The Connecticut Association of REALTORS®, Inc. presents the 27th Annual REALTORS® at the Capitol event on April 6, 2011.

For over 26 years, Connecticut REALTORS® have been coming together to meet with State Senators and Representatives to let them know our views on the issues that affect our business. Having a significant size group at this event will make a difference. Your participation will help show the Legislators that our views are important and we need to be heard.

Plus! Five lucky RAC attendees will each win a $200 American Express Gift Card! You must be present at the orientation session at The Bushnell to win!

Check out http://www.ctrealtor.com/rac/ for more info!!!!

Appraisal-1 will be held at the Gr. Hartford Association office in West Hartford on March 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29.  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-3 will be held at the Midd-Shore Association office in Old Saybrook on March 7, 9, 14 & 16. When you complete the GRI-3 Series,  you satisfy 30 hours of Broker pre-licensing,  6 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. 

Principles & Practices will be held at the CAR office in East Hartford beginning April 5^th.  30-hour Broker Candidates can choose either 5 Tuesdays or 5 Thursdays to attend within the program.

 Note: Broker applicants who completed a 30-hour Principles & Practices course after October 1, 1994 are required to complete an additional 30-hour Principles & Practices and pass the final exam. Broker applicants who completed Principles & Practices prior to October 1, 1994 must take a full 60-hour course.

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!  For course information and to register click here or contact Brett Moody with any questions.

The RPAC Trustees held a special meeting to determine which of the Candidates running in the upcoming February 22 Special Elections should receive an RPAC endorsement.  Their choices go to those who are staunch allies and promote and protect the American Dream of home ownership. 

The following candidates received an RPAC endorsement for the Special Election:

1) Tim Stewart, R - Senate district 6 (Berlin, Farmington, New Britain);

2) Bob Kolenberg, R - Senate district 27 (Stamford, Darien);

3) Linda Monaco, R - House district 99 (East Haven).   

The “endorsement” means that the candidate possesses those attributes favorable to free enterprise, private property rights, and housing opportunity and choice.  The endorsed Candidates may reach out to REALTORS® in their district, whether for posting lawn signs, seeking assistance for “threshold fundraisers”, writing letters to the editor or for other volunteer support.   We urge REALTORS® and their families to support these candidates in their district with their votes, volunteer talent and financial assistance.  It is most important to get out and VOTE, Special Election Day is February 22. 

Please consider contributing to the 2011 RPAC Fundraising campaign.  What better way to begin the year than by supporting your industry with a Fair Share contribution ($15) and getting someone else involved too! RPAC is important in keeping the real estate industry strong.

To contribute now using your personal check or credit card, simply click here.

For assistance with your local Board/Association Political Fundraising efforts, please contact Holly Reed.

If you answered “yes” to these three questions, be on the lookout for CAR’s Legal Department’s QUIZ QUESTIONS. There will be a new question every two weeks, all correct answers will go into a hat and the lucky name drawn wins a $25 restaurant.com gift card. Where’s the QUIZ QUESTION? It’s on CAR’s home page http://www.ctrealtor.com/  under “The Latest From CAR”. 

CONGRATULATIONS to Linda Dryburgh, last week’s winner! Every two weeks, all correct answers will go into a hat and the lucky name drawn wins a $25 restaurant.com gift card.  

So, if you want to prove you’re smart and lucky and want to eat out for less, CHECK THIS OUT.

Need assistance with a client who speaks a foreign language? Use CAR’s FLD to find a CT REALTOR® who can help! Click here to check out the recently updated directory, now representing 52 different languages. If you or a member of your office speaks a foreign language and would like to be included in the next update, click here and fill out the online form.

• REALTORS® at the Capitol - April 6th, 2011!
• Look no Further – CAR Offers All the Required Courses for a Broker’s License
• RPAC Takes Stand in Upcoming Special Elections 
• 2011 RPAC Needs Your Contribution
• Are You a Gamer? Think You’re Smarter than Your Fellow REALTORS®? Want to Eat Out for Less?
• CAR'S Foreign Language Directory
• Follow CAR’s Legal Department on Twitter!
• Real Estate News
• Member Benefits
• CAR Staff News
  
   

Find breaking legal matters, hotline trends, announcements of form updates, legal alerts, et cetera at http://twitter.com/CTRealtorsLegal!

The combination of new and existing home sales in January 2011 decreased from December 2010 with the annualized rate of sales declining to 5.165 million from December’s annualized rate of 5.48 million. Unit sales in January 2011 increased 4.3 percent over January 2010 the first increase in several months over the year ago results. 

The average price of new and existing home sales in January 2011 decreased 6.2 percent from January 2010 reversing the last six months of increases in the prices of homes sold.

Read more here.

For more interesting real estate news, please visit here.

Featured Benefits:

CAR is excited to introduce SutiSign as a new member benefit!

SutiSign is an electronic signature based approval system which eliminates time delays, paperwork, resource costs, shipping charges and any other costs associated with the manual approval process. The pricing is designed so the cost of a monthly subscription is less than the cost of shipping one document by courier. SutiSign is offering CAR members a 30-day FREE trial and a 10% discount off their “Professional Subscription Rate”. Click here to learn more.

Need a new cell phone or want to upgrade your current cell phone?

T-Mobile is offering CAR members a huge discount on a wide variety of cell phones including the Blackberry 9780, T-Mobile G2, HTC HD7 and Samsung Galaxy Tab. Click here to read more. These cell phone discounts are only available until 4/5/2011!

Not a T-Mobile subscriber? Click here to learn more about the wide variety of discounts and services offered to you as a member of CAR including:

• 10% on qualifying monthly recurring charges for new and existing customers (includes voice, text & e-mail services)  *exclusions apply
• Waived Activation Fees ($35 savings per line)
• Free 2 Day Shipping
• FREE and/or Discount Devices (included with some promotions)

Receive up to $75, Go Green and Save on Your Energy Bill!

By choosing Energy Plus as your electricity supplier and enrolling in the green option, you will be directly reducing our nation's requirement for electricity generated from the combustion of fossil fuels.  In addition to helping out the environment, you can enroll your home to receive a $25 Activation Bonus AND an automatic 3% Cash Back rebate on your annual electricity supply charges.  You can even sign up your business to receive a $50 Activation Bonus and annual Cash Back rebate of 5%. Click here if you are ready to go green and start saving money today!

Congratulations to CAR staff member Brett Moody who was recently promoted to Member Services Coordinator. You can contact her at moodyb@ctrealtor.com or at 860/290-6601 ext. 308. 

CAR is also pleased to welcome Abby Krist to our staff. Abby began working for CAR this week as Member Programs Administrator. You can contact Abby at krista@ctrealtor.com or at 860/290-6601 ext. 317.

In the Member Services Department, Brett and Abby handle CAR's Education, Member Benefits and Gates Scholarship Program.

 111 Founders Plaza, Suite 1101
East Hartford, CT 06108
1-800-335-4862
Fax: 860-290-6615
www.ctrealtor.com

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