| REALTORS® at the Capitol -
April 6th, 2011! |
|
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!!!!
|
| Gates Scholarship
Auction/Luncheon |
|
Plans are underway for the 11th Annual Gates
Scholarship Auction/Luncheon which will be held on
Tuesday, April 26th, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
(approximately) at the Holiday Inn, North Haven
(immediately following the CAR BOD meeting).
We are presently seeking donations and items to
include in the auction. Click here for further
details or click here to make a
donation. Did you know that over the past
34 years the Raymond F. Gates, Jr. Scholarship
Fund has provided over $630,000 in scholarships to
the children of REALTORS®? Last year alone,
50 children of REALTORS® received $50,000 in
scholarships to assist them in their pursuit of
higher education. But we are limited to
awarding what is received in donations and
interest earned on the fund each year…so please
consider contributing to this worthwhile
cause. |
| Gates Scholarship
Applications |
|
Raymond F. Gates, Jr. Memorial Scholarship
applications are now available! Children of
REALTORS®, REALTOR-ASSOCIATES®, Local
Board/Association Staff and CAR staff members are
eligible to apply. Click here to download an application
package from the “Special Programs” area of our
website. Username and password are required.
Applications not complete or received by the
Friday, May 20 deadline will not
be considered. For more information, contact Brett Moody at
860-290-6601, ext. 308. |
| Attention
Designated
REALTORS®! |
|
Don’t miss out on the special meeting exclusively
for Designated REALTORS® (DRs) being held next
Thursday, March 10! Registration has been extended
to this Monday, March 7th. To learn
more and register for this event, click here. PLEASE NOTE
THAT THIS MEETING IS FOR DRs ONLY. |
| DO YOU
SELL SHORT SALES OR NEGOTIATE WITH THE BANK? New
Federal Trade Commission Rules Require Short Sale
Disclosures. |
|
The Federal Trade Commission has issued a final
rule on the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services
(MARS). To view more on the MARS rule click here or visit the
Law & Regulations page under the Legal section
on CAR’s website http://www.ctrealtor.com/. |
| Are You a
Gamer? Think You’re Smarter Than Your Fellow
REALTORS®? Want to Eat Out for
Less? |
|
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 under
“The Latest From
CAR”.
CONGRATULATIONS to Stan
Kegeles, 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!
|
| Beware
E-Mail Scams! |
|
Scams are proliferating. The most common at the
moment is an e-mail from a “cash buyer” who loves
the “curb appeal.” The e-mail says a check will be
coming from an attorney (usually in Canada or
England) and will request the name of a
Connecticut attorney. A check will be sent and
after two or three days when the check has
‘cleared’ there will a request for some amount for
moving expenses, bring the family over or some
such. The agent or attorney will send the check
and then the agent’s bank (sometimes up to two
weeks later) will inform the agent that the
original check was fraudulent. The agent or
attorney is then out the “moving expense”
money.
The important element is to remember
that it can take a long time to discover checks
are altered and that agents should not write
checks out of their escrow accounts back to a
“buyer” unless they know the check has cleared-
which can take several weeks. The second point is
that this scam has all the elements of an Internet
scam – the appearance of legitimacy, an appeal to
greed (cash buyer off the Internet for a property
that hasn’t been seen- a commission and no
effort!) and speed. Finally, agents should know
where on the Internet their listings are going. In
one case, an e-mail impersonated an official from
a Russian gas company from a website that the
agent didn’t even know had the agent’s listing.
The tipoff that it was a scam was that several
agents in the same office received the same e-mail
from the same person making cash offers on
different pieces of property- all off the same
website. For further information email Attorney Eugene Marconi or
call 800-355-4862. | |
| In This
Issue: |
|
|
| Hotsheet Legal
Tip |
|
Agreements Should
Be In Writing.
Whether you
represent the buyer/tenant or the seller/landlord,
remind your client that in order to be
enforceable, agreements must be in writing. This
applies to all aspects of the transaction – the
listing agreement, the buyer/tenant representation
agreement, a lease, a purchase and sale agreement,
and any agreements between the parties, for
example, a seller leasing back the property after
closing, the date when the seller will vacate the
property, and/or promises to make and pay for
repairs. Bottom line: Do not rely on
verbal agreements. |
| Real Estate
News |
| Five Signs That Say
‘Buy’: Jobs, Recent Sales Activity, Construction,
Mortgage Availability, and Anecdotal Evidence.
Some parts of the country
were less affected by the recession than others.
Prospective buyers should review job-growth data
from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, at
www.bls.gov. Unlike many backward-looking economic
statistics, jobs data are only about a month old
and can "clearly show the direction of the local
economy," says Carolyn Beggs, chief operating
officer of real-estate data provider Local Market
Monitor Inc. The National Association of Home
Builders also posts state and local employment
data, at NAHB.com.
You also want to see a
brightening personal-income picture for the
previous six-month period. Those numbers are
available via the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's Bureau
of Economic Analysis, at http://www.bea.gov/.
Source: Real
Trends
For more interesting real
estate news, please visit here. |
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|
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|
|
111 Founders Plaza,
Suite 1101
East Hartford, CT
06108
1-800-335-4862
Fax:
860-290-6615
www.ctrealtor.com
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my email address!
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