Member & Affiliate Newsletter
February 2010

Message From SVBR President Donna Roemmelt

We made it through a rather frigid January. In some areas business seems to have improved, but for many we’re still waiting. Hopefully, as spring approaches buyers will feel more confident and make the commitment.

Just a reminder that VAR is sponsoring a Brokers summit in Killington on March 3. This is a good opportunity for DRs to keep up to date with information for their agents. I’m sure you are all aware this is a license renewal year. If you are looking for courses, Troy has put together a list that you can find on our website Education & Classes Calendar.

Directors of the SVBR have just returned from Montpelier. We spent a day of leadership roundtables & discussions with board members from throughout the state as well as our legislators. 

As with many of our personal & business finances, the state too, is in a very difficult situation. Vermonters are facing a $155 million state deficit, and our leaders are facing tough decisions. There are several ideas floating around to close this deficit that may affect our business This year its especially important to respond to our leaderships call for actions.

Please join us for our membership meeting in Bennington on February 18th, 9am. Representatives from Habitat for Humanity will be speaking.  Location to be announced later. 

We are looking for volunteers, one in each area, Brattleboro, Bennington & Wilmington, who will act as meeting coordinators to locate venues and schedule speakers for our monthly membership meetings.

Stay warm & keep positive! 

Donna Lizza Roemmelt

In This Issue

• SVBR Statistics at a Glance
• myREconnection Updates and Trueforms Information
• Member Meeeting for February
• Affiliate Membership
• Lead Based Paint Forms and Procedures
• Upcoming Education and Classes (It's a license renewal year !)
• Upcoming Member Events
• Summary of VAR Leadership Day
• VAR Northeast Real Estate Convention & Expo, September 14-16, 2010
• What is Realtors® Property Resource?
• Broker Summit 2010 (Designated and Managing Brokers)

SVBR Statistics at a Glance

Our January newsletter was sent to 191 email addresses and was read by 91 members.  If you know someone who isn't reading this newsletter, be sure to tell them what they are missing.

In future months, we will be tallying total paid member and affiliate numbers, so that you can accurately describe our organization when asked about SVBR. 

myREconnection Updates and Trueforms Information 

Trueforms is the only forms software that is to be used at this time.

Trueforms will not be discontinued for the forseeable future, and may never be discontinued.

Testing of myREconnection has shown that issues exist when trying to print forms, and for this reason, Members shoud not be using myREconnection for live transactions.

myREconnection is a new web based software being implemented by VAR which will provide members with the ability to manage contacts, print forms and manage the entire transaction process from within a single interface.  It also will connect with your Outlook database, eliminating the need to enter buyer and seller data a second time.

VAR has created a Technology Committee which is Chaired by Troy Richardson.  This Committee will be responsible for ensuring that new technology endorsed by VAR is being implemented in the best interest of the Members.

February Member Meeting, Thursday, February 18 

Habitat for Humanity will be speaking about it's programs and they will be soliciting volunteers to work on the next Habitat house.

The meeting will be hosted at the First Baptist Church in Bennington at 601 Main Street.  Continental Breakfast will be served.

Affiliate Membership in SVBR 

Do you have a favorite attorney or home inspector who isn't an Affiliate Member of SVBR ?

If you do, then you need to get them an Affiliate Membership Application and have them join SVBR.

Affiliate members can attend our Membership Meetings, and can even speak at these meetings about the products and services they offer.  Affiliates only pay $50.00 and the proceeds help offset SVBR costs (like your dues!)

Tell your favorite vendor to visit our website and learn more about Affiliate Membership Today.

Lead Based Paint Forms and Instructions 

At the January DR meeting, attending DR's received a packet of new lead based paint forms that are required with various transactions.  In the event that these packets did not make their way to you, we are offering them on the website.

The packet of forms and instructions, designed by Troy Richardson can be downloaded in PDF form from the website.

Upcoming Education and Classes

License Renewal Time!!

BROKERS. You need 16 credits for license renewal. Four (4) of those credits need to be the current mandatory course. The current Mandatory course is titled The Mandatory Course for 2008-2010 Renewal. Certificates must be dated between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2010.

SALESPERSONS. You also need 16 credits for license renewal. Four (4) of those credits need to be the current mandatory course.  The current Mandatory course is titled The Mandatory Course for 2008-2010 Renewal. Certificates must be dated between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2010.

EVERYONE must have their licenses renewed by the applicable deadline date - even if you've only had your license for a short period of time.

A complete schedule of education can be found on our website Education & Classes Page

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Upcoming Member Events

A full calendar of events for members can be found on our website's Events Calendar.

Leadership & Legislative Day Recap

Each year VAR sponsors a day of Leadership Training for Presidents, Board and Committee Chairs in Montpelier.  On Wednesday, January 27 various members of the SVBR Leadership team met at the Capital Plaza hotel in Montpelier.

The agenda included a welcome by VAR President Leslee MacKenzie who spoke about The New Tools of Communication, and how VAR was working to create a new website and other communication tools to replace VAR Member-Talk, in order to create more reliable member communications.

Life Coach, Jo Romano spoke about how to build leadership qualities and how to increase your self-confidence in being a leader.

Dr. Richard Schneider gave a keynote address on Leadership in Times of Change.  Dr. Schneider is the President of Norwich University, and was the crowd favorite speaker of the day.  His words and stories of his own struggle to lead Norwich University to becoming a world class institution of learning were truly inspirational.

VAR Legal Counsel Tom Heilmann gave a legal update, which included an update from the Vermont Division of Fire Safety.  The speaker from the Fire Safety office referenced a great item for you to give to your Sellers which explains the new smoke alarm requirements.  This Smoke Alarm and CO Fact Sheet can be downloaded here.

At the end of the day, various Leadership positions had their own round-table discussions with other leaders in the same position.  Presidents met with Presidents, etc in order to network and exchange ideas and problem solve issues for their own organizations.

Legislative Day

Thursday, January 28 was Legislative Day for Realtors® in Montpelier, and this was an excellent opportunity to hear what the Government Affairs Committee as well as the VAR lobbyists have been working on for us.

The morning was capped off with lunch with local legislators which provided attendees the opportunity to meet their local legslative representatives and talk with them about issues that are important to them.  The hot topics this year was definitely the budget deficit, and whether property or other tax hikes may be on the horizon in order to makeup the shortfall in the state budget.

VAR Annual Convention & Expo, September 14-16, 2010

The Vermont Association of Realtors® will be hosting the annual Convention & Expo at Stratton Mountain Resort on September 14-16, 2010.  This is a great opportunity for those Realtors® in Southern Vermont to attend and get a majority of the Continuing Education credits required to renew your license.

Please stay tuned for additional information and mark these dates on your calendar.  We will want a strong showing from Southern Vermont in order to prove to VAR tha the convention should be in the Southern portion of the state every other year.

What is Realtors® Property Resource ?

NAR’s Second Century Initiatives include the creation of the Realtors Property ResourceTM (RPR), an online real estate library/archive that will provide real estate professionals with data on every property in the United States.

This initiative will provide access to a national database of real property information and will give real estate professionals the best access to real property information needed to serve their clients and customers. It will include in-depth, trusted information on every parcel of real property including public record information, details of prior transactions, MLS-provided information, zoning information, transfer tax information, and other relevant information.

The initiative will be based on the collaborative efforts of REALTORS® and the real estate community, including MLSs. It will drive development and implementation of data standards and definitions, and will increase the breadth, depth, immediacy and power of real estate information available to REALTORS®.

Read more at the Realtors® Property Resource Blog.

Broker Summit 2010

Join VAR for a day focused on the needs of the Designated or Managing Broker in your office.

Stay ahead of the regulatory game and be sure your office is up to speed with new regulations and resources.

Download the registration flyer here and sign up today.