It has been reported to the CAR office that our staff email was being marked as spam by some Internet Service Providers. Please check your junk mail folders for CAR emails and click on “This is not spam” so our emails flow to your inbox. Thank you for your help in this matter.

If you know a candidate running for office in your town who is supportive of the real estate industry, why not recommend them for RPAC support? Click here for the REALTOR® recommendation form online, or contact the CAR office and ask for the recommendation form to be sent over to you. Do not delay. Recommendations must be received by the CAR office on or before Friday, September 16^th! For questions or assistance, please contact Holly Reed.

Are you ready for some football?!  CAR members receive a significant discount on select UConn Huskies tickets.  Attend the home opener on Thursday, September 1^st for only $10!  Additional games against Iowa State, Syracuse and Louisville are discounted at $16 per ticket. Tickets are limited so purchase yours today!  For more details, click here.

CMBA is accepting nominations for their annual affordable housing awards. They are hoping for more REALTOR® nominations. If you know of someone who meets the criteria on this application please fill out and email the form to Lisa Governale or fax to her attention at 860 290-6615. The deadline to submit an application is September 7^th!

The CAR Foundation invites you to attend its second annual Autumn Wine Tasting on Thursday, September 15^th at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven. Register online or contact Gina Ballard at extension 312 for more information.

Don’t miss Connecticut’s largest gathering of affordable housing practitioners and advocates. The annual conference of the Connecticut Housing Coalition will be held on Wednesday, October 19^th at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. This year’s event promises 16 wide-ranging workshops, inspiring presenters, practical training and valuable networking opportunities. Register by September 30^th for early bird savings.  A detailed conference brochure and online registration will both be available at the Coalition’s website in late August.  For more information, visit http://www.ct-housing.org/ or email conference@ct-housing.org.

Was one of your 2011 goals to become a Broker?  What are you waiting for?  CAR offers much of what is needed to take the next step towards advancing your career! 

GRI-3 will be held at the Gr. Hartford Association office in West Hartford on Sept. 12, 14, 19 & 21. When you complete the GRI-3 Series, you satisfy 30 hours of Broker pre-licensing,  9 hours of elective Continuing Education (CE) credit necessary for 2012 license renewal, the NAR mandatory Ethics training (required every four years) and receive the NAR At Home with Diversity certification. 

Appraisal-1 will be held at the Gr. New Haven Association office in North Haven on Sept. 13, 20, 27, Oct. 4 & 11.  Five Tuesdays place you on your way to completing the Appraisal-1 course which is approved for 30 hours of Broker Pre-licensing credit AND 6 hours of Elective Continuing Education (CE) Credit toward 2012 license renewal.  

GRI-2 will be held at the Mid-Fairfield County Association office in Westport on Sept. 26, 28, Oct. 3 & 5. When you complete the GRI-2 Series, you satisfy 30 hours of Broker pre-licensing and 9 hours of elective Continuing Education (CE) credit necessary for 2012 license renewal.

For information on pre-licensing requirements click here.

Make sure to register two weeks in advance and save $25 on EACH course with early bird pricing!  Click here to register for any of our courses.  If you have any questions, email Abby Krist or call 1-800-335-4862, ext. 317.

On August 12, CAR sent out another edition of the e-newsletter “Education GPS - Guide to Personal Success”.  If you missed it, click here. Be sure to check out the special $20 savings Promo Code in the newsletter that is only good until September 2. This Promo Code can be combined with Early Bird pricing for a total savings of $45 on almost any classroom course! 

CAR Legal Department’s hottest fun feature, Quiz Question, continues. The prize is a $25 restaurant.com gift card! It’s easy to play! Just read the question, pick your answer, and submit it. Look for Q² in the Hotsheet every two weeks and on CAR’s home page under “The Latest from CAR”. All correct answers go into a hat and the winner’s name is drawn. 

Maxine Trout was the winner of last week’s quiz question.  

Here is the link for this week’s quiz!

If you have been waiting until tax free week to bring your children/grandchildren back to school shopping, there is another way to save even more!  CAR members receive free VIP coupon books filled with added savings for both Premium and Tanger Outlets. Both outlets offer an impressive collection of the finest designer labels and brands with savings of 25% - 70% every day.  For information on how to save at the Premium Outlets, click here and for Tanger Outlets, click here.

The Home Ownership Matters bus tour is crossing the country this year, giving people the opportunity and resources to talk to legislators about how shifting public policy priorities in Washington could jeopardize home ownership. The bus will roll into Plainville’s Hot Air Balloon Festival from 4pm to 7pm August 27^th thanks to an invite from the Mid-State Association. For more details check out the event page here and NAR’s bus tour website http://www.realtor.org/topics/bustour2011.

Watch for LandLaw which arrives in your inbox the first Tuesday of each month (it looks like this: CT Association of REALTORS® - REALTOR® LandLaw). See what others have been reading for 10 years. LandLaw features a legal question and answer, a vocab word, a case or two, and the Police Blotter. Find out what someone did wrong and what the punishment was. Get better at what you do by knowing more. Your clients will appreciate it. Click here for past versions of the LandLaw newsletter:  Please note, you will need your ctrealtor.com username and password to access LandLaw articles.

First time Leadership Conference registrants receive 50% off ($60 savings) the Conference fee for CAR’s 10^th Annual CT REALTORS® Leadership Conference. To take advantage of this discount and to learn more about the Leadership Conference taking place at the Mystic Marriott on November 29, click here.

Tired of tracking down your clients to sign every single document?  Would you like to close more deals? Sign documents in minutes with e-signatures, and, with Template Wizard, see why SutiSign is simply the easiest solution on the market.  CAR Members receive a free 30 day trial and a 15% discount off their "Electronic Signature Corporate Plan".  For a limited time, CAR members are invited to learn more about SutiSign at their live online trainings every Thursday from 2:00–3:00 pm EST for the months of July and August.  For more information or to sign up, click here.

This year’s “RPAC Week” will be celebrated the week of September 26–30^th.  

To celebrate “RPAC Week”, all REALTORS® who contribute their Fair Share RPAC contribution of $15 dollars or more between August 3 and September 30 will automatically be entered in a drawing to win an iPad. Many local boards/associations are relying on this final push for 2011 RPAC in order to make their RPAC Goal. Statewide, Connecticut needs to raise its participation percentage for RPAC to 25%.  If your company receives a visit from your local RPAC team, please help them feel welcome, and contribute your fair share to RPAC. Contribute now using your personal check or credit card. Simply click here. (You will need your CAR website username and password to access the donation form.) Approximately 850 more REALTOR® contributions to RPAC will put us ahead of other states like California!

For questions or assistance, please contact Holly Reed, CAR’s RPAC/Government Programs Coordinator.

A special rally will be held on September 20^th to bring into focus the important role REALTOR® Champions play in advancing home ownership and our other public policy priorities. 

Do you have questions about your duty as a Champion?  Want special insight into upcoming issues affecting the real estate business?

This gathering in North Haven is exclusively for you. It’s just 2 hours, but is purposefully focused on state of the art tools and best practices to advocate our legislative priorities in Hartford and in Washington! (There’s no cost to Champions). 

Please see the registration flyer for further information here. The deadline to sign up is September 9, 2011.  Questions? Contact Mary-Ann. Interested in becoming a REALTOR® Champion, click here.

• CAR Email Issues
• REALTOR® Recommendations for Municipal Elections Being Accepted Now
• DISCOUNT: UConn Huskies Football Tickets
• Nominate a REALTOR® for the Connecticut Mortgage Bankers Association Affordable Housing Award
• Time is Running Out to Register for the Wine Tasting!
• Support Housing Creation in Your Community
• Connecticut Housing Coalition Annual Conference 
• Look No Further: Required Courses for a Broker’s License
• Education GPS: Guide to Personal Success
• Q²: Game On!
• Tax Free Week: August 21 - 27
• Like the Legal Stuff? Want More?
• NAR Home Ownership Matters Bus to Visit Plainville August 27^th
• 50% Discount for First Time Leadership Conference Registrants!
• Final Sutisign Training: August 25^th!
• 2011 RPAC Week Coming Up in September!
• REALTOR® Champions, Please Join Us on September 20th!
• Hotsheet Legal Tip
• Real Estate News
• Education: Just a Click Away! 
• Member Benefits 

Escrow Holder

An escrow holder is a third party that is given money to hold in connection with a real estate transaction. That third party can be one of the real estate brokers involved, but is not required to be, and may be an attorney for one of the parties to the agreement or a disinterested attorney. The role of the escrow holder is to hold the escrowed money in trust for both parties for subsequent delivery or disbursement in accordance with the parties’ agreement.

Follow CAR’s Legal Department on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CTRealtorsLegal!

Second Quarter Metro Area Prices Mixed with Little Change

Median existing-home prices declined modestly in the second quarter with 27 percent of metropolitan areas experiencing price gains from a year ago, while state home sales declined from the second quarter of 2010, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of REALTORS®. Read more here. 

Source: NAR

For more interesting real estate news, please visit here. 

As you review your calendar to see when you can fit in continuing education classes, are you thinking you’re too busy to commit to traditional classroom courses?  If you rarely know what your schedule will be more than a week or two in advance, there are plenty of options where REALTORS® can take courses online for CE credit, professional development, and designation certification. You can take the courses offered in your home, your office, or while traveling 24 hours a day, seven days a week with just a computer and an Internet connection.  For more information click here.

Bridgeport Bluefish

Long Wharf Theatre

New Britain Rock Cats

Six Flags

The Bushnell

XL Center