REALTOR® WEEKLY UPDATE

November 6th, 2008 To view archive editions click HERE

Breaking News!

THE HALLOWEEN BASH PHOTOS ARE ONLINE – Did you miss the Halloween Bash? To check out the photo slide show click HERE. “Fig” Newton and the Entertainment Committee did an amazing job transforming our Association Office into “Graveyard Bash”. You do not want to miss any of the future events put on by our Entertainment Committee. Make sure to look at the pictures and see what you missed. Thank you to Margo Grimshaw for putting together this slide show.

You only have 55 more days to complete your Quadrennial Ethics requirement. All REALTORS® must take NAR Code of Ethics between January 1st 2005 and December 31st 2008. Your Association is hosting a class on November 13th. Please email David Logan to reserve a space. Course also qualifies for 3 Florida CE credits.

Last Week’s Winner!!

Chris Jones- $50 Simon Visa Card, compliments of Odette Embury with Calusa National Bank. Please email or stop by Calusa National Bank to pick up your prize! You can reach Odette at 941-255-8558. Remember, you can't win unless you enter and it only takes a few seconds. See below for this week's drawing compliments of Marcia Cullinan of National Bank of SW Florida.

Business Sponsor – Marcia Cullinan

Please click HERE to enter for a chance to win a $20 gift card to BIN 82 compliments of Marcia Cullinan and National Bank of SW Florida. Marcia Cullinan is the Vice President of Residential Lending at National Bank of Southwest Florida. National Bank of Southwest Florida is a local community bank which was chartered in June of 2007. We specialize in personalized service and competitive pricing on residential, commercial and consumer loans, along with comprehensive personal and business account programs. Stop in to see us at our brand new location, where Midway meets Kings Highway, or call to talk with Marcia about our conventional and portfolio lending products at 941-258-3474.

From the President’s Desk

Bill Dryburgh, President

To my fellow REALTORS®,

I want to thank all of you who voted in our election.....The high number who voted and the overwhelming support for the nomination committee’s recommendations tells me that you like the direction we are going and you know the issues facing our Association. Thank you for your support. I also want to thank all of you who turned out for our October general membership meeting. It was great to see a standing-room-only crowd. Please try and make all of the meetings, your input and participation mean a lot. Look for the date of our next meeting I think you will find it interesting and informative.

Congratulations

Craig Havemeyer of Coldwell Banker Residential has earned his Graduate REALTOR® Institute (GRI) designation. We congratulate Craig on this wonderful achievement which only a small percentage of REALTORS® complete.

Education Corner

Tax Deferred Strategies OTHER than 1031 Exchange – 3 CE Credits $15: Highly rated NEW CE class. Defer capital gains tax without a TIC, 1031 or Triple Net Lease and receive an income stream for life! Don’t worry about Failed 1031’s again with the 1031 Rescue. November 11th 2pm E-mail David Logan to sign up for this unique opportunity. Click HERE for more details.

New Class: "Don't get Blogged Down" Nov 12th 1pm-5pm. Nationally recognized blogging experts Joeann Fossland and Frances Flynn Thorsen will help guide you through the blogosphere. Learn how to use blogging and a suite of social networking tools to leverage your expertise and online presence. Develop a blog business plan and promote your blog on/offline. You do not want to miss this unique opportunity. Presented in conjunction with W.C.R and sponsored by Lambert & O'Neill, Stewart Title, and Charlotte State Bank.

Unlock the power of Microsoft Office. Classes on Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher are taught by our very own Microsoft certified instructor Mary Gitzen. Do you want to know how to make professional flyers, create a targeted email campaign, keep track of your clients and appointments, etc? Do not miss these valuable opportunities to help expand your business. Visit the Education Calendar for details.

Contract Class: Learn the "why's" of Contract Law; Comparison and Contrasts of the FAR-9 and FAR/BAR Contracts; Step by Step instruction in Completing Contact Forms. Taught by our very own Top Rated Instructor Bill Perrault. November 20th 9am – 2pm

Making the most of your Mid-Florida Membership? Sign up for additional training and unlock the tools to help you succeed! See the list of FREE Mid-Florida educational opportunities. Courses include “Design Web Page”, “iMapp”, “Tools”, “MLXChange Advanced”, etc. Many classes are HANDS ON with laptops provided. Sign up soon, space is limited.

Visit the Education Calendar for full course offering and details.

Business Partners

When was the last time you contacted one of your Business Partners to find out what is going on in their industry. There is no better resource for your business than Your Business Partners. We are blessed to have professionals from all the affiliated industries which help to support and improve your business. Also, if there is a business that you regularly work with who is not a business partner, ask them why they are not taking advantage of this opportunity and have them email David-Logan@comcast.net to get more information. Remember, we are all in this TOGETHER! See the Business Partner page on our website to contact someone today.

Where in the World is……

Karen Starr Sun Realty

Roberta Riley Sun Realty

Barbara Edgerton PGI Realty

Upcoming Events

2008 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando, Florida! Nov 7-10th

All Florida REALTORS® are entitled to FREE ADMISSION TO NAR’S EXPO. Download the following VIP INVITATION to take advantage of this free offer. Expo features: Unlimited opportunities to shop, compare, and save on the best tools on the market,More than 600 exhibitors and the opportunity to talk directly with product experts, Second home and resort properties around the world from nearly 100 exhibitors,Win $1,000 in daily drawings or a new Cadillac CTS!

Women’s Council of REALTORS®

Meetings 1st Wednesday of each month 11:30am

Next meeting: Wednesday December 3rd at St. Andrews Golf Club in Punta Gorda beginning at 6:00 where we will celebrate the installation of our 2009 officers. There is no charge for WCR members. Thank you to Brian Chapman State Farm Insurance for sponsoring this event. We will also be holding our annual Christmas Ornament Exchange and a Chinese Auction.

Don’t miss the Caravan.

A Caravan is a great opportunity to showcase your listing, network with fellow Realtors®, get pricing opinions, and have a good time. No listing to show…just come along for the ride!

Punta Gorda Caravan – 1st Thursday every month – 8:15am – Home Choice Real Estate - 6101 Duncan Rd. To have your listing included contact Mike no later than noon on the Tuesday prior to the caravan.

Port Charlotte Caravan – 3rd Thursday every month – 8:15am - PGPCNP Association Office **Please note that due to upcoming events and holidays, this caravan will be meeting the 2nd Thursday until 2009** E-mail Karen Martin two days prior to the caravan date to have your listing included. Listings can also be faxed to Karen at 941-743-9023.

Market Watch

Commercial Property Insurance - Citizens Property Insurance Corp. announced that it will begin offering a Commercial Nonresidential Multi-peril (CNR-M) policy on Nov. 17, 2008. This new policy will be available to eligible nonresidential entities statewide. Read the full story HERE.

New Income Tax Breaks - The end of the year is just around the corner, and it's time to look back, look ahead and do your best to beat Uncle Sam at the tax game. A handful of new tax breaks will help. Read the full story HERE.

Cape Coral: Officials consider ideas to manage foreclosed properties - The City Council is trying to figure out how to deal with more than 8,000 foreclosed properties saturating the city. Read the full story HERE.

Sarasota: State OKs mega-mall - State officials Friday removed a legal impediment that had delayed the start of construction at a proposed new mega-mall and mixed-use project, University Town Center. Read the full story HERE.

Retired Lauderdale Realtor marketing ‘professional tool belt’

MLS TIPS of the WEEK

Update your Contact Information. If you change offices, email addresses, phone numbers, etc…you will need to update your Contact information in MLXchange. Also, please note that if you do change email addresses or phone numbers to please notify the Association office as soon as possible so that your record can be updated. To see a detailed quick reference guide on how to update your information in MLXchange, click HERE.

Clean up your Temporary Internet Files and History. As you surf the Internet, files are being stored in your Temporary Internet Files folder on your hard drive. Also, shortcuts to the pages you have viewed on the Internet are stored in your History Folder. If a large amount of files are allowed to build up in these folders, your system functionality and performance can be affected. We recommend that you empty your Internet Temporary Files and History folder at least once a week. This practice should be part of your regular computer maintenance. To see detailed instructions on how to perform this important function, click HERE.

Real Estate Trivia

This Week’s Question

Question:Ann purchased a house for $159999. She wants to sell it for a profit of exactly 11%. However, she does not want to sell it herself. She wants a REALTOR® to sell it for her. The Agent must make a commission of exactly 5.8% (in addition to Ann's 11% profit). How much must the Agent sell the house for? Give your answer to the nearest dollar. Question courtesy of http://www.syvum.com/teasers/ where you can find more brain teasers and math puzzles.

Answer: See next week’s edition of PG-PC-NP Weekly Update!

Last Week’s Question

Question: What do the histories of Charlotte Harbor, Fl and Charlotte, NC have in common?

Answer: Both are named in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who was the German born Queen of the United Kingdom as spouse of King George III. Charlotte, NC is found within Mecklenburg County which is also named after the Queen in honor of her birthplace, Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Germany. Queen Charlotte was a patroness of the arts, known to Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others. She was also an amateur botanist who helped establish Kew Gardens. George III and Queen Charlotte had 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood.