August 2014
Single-family home sales up on Shore Wicomico, Somerset post huge increases over 2013
Flood insurance lowdown Members of the Coastal Association of REALTORS® attend a flood insurance seminar on Thursday, July 17 at the association office in Berlin.
Keeping current helps Realtors to protect their customers’ investments
BERLIN – In recognizing the importance of protecting their customers’ financial investments, members of the Coastal Association of REALTORS® (CAR) participated in a flood insurance seminar on Thursday, July 17 at the association’s Berlin office. The seminar – taught by Phillip Rager, flood business development consultant with the Harleysville, Pa.-based Nationwide Insurance – focused on various aspects of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program, including flood zones and maps, the Biggert-Waters Reform Act of 2012, and coverage limits.
“Anywhere it can rain, it can flood,” Rager said. “It’s important to understand a property’s flood risk and your options to financially protect it.” Sheila Dodson, executive director of CAR, said it’s important that real estate professionals understand the ins and outs of the NFIP, as flood insurance rates can greatly impact property values. “The local remapping of flood zones, which will be implemented soon, will change things drastically for homebuyers in some areas, especially places like Ocean City where some properties are flip-flopping between high hazard and lowto-moderate hazard flood zones,” Dodson said. “As the leading local authority on all things real estate, it is CAR’s responsibility to keep its
members informed of these changes so they can provide the most accurate, informed and easiest home buying experience to their customers.” For more information about the NFIP and flood insurance, visit www.floodsmart.gov. Coastal Association of REALTORS® (CAR) is the leading local advocacy group in the real estate industry on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. CAR works in partnership with its members to promote home ownership and preserve, protect and advocate private property rights. The organization supports 1,000 REALTORS® who serve Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester Counties.
BERLIN – More and more people appear to be planting their roots on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, as June figures from the Coastal Association of REALTORS® (CAR) reflect an across-the-board increase in sales of single family homes in Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset counties. Wicomico and Somerset counties saw the most drastic increase in new Sheila Dodson sales/contracts, Executive Director each showing a roughly 66 percent spike compared to June 2013. Worcester County saw a 20 percent increase. Settlements remained steady, apart from Wicomico, which saw a 10 percent decrease compared to June 2013. The encouraging figures mirror a decrease in the sale prices of single family homes in Worcester and Somerset counties. Despite Wicomico’s uptick in sale prices, all three counties saw REALTORS® selling single-family homes for closer to their listing prices. These trends appear to be consistent across the country. The National Association of REALTORS® is reporting a 6.1 percent rise in new sales/contracts for the month of May, which is reportedly the largest month-overmonth gain since April 2010, when first-time home buyers were rushing to sign purchase contracts before a popular tax credit program ended. NAR’s figures for June have not Continued on page 12
Association developing consumer messaging plan Aims to maintain CAR role as real estate info leader
BERLIN – Members of the Coastal Association of REALTORS® are going to great lengths to ensure the association remains the premier source of local real estate information and defender of private property rights for the Eastern Shore of Maryland. CAR members, local business representatives and staff met with a marketing consultant on June 23 to begin
the process of crafting a dynamic messaging plan aimed to reach more consumers. “We want the consumers to know that we are the experts in local real estate because that is our only focus,” said Sheila Dodson, executive director of CAR. “CAR and its members are the source for all of your real estate needs.” CAR’s Media Marketing Campaign Committee includes Nicole Abresch, Don Bailey, Lauren Bunting, Austin “Skip” Cox, Gee Dunsten, Ryan
Haley, Donna Harrington and Susan Megargee, president of CAR. The group met with Melynn Sight, president of nSight Marketing, who worked with CAR in the past to develop the organization’s Member Value Proposition of being “Vested in Your Success.” Sight assisted the group in identifying its goals of promoting CAR as the thought leader for local real estate and defender of private property rights, as well as promoting the value of hiring a REALTOR®.
“Because we’re competing with different sources for the attention of the consumer, our focus will be on differentiating ourselves to offer what no one else does: accurate, local information,” Sight said. Part of the process was identifying the concerns and needs of the public. “Identifying these needs and worries helps CAR to determine how we can better serve the consumer as the only trade association that focuses on protecting private property rights and Continued on page 16