you don’t have job descriptions prepared for each person. When you write the job description in Evernote each note becomes a link you can include on your virtual assistant job description posts so you don’t have to go searching for them when you need it. They are stored in Evernote for whenever you need them. In summary, you don’t have to be an expert at everything. The one thing you have to be an expert in is selling real estate and do that better than your competition. It makes me ill when I see agents hovering over the latest gizmo or marketing tactic to find themselves getting too busy to actually implement what they already have.
Be the best at selling real estate but also be the best at managing your business as an owner, not an employee of your business. Learn skill sets such as time management, project management, and systems management so you can work on the business more than you work in the business. How do you move a mountain? One rock at a time. These tools will help you get back in control of your life and your career. Doug Devitre has helped thousands of real estate professionals across North America make sense of the technology they already have to grow their business. In 2010 he was inducted into the National Association of REALTORS® REBAC Hall of Fame as a top educator in the industry and serves as the president of the National Speakers Association St. Louis Chapter. Sign up for the only event Doug will do in 2012 on December 13th at http://stlouisretech.eventbrite.com Limited to 30 paid registrations so don’t wait. Act now!
USA Mortgage USA Mortgage: • Pre-Approval Program to Shop with the Confidence of a Cash Buyer • 100% Financing Available: USDA & MHDC • In-House Underwriters • Extensive Loan Programs Conventional • FHA • VA • ARMS • No Cost Refinances • 1st Time Buyer Programs • Locally Owned and Operated • Reverse Mortgages • 203K Programs
USA Mortgage is a full service mortgage bank This means that USA Mortgage will see you through all aspects of the loan process from the time you meet one of our mortgage professionals to the day you sit at the closing table, and ultimately fund your loan with its own money—no waiting for the corporate bigwigs halfway across the country to cut your check! To borrowers and Realtors©, being a mortgage bank means you can expect a home financing experience free of hassles and headaches. Complete control means having in-house operations such as processing, underwriting, closing and funding. Performing all aspects of a loan under one roof assures that the company will never miss a loan commitment date, or closing. Controlling every aspect of the loan process doesn't just mean following through with the paperwork and making sure the clients get all of their questions answered, it also requires having access to options that best cater to individual needs. Having complete control affords USA Mortgage the ability to adjust to individual’s needs on-the-spot.
www.usa-mortgage.com
Company NMLS 227262 Missouri Residential Mortgage Licensee
12140 Woodcrest Executive Dr., Suite 150 St. Louis, MO 63141 314-628-2000
REALTOR速 Report
mobile.marismatrix.com MARIS is excited to announce the new Matrix mobile version is launching in December! The mobile version of Matrix has been rewritten to give it the look and feel of a modern mobile application and to make it compatible with a wider array of smart phones and tablets! One of the new choices available to you is to show your search results on the same dynamic map that full Matrix uses (pictured in the screenshot to the lower right). You will also now have access to Recent Searches, News, Saved Searches, Auto E-mails, the ability to edit contacts, concierge notifications, hotsheets and more!
Everything you need to conduct business right at your fingertips!
Watch for information about the launch of the new mobile version along with exciting upgrades to the desktop version of Matrix!
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REALTOR® Report
Legislative Report St. Louis County Circuit Judge Rules in Foreclosure Intervention Code Case Judge Brenda Stith Loftin upheld St. Louis County’s Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention Code in a ruling handed down on November 14, stating that the ordinance was a valid exercise of the County’s police powers and was not pre-empted by state law. This ruling also lifted the Temporary Restraining Order that had been placed on the enactment of the ordinance since August 28. The case was brought by the Missouri Bankers Association (MBA) and its member Jonesboro State Bank, who argued that St. Louis County was violating state law by enacting regulations on a local level that exceed the requirements placed on lenders by the state. In addition, MBA argued that the requirement that mediation be offered to homeowners prior to a foreclosure deed being filed was an improper taking of the property because the county was nullifying the contract between the lender and the homeowner. This argument was not addressed in the judge’s ruling. At a November 19 hearing, the Court denied a
HolidayAd_8.8x5.5
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by Celeste Reuter, Senior Vice President Governmental and Legislative Affairs
request from the MBA that the Temporary Restraining Order be reinstated while the case was under appeal. Therefore, as of November 14, St. Louis County’s Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention Code is in effect. Any Intent to Foreclose after November 14 must include the Right to Request Mediation Notice. Attorneys for the MBA have stated that an appeal will be filed. Following the ruling in St. Louis County, the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen have signaled that they will again take up similar legislation for consideration. Stay tuned... NOTE: The St. Louis Association of REALTORS® has opposed enactment of foreclosure mediation ordinances on the local level citing concerns over increased fees and interest rates for future borrowers in St. Louis County due to lending regulations that differ from surrounding areas. SLAR supports consistent lending regulations across jurisdictions and NAR’s efforts to work for fair and reasonable federal laws and regulations with respect to lending.
REALTOR® Issues Up Close and Personal with1Missouri Legislators – SLAR StLouisAssocOfRealtors:Layout 11/12/12 8:28 AM Page 1
Sponsors 2012 Freshman Legislative Tour Newly elected legislators will visit St. Louis as part of a two week bus tour of the entire state and SLAR will be there to greet them! To maximize exposure of the REALTOR® Party, SLAR will be a sponsor for the St. Louis portion of the 2012 Missouri Legislature Freshman Tour, December 5-7, 2012. Newly elected legislators will attend multiple venues throughout the St. Louis area, hear presentations from various speakers and see real estate developments and redevelopments in Downtown St. Louis and elsewhere. As a Platinum Sponsor, SLAR Leadership and staff will have an opportunity to further the REALTOR® Party agenda with all new legislators during their time here in St. Louis, prior to the start of the 2013 Legislative Session in January.
Questions about the 3.8% Tax? NAR has two great resources on this topic - The 3.8% Tax: Real Estate Scenarios and Examples brochure and Top Ten Things You Need to Know About the 3.8% Tax – feel free to share these with your fellow agents, clients and friends!
So, how good have you been this year?
Consort Homes offers a great selection of move-in-ready homes across St. Louis Metro. Giving you time to get settled and even add a little tinsel to the tree. For every "Move In Ready" home sold between now and December 31st, 2012…Consort will donate $250 to the Wounded Warrior Project in your name - to honor and empower wounded warriors this holiday season.
Learn more and find your new
home for the holidays at MyConsortHome.com
REALTOR® Report
Purchase First is First Bank’s new program designed to help you take possession of your home sooner by closing in 21 days, or in as little as 14 days with prior credit approval – guaranteed!* In addition, First Bank offers great benefits: • • •
Convenience of direct contact with a lender who’s your single point of contact through the entire loan process. Get a great rate on your mortgage loan. The majority of mortgages closed are serviced by First Bank.
To participate in this expedited process, all applicable documents must be provided with loan application. Upon review, First Bank may require additional information about the property you want to purchase, which may void the guarantee.
Contact Us today:
800-876-5566 Or visit our web site: www.firstbankmortgage.com
*First Bank will be ready to close your loan within 21 days or within 14 days with prior credit approval. If we don’t close your loan within that time, we will credit $250.00 to your closing costs when the loan does close. Ask your Mortgage Loan Consultant for details.
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REALTOR® Report
YPN Is Ready to Kick Off 2013 in Style! The St Louis Association of REALTORS® Young Professionals Network is ready to roll in 2013! The YPN Advisory Board members had their 2013 planning meeting and great things are planned for next year, including our signature 2013 Kick-off Celebration and our 30 under 30 event. The most frequent question that YPN receives is “am I a member”? The answer is YES! The great thing about YPN is that it’s not about being young in age – it’s about being “young” in business (someone who is only been in real estate for a few years) or being “young” in mind (progressively seeking to use technology to optimize resources and excel in business) or being “young” at heart (having a positive outlook towards the real estate industry). If you fall into any of these categories – then you are a member of YPN and you should
To learn more about the Young Professionals Network St. Louis, email us at YPNSTL@gmail. com, join us on Facebook http://www.facebook. com/YPNSTL, or tweet us at https://twitter.com/ YPNSTL.
The next event is our annual Business Planning Workshop. As business professionals each January we all make some type of promise to ourselves to ensure our success for that year. Unless we have a plan to follow, that promise usually doesn’t come to fruition. YPN is honored to have Sandy Hancock and Jill Butler join and lead us through the vital steps for making sure that 2013 is a year of success. The workshop is being held at SLAR on Friday Dec. 7th. The workshop will last from 9am to 12:30pm and is FREE to all SLAR members.
The Young Professionals Network - St. Louis (YPN) welcomes all ages. Membership is free to all Realtor® members of the St. Louis Association of Realtors®. Affiliate members of S.L.A.R. are invited to participate in YPN events following a $100 annual membership fee.
St. Louis
If you’d like to register for the Business Planning Workshop, you can register via Eventbrite: http:// ypnstl-bwp2013-eorg.eventbrite.com/#.This is a great opportunity to learn from the industry experts.
Association of REALTORS® YPN YOUNG PROFESSIONALS NETWORK
Home Warranty
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o Simple Choices, Comprehensive Coverage o Extended AdviceSM o Trade Call Fee GuaranteeSM
Buyers Protection Group Home Warranty & Home Inspections We're here for you from start to finish.
Ordering: 800-443-5599
Home Inspections o E&O Insurance with Referring REALTOR® Coverage o 90-Day Guarantee on Major Items Inspected o Superior Service Guarantee
Beale Luebben Area Manager Cell: 314-494-7566 bluebben@bpgwi.com
Scheduling: 800-285-3001
Home Warranty is offered and administered by BPG Home Warranty Company.
Home Warranty
By Shelly Clark YPN Secretary Cardinal Surveying and Mapping
check us out and see what YPN has to offer you!
Committed to earning your business.
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Online @ www.bpgwi.com Home Inspections
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Commercial Inspections
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Environmental
REALTOR® Report
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CEO Corner
By Dawn M. Kennedy, SLAR CEO
SLAR is going full speed ahead in meetings its strategic goals! Currently we are working on inventory and display changes for the R-store, expanding our affinity programs, working on moving more CE and our new member orientation online (while simultaneously wrapping up the 3rd Code of Ethics training cycle), upgrading the website and what seems like a million more small projects.
I am very excited to announce that much in part to the diligent efforts of a new 2013 Board Director, Eric Friedman, we have been awarded a substantial grant from ADVERTISER: the National Association of REALTORS® to host an energy efficient housing contest. Just like any SLAR endeavor, SALESPERSON: NEXT RUN: Nanci Marsh the success hinges upon the volunteer efforts of our SLAR PUBLICATION: SIZE: member. As we get closer to bringing the project together Your Next Home we will look to SLAR REALTORS® to assist in this worthy PROOF DUE: PROOF TIME: endeavor, which ultimately will stimulate the St. Louis housing market.
CHASE_ACKERMAN, ANGELLA
AD#
In December, the SLAR bylaws will be updated and up for a vote by the REALTOR® members (in this context REALTOR®- Associates are not eligible to vote per the SLAR bylaws). These changes include moving bylaws votes to online voting to ensure more members have the opportunity to participate in shaping our governance. Other changes include shortening the time to complete new member orientation, requiring mediation before arbitration (a NAR initiative) as well as a few housecleaning items to ensure that the bylaws are aligned with current practices and reflect the current environment.
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This month SLAR will also be a host of the Missouri 04/02/12
Freshman Legislators’ Tour. This event will facilitate relationships 8X59with the new legislators and ensure that SLAR and SLAR’s interests are known to our new representatives. 3/14/2012 3:36:48 As we wind down to thePM holiday season, I wish you all the merriest and happiest of holiday tidings.
It pays to have a Union Plus Mortgage from Chase.
®
With a Union Plus Mortgage from Chase, you can access exclusive benefits including $495 savings on closing costs, grants for qualified union members and mortgage assistance in the event of unemployment, disability, union-approved strike, or lockout. You can choose a Union Plus Mortgage whether you’re buying a new home or refinancing.
Call today to get started. Angie Ackerman, Retail Lending Manager 636-735-2133 angella.l.ackerman@chase.com NMLS ID: 796102 Union Plus® is a registered trademark of Union Privilege. This program is only available to bona fide members of participating unions, their parents and children. Eligibility for mortgage assistance begins one year after closing on a Union Plus mortgage with Chase. For information regarding mortgage assistance, visit www.unionplus.org or contact Union Privilege directly. All home lending products are subject to credit and property approval. Rates, program terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. Not all products available in all states or for all amounts. Other restrictions and limitations apply. ©2011 JPMorgan Chase & Co. 13781J2 0711
REALTOR® Report
Matrix Upgrade coming December 3rd!
MARIS members will benefit from a significant upgrade to Matrix! This upgrade will offer a variety of improvements and enhancements, including: Major Upgrade to the Matrix Mobile Product! Improved Menu Navigation Easier Access to Displays & Mapped Results Ability to Save a Default Sort Option Sorting Limit Expanded from 500 to 5000 Improved Photo Viewing Contacts can be Imported & Categorized Improved Recent Portal Visitors/Portal Activity Tracking CMA Improvements: Map of Comps, Ability to add Custom Pages Share Your Listings Feature: Provides a hyperlink for individual listings from the My Listings screen! Printing Improvements Matrix Help Tab: Reorganized and Searchable Help MARIS will offer two initial webinars to help members become familiar with the updates. To register for one of the webinar sessions below e-mail kotto@marisnet.com: Tue, Dec 4, 2012 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM CST Thu, Dec 6, 2012 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CST MARIS will also be offering a hands on class titled Matrix Updates. Sign up for this free class online at www.marisnet.com. Log in and click to Training to see a calendar with class dates, and click on the link on the calendar to sign up! If you have questions regarding this announcement please e-mail Katie Otto at MARIS, kotto@marisnet.com.
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t n a w u Do yo p o T ’ s i u o L . t S e b to
Be a part of the 5th Annual St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Suburban Journals, stltoday.com, Your Next Home
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Dedicated to helping you put buyers into homes Recommend buyers toCHECK Wells Fargo Mortgage PLEASE READyour ALL COPY CAREFULLY. SPELLING ANDHome PHONE NUMBERS. Once proof is approved Newspapers will not accept responsibility for incorrect copy or layout. If changes and or approval have not been submitted by deadline your ad will run as is.
Don't let today's mortgage market challenges impact your business. When you work with Wells Fargo, you have the added confidence that only comes from working with a wellcapitalized, diversified financial services company. Nationally recognized for our industry-leading lending practices and standards, we are committed to helping make homeownership possible for consumers.
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St. Charles, MO Glen Carbon, IL Shiloh, IL
636-922-9810 618-650-7500 618-632-2600
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. © 2011 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. NMLSR ID 399801. AS957594 8/12-11/12
REALTOR® Report
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RubinBrown SELECTED AS 2012 AUDIT FIRM The Association has selected local Certified Public Accounting firm RubinBrown, LLP to perform the 2012 audits of the Association’s fiscal year ending October 31, 2012 and its short fiscal two month fiscal year of November and December 2012. This year we will be required to have two audits as the Association is switching fiscal years from an October year-end to a calendar (December) year-end plan. The Association accounting staff will close the books for October 31, 2012 and then again for December 31, 2012. The new fiscal year will start January 1, 2013 and run to December 31, 2013. This change in
fiscal years corresponds with the recent changes in officer terms stated in the Association bylaw changes. An audit is the highest level of service performed by a CPA firm and requires various tests of the accounting records and internal controls in order to render an opinion on the Association’s financial statements. RubinBrown is considered one of the top local CPA firms nationally and is the expert with not-for-profit audits. An annual audit is required per the Association’s bylaws. “We take pride in the fact that we have always had an unqualified opinion from our audit firm” said Senior Vice-President of Finance Rick Capelli. “An unqualified opinion is
Have you visited us lately?
often referred to as a “clean” opinion from an audit firm; in other words the financial statements reported fairly present the fiscal state of a particular entity being audited.” “An Association is really like a medium sized local municipality in that its assets belong to the collective whole, in this case, our membership” said Capelli. “The audit is of utmost importance because it gives assurance to the Board of Directors and membership that assets are being safeguarded and proper procedures are being followed.” The results of the audit will be reported to the Board of Directors at its January 2013 meeting.
.org NAR is The Voice for Real Estate®
St. Louis Association of
REALTORS®
Thank You! We would like to take this opportunity to thank USA Mortgage for hosƟng as a Diamond Level sponsor at the 2013 InstallaƟon Luncheon and Awards CelebraƟon!
12140 Woodcrest ExecuƟve Drive - Suite 150 St. Louis, MO 63141 www.usa-mortgage.com 314.628.2000
Empowering our
to succeed
REALTOR速 Report
St. Louis Association of
REALTORS速
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Thank You!
To our outgoing Directors...
David Busker Nate Johnson Beale Luebben Carolyn Mantia
Michele McNearney Michele Sloan Mulford Mike Rouhani L. K. (Buddy) Wood, III
Devereux Murphy LLC Areas of expertise include: Real Estate Law State, Local, and Municipal Law Litigation and Appeals 101 South Hanley - Suite 400 Clayton, MO 63105
Securities Law Probate and Estate Administration Estate Planning (314) 721-1516 www.devereuxmurphy.com
REALTOR® Report
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GREAT REALTOR® READS Green Living: Making it Last by Carla Hill
We live in a disposable society. The products that fill our daily lives are used and discarded. This habitual “use and losing” puts a dent in not only our pocketbooks, but also in the environment. According to Cleanair.org, every year Americans throw away enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times. Yes, 300 times. This is just the tip of the trash iceberg. Parents all across the nation gird the loins of their joyful little cherubs with disposable diapers. Cleanair notes, “Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.” In addition, these diapers take hundreds of years to decompose and cost thousands of dollars to use. Plus, the oil used to produce those dandy disposables is more
oil than used during the lifetime use of your car! The EPA reports that in 2010, American generated about 250 million tons of trash, with just a 34.1 percent recycling rate. What is being tossed that could be repurposed, reused, or revisioned? Learning to reduce, reuse, and recycle is a great way to cut down on household expenses, something that many homeowners are searching out. There’s a honorable movement spreading across the nation bent on saving money and preserving the environment. The new book Make it Last: Prolonging and Preserving What We Love bridges the gap between life in a disposable culture and the basic skills needed to save money and live more sustainably. This book teaches the reader how to extend the lives of the things they love by repairing clothing, preserving home-grown food, and even repairing your kitchen sink.
Nancy J. LoRusso President
Clayton Executive Center 7930 Clayton Road, Suite 200 St. Louis, MO 63117 (314) 727-2900 Fax: (314) 727-2369 Direct Line: (314) 881-3142 nlorusso@us-title.com
Raleigh Briggs takes her longtime commitment to community building through the DIY movement and shares her valuable experience with the reader through a conversational tone in her hand drawn and illustrated guide. “People are starting to realize not only that they can do this stuff, but that it’s fun and fulfilling to boot.” says Briggs. “Whenever you think about the choices you’re making, you’re doing a good thing.” Verbicide Magazine described it as “a Gideon Bible-like manual that should be heavily circulated to people who are just scraping by in life. Her pragmatic approach to taking back your home is what makes this book so appealing.” Save money while saving the planet. That’s some noble work! Reprinted with permission from Realty Times. www.realtytimes.com
REALTOR® Report
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Congratulations to the Newly Installed Officers and Directors of the Saint Louis Association of REALTORS® from The Management Team at Prudential Alliance, REALTORS ® Andrea Lawrence President Co-Owner
Kevin Goffstein Executive Vice President Co-Owner
Pat Malloy Office Manager Chesterfield
Bob Bax Office Manager Ladue
Bill Mooney Office Manager Fenton
JANUARY 24th Economic Forecast 8:30AM - SLAR, FREE Event for ALL Members
William R. Emmons, Federal Reserve St. Louis and Joe Reagan, RCGA. Click HERE to Register hƩp://bit.ly/YycjV5
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REALTOR® Report
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From around the industry…. Rentals and Tenants: Good or Bad? There are some common issues that we at SLAR, as well as the other associations represented in our Industry Forum, deal with on a regular basis. Included in these issues are ordinances targeting rental property, landlords and/or tenants. What we see typically are ordinances proposed to address a problem within a municipality that the city leaders feel is directly, or indirectly attributable to rental properties and/or the tenants that occupy them. Due to the fact that, in many cases, the municipality is singling out one class of property (rental property) and passing ordinances that only affect this class of property, SLAR as well as other associations in the industry, pay particular attention to this type of legislation to insure that it does not negatively impact the private property rights of those affected. I personally have been involved with many of the efforts by SLAR to fight such legislation over the past decades or so and have noticed during discussions with municipalities that clearly, for many of them, rentals are seen as a bad thing, something not good for their community and quite frankly, something the city would like to do away with. This has always been curious to me and I have often questioned whether rentals, and the tenants in them, deserved the reputation they were given or if this distaste of rentals was driven by other motivations, such as discrimination. The interesting thing is, according to attorney’s that have represented SLAR in these matters in the past, even if a municipality passes an ordinance that has the effect of discriminating there is probably nothing that can be done in that regard unless it can be proven that the discrimination was definitely the objective of the ordinance. Whatever the reason for the recurring challenges to SLAR and others in the industry to protect the rights of tenants and landlords, it is an issue that doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon especially given the recent data that has come about from the U.S. census bureau which shows rentals on the rise in the St. Louis area. According to the census data, the St. Louis area has had a
fairly dramatic change in the make-up of its housing occupants over the past six years with a shift from home-owners to renters. This does not come as a big surprise since, after the real estate market crash we have witnessed, as well as the weak economy, many former home-owners, as well as would-be homeowners, have been forced to settle for renting versus buying a home.
by Dennis Norman
As the table below shows, over the past six years the City of St Louis has seen renters go from making up 50.7 percent of their occupied housing units to 55.5 percent of the housing units and St. Louis County has went from renters making up 24.7 percent of the occupied housing to almost 30 percent of the occupied housing units during the period, so, clearly, this issue is not going away.
than the County as a whole, such as Maplewood where 59 percent of their occupied housing is rental, and thus, this may be the reason for their focus on legislating rentals, however, many of the municipalities have rental concentrations much lower than the County average of 30 percent, such as Sunset Hills and Webster Groves, both with just 17 percent of their housing as rentals.
St. Louis City, Missouri Occupied housing units 2005 141,408 2011 134,193 Change -5.10%
Owner-occupied housing units 2005 69,688 2011 59,720 Change -14.30%
Renter-occupied housing units 2005 71,720 2011 74,473 Change 3.84%
St. Louis County, Missouri Occupied housing units 2005 403,684 2011 402,341 Change -0.33%
Owner-occupied housing units 2005 303,968 2011 282,134 Change -7.18%
Renter-occupied housing units 2005 99,716 2011 120,207 Change 20.55%
If we drill down in the data for St Louis County and look at some of the municipalities that have ordinances affecting rentals as I discussed, we find that some of these municipalities have a much higher concentration of rentals
certified public accountants business consultants Denver | Kansas City | Saint Louis 314. 290.3300 www.RubinBrown.com
St. Louis Industry Forum Chairman and Past SLAR President MORE, REALTORS®
Without a doubt, SLAR, as well as the other members of our Industry Forum, will be dealing with this topic in the coming year.
Area St. Louis County Clayton Edmundson Ferguson Manchester Maplewood Maryland Heights Olivette Pasadena Hills Sunset Hills University City Webster Groves
Owneroccupied housing units 2010/2011
Renteroccupied housing units 2010/2011
% of Total Occupied Units that are Rental
282,134
120,207
30%
11,224 229 10,014 5,693 1,879
4,400 166 4,738 1,605 2,693
28% 42% 32% 22% 59%
10,438
6,250
37%
2,482 428 2,886 8,546
711 97 592 4,942
22% 18% 17% 37%
7,655
1,587
17%
is proud to support St. Louis Association of REALTORS®
REALTOR® Report
MarketTrends Report October 2012
St. Louis County Key Metrics
October
1 year % of change
Market Activity 9000
Median Sales Price
$125,000
0%
Average Sales Price
$170,662
.60%
Pct of Original Price Received
93.02%
Homes for Sale
5865
-17.63%
Closed Sales
1070
24.13%
2000
Months Supply
5
-37.5%
1000
-3.57%
8000 7000 6000 5000
Homes for Sale
4000
Closed Sales
3000
0 Days on Market
103
-8.85%
October-2012
October-2011
GRAPHS INCLUDE ALL PROPERTIES– Residential, Condo, Coop, Villa & New Construction
Historical Median Sales Price for St. Louis County
All Data from Mid America Regional Information Systems. Powered by 10K Research and Marketing
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Mary Jo Ma�ngly Mortgage Originator 314‐505‐5525
Mark Lange Mortgage Originator 314‐505‐5514
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REALTOR® Report
MarketTrends Report October 2012 St. Louis City Key Metrics
October
1 year % of change
Market Activity 2500
Median Sales Price
$79,950
14.21%
Average Sales Price
$102,501
13.31%
2000
Pct of Original Price Received
93.1%
3.10%
1500
Homes for Sale
1677
-16.94%
1000
Closed Sales
229
31.61%
500
Months Supply
7
-30%
Days on Market
105
3.81%
Homes for Sale
Closed Sales
0 October-2012
October-2011
GRAPHS INCLUDE ALL PROPERTIES– Residential, Condo, Coop, Villa & New Construction
Historical Median Sales Price for St. Louis City
All Data from Mid America Regional Information Systems. Powered by 10K Research and Marketing
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REALTOR速 Report
OCTOBER 2012
SLAR Sold Stats
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REALTOR® Report
Law & Ethics The End of the Third Quadrennial Code of Ethics Cycle December 2012 is heralded as the end of a significant cycle; the Mayan calendar is hypothesized to end this month and for some this is a prediction of the end of the world as we know it. Pretty heavy stuff! However, December 2012 marks the end of another cycle, the end of cycle 3 of the required Code of Ethics quadrennial training. Last month, the reason why the National Association of REALTORS requires the quadrennial training was explained. This month what happens if a SLAR member does not complete the required training is explored. So you did not complete the training, what happens next? NAR requires that the association suspend your membership until such time as the training is completed or the suspension results in a termination of membership. Terminated members must pay reinstatement fees in addition to dues, per the SLAR bylaws the reinstatement fees are the same application and initiation fees paid by a new member. According to NAR: What this means for a REALTOR® who is suspended for not meeting the Quadrennial Ethics Training Requirement is that all the rights, privileges and services she is entitled to receive because she is a REALTOR® are suspended until she satisfies the training requirement. If she meets the requirement the next day, then her rights, privileges and services are restored the next day. While suspended, though, her obligation to abide by the Code of Ethics continues, as does the obligation to pay dues. At the May 2005 Midyear Meetings of the National Association of REALTORS®, the NAR Board of Directors amended policy to provide that members suspended for failing to meet the quadrennial ethics training requirement would subsequently be automatically terminated from membership if they did not complete their training.
Failure to meet the requirement for the second (2005 – 2008) cycle and subsequent four (4) year cycles will result in suspension of membership for the first two months (January and February) of the year following the end of any four (4) year cycle or until the requirement is met, whichever occurs sooner. On March 1 of that year, the membership of a member who is still suspended as of that date will be automatically terminated. We love our SLAR members and would not want to terminate or suspend any member. Please help us help you and take your quadrennial Code of Ethics Training online today if you have not done so already by clicking this link: http://www.realtor.org/code-ofethics/training If you are not sure if you have fulfilled the requirement please contact the SLAR education department at mwilson@stlrealtors.com
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By Dawn M. Kennedy, SLAR CEO
REALTOR® Report
Calendar of Events December
January
6 WCR Luncheon Maggiano’s Little Italy
1
6
3 WCR Luncheon Maggiano’s Little Italy
Holiday Open House SLAR Office
SLAR Closed New Year’s Holiday
7
YPN Business Planning Workshop SLAR Office
16
10
Past Presidents Luncheon Maggiano’s Little Italy
16-18 MAR Business Conference Jefferson City, MO
17
Chair/Vice Chair Orientation SLAR Office
21
SLAR Closed Martin Luther King Day
19
RHAF Charitable Presentations SLAR Office
24
Residential Economic Forecast Breakfast SLAR Office
24-25 SLAR Closed Christmas Holiday
February 7 WCR Luncheon Maggiano’s Little Italy 21
SLAR Closed President’s Day
MAR Capitol Conf./Legislative Visits Jefferson City, MO
Welcome New Members
DESIGNATED REALTOR® Diane Freer B. Freer LLC Elvira Husetovic St. Louis Home Realty, LC Anthony Jones RBA Realty Bryan King King Realty Advisors Yiquan Sha Five Star Realty Group LLC Mandy Wong Fortune Realty, LLC
DESIGNATED REALTOR® DUAL MEMBER James Manning STL Real Estate LLC (Primary membership is under STL Real Estate)
REALTOR®
Previously DESIGNATED REALTOR® Fred Kratky RealtyNET Kratky Team
AFFILIATE Randy Jones Finwell Group LLC Ernest Martinez Midwest Mortgage Capital Ralph Perry In-Hance IT! Home Staging Terra Ritchie Gateway Mortgage Group Gary Smith POP-A-LOCK St. Louis
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