BROKERS NEED TO KNOW
MAY 2014
2014 SAR AWARDS LUNCHEON
It is soon awards time again on your SAR calendar. The 2014 SAR
Awards will be announced at our annual Awards Luncheon:
Thursday, May 22nd
Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Red Lion River Inn
Tickets are $25
A flyer for this event is offered among the supporting
documents to this newsletter.
Registration deadline is May 19th.
Register online at spokanerealtor.com
PRICES UP MODESTLY
Spokane home prices continued pushing slowly upward, producing
a 3.3 percent price bump in April, according to the Spokane
Association of REALTORS®.
That modest increase follows tepid sales numbers in February and
March, said Rob Higgins, executive director of the association.
The article continues in The Spokesman-Review:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/may/08/spokane-home-prices-up-modestly-in-april/
Page 1 of 5
LEGAL HOTLINE: E&O INSURANCE
Does your Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance cover you when
you buy or sell real estate while representing yourself? Annie
Fitzsimmons, the Washington REALTOR® Legal Hotline lawyer,
discusses the topic in this short video.
See the video online here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=A0bFEFOlSmQ
Spring Business Conference Tech Forum
The recent Washington REALTORS® Spring Business Conference
featured a tech forum on time saving tools and techniques for
REALTORS®. Speaker David Spark with Spark Media Solutions
shares his presentation with us here:
http://www.slideshare.net/davidspark/realtor-33924978
FACT OR FICTION
Annie's recent Fact or Fiction approach to real estate legal
questions was so popular, she decided to reprise her role in a
second edition.
This time, Washington REALTORS® Legal Hotline lawyer Annie
Fitzsimmons asks if this is fact or fiction:
Statement - A listing Broker is covered by the Firm's liability insurance policy in the event a
person is injured while on Listing Brokers listed property.
Watch the video for her answer on the Washington REALTORS® YouTube page online here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EF3tv3t1eBc
Page 2 of 5
SPOKANE OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND
Plan now to hold an Open House during our fourth annual Open
House Weekend, May 31 - June 1.
Add your house on SpokaneOpen.com for your client to qualify
for a $1,500 gift certificate to Furniture Boutique! As their
REALTOR®, you may win a $500 VISA gift card!
The Spokesman-Review will again publish a special real estate
insert to the Sunday paper, that weekend, to highlight participating
open houses throughout the city (see flyer above).
Download the ad flyer from among the supporting documents
to this newsletter.
YOU BE THE JUDGE – MAY
Here is a new You Be The Judge for May: Case #2-2:
Responsibility for Sales Associate’s Error.
Those who decide correctly will be entered in a drawing for a
Starbucks coffee card!
The winner will be announced next month.
Read the case and submit your judgment online here:
http://www.spokanerealtor.com/information-center/code-of-ethics-/you-be-the-judge
Congratulations Clinton Sewright, Coldwell Banker Tomlinson – West Plains, our April
Starbucks card winner!
APRIL ANSWER:
The Hearing Panel found Realtor® A in violation of Article 10 of the Code of Ethics. In their
decision, the panel advised Realtor® A that no instruction from a client could absolve a Realtor®
from the obligation to market properties without regard to race, color, religion, sex, handicap,
familial status, country of national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity, as expressed in
Article 10. There was no doubt, in the panel’s opinion, that the exclusive use of “Choose Your
Neighbor” letters to market the property was designed to circumvent the requirements of Article
10.
From Case #10-4: Use of “Choose Your Neighbor” Marketing Letters.
Page 3 of 5
Last month's case is online here:
http://www.spokanerealtor.com/information-center/code-of-ethics-/prior-month-you-be-the-judge
LISTHUB REPORT FOR APRIL
ListHub allows offices to create a free account to manage the third party
websites your listings are distributed to automatically. The office can
subscribe to receive reports about what those sites are doing for their
listings, but the SAR receives a monthly overview.
At the start of each month, we will share these "filtered" reports to help you understand what
consumer traffic is doing in the Spokane market on these national websites.
Please note: the report includes listings and sites that are sent through ListHub. REALTOR.com® is
not powered by ListHub so is not currently ranked in these monthly reports.
The April ListHub report is included among the supporting documents to this newsletter.
APRIL MARKET STATISTICS
Lockbox statistics
SAR members may access the latest Spokane area market statistics any time online here:
http://www.spokanerealtor.com/mls/market-activity-mls-stats
Page 4 of 5
THE REALTOR® CODE OF ETHICS
NAR has created a new poster to support the newly updated 2014
REALTOR® Code of Ethics.
A PDF file, suitable for printing and/or sharing with your team, is
offered among the supporting documents to this newsletter.
--==--
Page 5 of 5