JUNE 2021
Co
l l ab
o
e
ne
li
c
St r e a
m
en h
OFFICIAL MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR SAN ANTONIO AREA REALTORS ®
Legal & Ethics
IN THIS ISSUE: • SABOR Charity Involvement • Legal & Ethics: Wire Fraud and Real Estate Transactions • April Home Sales Gain Speed As Summer Begins • Upcoming Board Events
Wire Fraud and Real Estate Transactions
• Welcome New Affiliate Members • Get to Know Your City • Thank You to Our Advertisers
SABOR Charity Involvment The San Antonio Board of REALTORS® is an advocate for community involvement and actively participates with our two charities of choice: SAMMinistries and the San Antonio Food Bank. These charities reflect the values and goals of our members and help establish SABOR members as community partners. Each year SABOR members participate in numerous activities with both charities, read on to learn about some of the projects we’ve accomplished this year and to find out how you can get involved. In the first six months of 2021, SABOR members have been busy serving the San Antonio community. In March, members of SABOR’s REALTOR® Image and Community Outreach Committee came together to stuff over 1,000 Easter eggs for the annual Easter Egg Hunt at SAMMinistries on April 1st. The event was a joyous occasion for the children at SAMMinistries’ Transitional Living and Learning Center and there was even a special visit from the Easter Bunny! On April 1st, SABOR’s REALTOR® Image and Community Outreach Committee kicked off their “Nuts About the Food Bank” peanut butter contest. SABOR members were encouraged to enter their companies into the contest to compete against each other to see who can collect the most jars of peanut butter and win the “Peanut Butter Cup.” The contest is running through June 30th and SABOR members have been busy collecting donations. So far, we’ve had over 2,000 jars donated! There’s still time to enter the contest if you are interested in participating. Email communications@sabor.com if you would like more information. Also, in partnership with the San Antonio Food Bank, SABOR members volunteered on
April 27th for a morning of sorting and packing food. Our volunteers were able to help check expiration dates, sort food and get it packaged to be distributed to local families in need. Our next volunteer day at the Food Bank is coming up on September 16th, be sure to save the date! In April, SABOR’s REALTOR® Image and Community Outreach Committee delivered their first appreciation basket of year to the Schertz Police Department! The appreciation baskets are designed to show the gratitude of SABOR members to first responders in our area. Last year we were able to donate six baskets and this year we are hoping to do even more. If you are interested in sponsoring a basket, please contact Particia@sabor.com for more information. On May 3rd, SABOR members got their hands dirty gardening and cleaning up flower beds during the “Planting Hope” event at SAMMinistries. The February freeze took a toll on the flower beds and prayer garden at SAMM’s Transitional Living and Learning Center and SABOR volunteers were able to replant their front flower beds and revitalize the prayer garden. While SABOR members have already shown great support for their community this year, there are still more volunteer opportunities to come. This summer, SABOR members will join forces with SAMMinistries to help supply back to school uniforms for the children at the SAMM shelter. Also, this fall during “REALTORS® Are Good Neighbors Volunteer Days,” SABOR members will be partnering with local charities for a week of service. Make sure to follow SABOR on social media and whitelist emails from communications@ sabor.com to stay up to date with the latest volunteer opportunities.
nc
Ex e
ra
a
ut
te
e
te
KEEPING POSTED El e v
By now you may have heard about the growing number of incidents of wire fraud associated with real estate transactions. Such issues may occur when a hacker sends a seeming legitimate email to a REALTOR® indicating a change in the wiring instructions and that email is forwarded to the consumer. It could also happen if a hacker sends a legitimate looking email to the title company that changes the wiring instructions. Regardless, such situations can cause a lot of havoc to the consumer and the agent representing them. The following is a nonexhaustive list of tips that could help reduce the risk of wire fraud: a. Inform your client at the beginning of the transaction about the risk of wire fraud. It is useful to have your client acknowledge this notice in writing. b. Instruct your client to verify all instructions using an independently verified number. c. Create a policy to never communicate wiring instructions or other sensitive financial information via email. Let your client know that you will never communicate these types of instructions via email and include language regarding this policy in your written notice to your client. d. Create and implement email security processes. Some procedures you could implement include keeping your antivirus and other security services current, establishing a password policy where you regularly change your passwords and not opening unsolicited emails or suspicious email attachments. e. Report all suspicious emails or concerns to the financial institution transferring the funds and to the FBI. f. Double check your insurance policy to make sure that you have the necessary coverage to address claims that may arise from wire fraud issues. While the above suggestions may not prevent all incidents of wire fraud they could help prevent some.
a
April Home Sales Gain Speed As Summer Begins SAN ANTONIO (May 17, 2021) – San Antonio and its surrounding areas experienced a 27 percent jump in April home sales year-over-year, according to data provided by the San Antonio Board of REALTORS® (SABOR) which reports on all areas contained within the MLS. In April 2021 a total of 3,483 homes were sold, whereas 2,735 homes were sold in April 2020. “Spring home sales are paving the way for positive trends and exponential growth for the summer months ahead,” said Cher Miculka, SABOR’s 2021 Chairman of the Board. “Across all of Texas we are seeing soaring home sales as the population of cities expand.” Home sales prices in April averaged $333,671 with a median price of $277,000. Throughout Texas, the average price was $374,263, 25.9 percent higher than April 2020. The median price in Texas reached $295,000, an 18 percent overall increase from last year. In the greater San Antonio area, there were 4,092 new listings, while Bexar County specifically reported 2,882 new listings. In all of Texas, a total of 41,939 new listings hit the market in April. In the county comparison, Bexar County sales increased by 23.4 percent with 2,477 homes sold. In a year-over-year comparison, Travis County’s home sales increased 36 percent (1,443 homes), Harris County increased 48.3 percent (4,687 homes), and Dallas County increased 32 percent (1,934 homes). The percentages reflect year-over-year changes from 2020 to 2021.
Total Sales 3,483
Average Price
$333,671
Median Price $277,000
San Antonio Area April 2021
UPCOMING BOARD EVENTS June 2021
02 14 30
Property Appraisals Town Hall with Atascosa Central Appraisal District Olé 5k for TREPAC (Race Begins)
Nuts About the Food Bank – Peanut Butter Drive Contest Ends
03
[WEBINAR] Navigating Multiple Offers in a Tight Market
10
18
Texas REALTORS® 2022 Committee Application Deadline
29
30
[WEBINAR] Building Business Through Facebook
SABOR 2022 Committee Applications Open
Texas REALTORS® 2022 TREPAC Trustee Application Deadline
A COMPLETE LIST OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS, EDUCATION COURSES AND OTHER BOARD EVENTS CAN BE FOUND ONLINE AT MEMBER.SABOR.COM
WELCOME NEW AFFILIATE MEMBERS Julian Bui - Premier Realty Services John De La Garza - GreenWorks Inspection & Engineering Wayne Dunbar - Aftertec Advanced Imaging James Evans - Premier Realty Services Ruben Florez - 360 Property Inspections Hugo Hernandez - Amarillo National Bank Moises Hernandez Jr. - Above & Beyond Home Inspections, PLLC Rogue Huitron - Aftertec Advanced Imaging Sergio W. Lopez - Front Row Inspections Kerry Muller - The Junkluggers of San Antonio Matthew Wheeler - A-PRO Home Inspection
@SABoardREALTORS
@SanAntonioBoardofREALTORS
@SABoardofREALTORS
company/san-antonio-board-of-realtors
@SABoardREALTORS
@saboardrealtors
Get to Know Your City In 2018 SABOR developed its “Know Your City” series to help SABOR members become better acquainted with their city and the widespread jurisdiction SABOR covers. Over the past few years SABOR has highlighted numerous attractions in the area including San Pedro Creek, Brooks City Base, Morgan’s Wonderland, Confluence Park and more. In 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SABOR shifted the Know Your City program from in-person events with our members to a video highlight of local areas with SABOR’s CEO, Gilbert S. Gonzalez as our guide. These videos feature San Antonio gems and areas in outlying counties that our members may not be familiar with. For our first video, Gilbert took a trip down Highway 90 to Hondo, TX. We featured some of what the area has to offer including information from Medina County Judge, Chris Schuchart, and then a tour of the Graff 7A Ranch and Venatura Excursions. In November 2020, SABOR highlighted the beautiful Mission Reach area in South San Antonio. The video features all that the Mission Reach has to offer, from the history of the area to the biking trails and river kayaking. Our first video of 2021 starred Phil Hardberger Park, located in North Central San Antonio. In this video Gilbert is joined by the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department and former Mayor Phil Hardberger himself! You’ll see all the features the park has to offer including the newly opened land bridge, the dog park and so much more. Our second video of 2021 was dedicated to Hotel Emma at the Pearl. Throughout the video the history of the Pearl area and Hotel Emma are featured, including a love affairs and murder! You will also be able to see some artifacts that are still on display from when Hotel Emma was a brewery. We’re only halfway through the year and there are still more Know Your City videos to come! Our next video that is in production will highlight the area of Uvalde, TX and you won’t want to miss it. To get more familiar with San Antonio and the surrounding areas watch all SABOR’s Know Your City videos at member.sabor.com/know-your-city.
Thank You to Our Advertisers Platinum
Gold SWBC Mortgage
Bronze Becker Properties Coldwell Banker D’Ann Harper, REALTORS® Drayton Realty Guild Mortgage Hendricks Property Management
InterLinc Mortgage Services, LLC Kleckley Mortgage Team Kathy Ripps Keller Williams Heritage NARPM
Old Republic Title Rebecca Byers, Brick and Stone Realty San Antonio Builder Guide Trey Flournoy Voice of Won
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman Cher Miculka
Chair-Elect Tracie Hasslocher Monique Bordelon Jesse Bugarin Kevin Crawford Donna Drayton
Secretary/Treasurer Sara Briseño Gerrish Katie Griffin Ross Jan Hicinbothom Marty Hutchison Trudy Pape
Members-At-Large William Curtis | Marquis Williams
Renae Pretty Anna Ramos Courtney Rosen Mindi Stange
Reagan Williamson
Immediate Past Chair Kim Bragman