March 2013 Newsletter

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The Realtors® Association of Citrus County,Inc exists to inform, educate and uphold the high standards set forth in the REALTOR® Code of Ethics enhancing our members professionalism and image while fostering cooperation among our members and serving our communities. We provide education and leading-edge technology to better safeguard private property rights and promote equal housing opportunity.

March 2013 Volume X Issue 3

REThink – Real Estate How can you help? In last month’s Newsletter and membership meeting, we spoke about “Big Data” and what it meant and how the National Association of Realtors® has embraced the thought that our market is “facing a transformation in the next few years”. With this in mind the National As-sociation of Realtors® has taken a step back in how they need to build a strategic plan for the next few years, not just for them but for us, the members. They began this initiative/interactive workshop called REThink Real Estate lead by Elizabeth Mendenhall, which will take two years to complete. Their first workshop/session was held in Chicago at the Lead-ership Summit in August 2012, which Bonnie Rosenberger and I had the privilege to partici-pate in. During this process we were all broken out into groups, where we had a focal question to keep in mind –“in an ever-changing world, what is the future of the real estate industry in 5-10 years, and how will this affect consumers, real estate professionals, indus-try organizations, and associations?” Through innovative technology called SayZu, and some role playing of future scenarios, the workshop began. In every group was a “transcriber” that would try to capture all the dif-ferent thoughts and conversations that were being discussed for each scenario. Once the discussion period was complete, we would then review the different comments. This absolutely was a fun, and interactive ac-tivity. But most importantly, it will be the members that will provide the different insight for the final conclusion that NAR will be undertaking in June. You see, all the data that will be collected from the variety of work-shops that are being held across the country, will help shape and mold the new strategic plan. This data, “with the ultimate goal- will incorporate the results of these strategic conversations into a shared vision and actionable strategy about the future Realtors® want to create for their associations, the industry, and Ameri-can Society” as quoted in a NAR Article published in November of 2012. I am proud to say that even though we will not be holding an official Rethink session with NAR, we have al-ready held the same Rethink workshop, with our association’s leadership this past November. While, we were focused on a local level to begin our journey of new strategic planning at the local level, we had the full support from NAR and have shared our data. Now the leadership team would like you to participate in the same function. We have scheduled a Rethink Session on March 19, 2013 from 1:00 pm-4:30 pm, I assure you that you will find this exercise fun, interactive, and a great networking session. Most importantly, YOU our members will have a huge say in the direction of our association for the next 5 to 10 years, and most im-portantly be a part of building the Association Strategic Plan, and assist the association to be fully prepared for the future of our association, our community, and our industry. Lastly, I would like to leave you with a statement quote from 2012 NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami –“ As Realtors® gather, we’re focused on the road ahead, not only for real estate but also for the future of our families, communities and nation’s economy. The REThink initiative leverages the experiences and insights of Realtors®, academia, consumers and others to plan for and adapt to dynamic changes in the industry.” I look forward to seeing each of you at the March 14, 2013 “Multi-Million Dollar Breakfast”, and hope that you will consider participating in the REThink Session on March 19, 2013.

Respectfully,

Cheryl

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Broker of the Year Linda Cridland

February General Membership Meeting

The February General Membership Meeting provided lots of great information for the 60+ Members, Business Partners and Guests that attended. President Cheryl Lambert provided updates on the following:

*Legal Update cautioning members to be aware of Copyright laws when using pictures and verbiage on Social Media sites and encouraging them to look at Article 12 of the Code of Ethics.

*Great American Realtor Days will be April 9th and 10th in Tallahassee. Topics of interest this year include the Sadowski fund, Homeowners Insurance and Commercial Real Estate Taxes. You can take advantage of the free bus leaving from the association on April 10th and attend Great American Realtor Day.

*The Florida Realtors Professional Development Committee stated in January that they would be working to get one (1) hour classes approved for CE, at the current time this initia-tive has been put on hold.

*Big Data~ there will be a Re-Think Session on March 19th at 1pm. We encourage all Mem-bers (REALTORS® and Business Partners) to attend the session to help us learn what our Members are thinking. We will then take that info and utilize it when updating our Strategic Plan.

Next Vince Cautero provided an update on what is happening in Citrus County.

*The County has a partnership with Crystal River on a downtown redevelopment plan. For more info on this project please visit http://www.citruscountyfl.org/events/cr_redev_concept.pdf

*Sign enforcement is also in the works, it seems Businesses have too many signs in the right away…Vince stressed that For Sale Signs would not be touched.

*Duke Energy & Barge Canal is looking at a study.

*Amendment to the Comprehensive Plan~ Highway 491 and 486 will double in size by Gulf to Lake Group. March 8th, 2013 there will be a final adoption.

*There are 3 planned interchanges for the Suncoast Parkway~ 44 and back up to 19, Cardinal St. and 495. The DOT would like to break ground in 2014.

*Across the road from the Homosassa Wal-Mart there will be a Murphy’s Express.

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February also welcomed 8 new Members:

Karen Carnes~ Plantation Realty Donna Earling~ Moore & Moore Sherry Edwards~ Royal Palm Realty Louise Lubranecki~ Parsley Real Estate Gary Platfoot~ Plantation Realty Wanda Purser~ Kiefer Realty Nancy Stumpf~ White Diamond Realty Warren Thompson~ Keith Thompson 2012 RPAC Chair Cheryl Nadal presented the membership with an award from the Florida Realtors for the Highest Percentage of Goal for a Medium Board, congrats Cheryl and mem-bers! 2013 RPAC Chair Debbie Scott presented RPAC awards for the $99 Club and RPAC contributors. Our Business Partner of the Month was Jacqui Watkins/John C. Meyers Sr. Locksmith. Jacqui provided a gift basket with $25 Gas Card and Loaf of Strawberry Streusel that was won by Eric Swart of Citrus Pest Management. Jacqui also provided the homemade baked muffins that many members received as door prizes. Gary Platfoot was the winner of the share and share; he walked away with $75 with the other half of the money benefiting the Realtors Relay for Life team. Sherry Edwards’ name was drawn for the Queen of Hearts but she drew the 2 of spades and will receive a free meal at the next meeting. Next month the Queen of Hearts will be worth $60.00. If you draw a joker, you will win $20.00. If your business card is chosen, you’ll never be a loser, because you always win a free meal at the next membership meeting. Make your reservations today for the Million $ Producer breakfast on Thursday, March 14 at 8:00 a.m. at Citrus Hills Golf and Country Club.

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Realtor® of the Year Cheryl Lambert

Business Partner Jerry Brinkman & Regina

Sarah Spencer & Cheryl Lambert

Jacqui Watkins with Eric Swart, the winner of the gift basket

Members in attendance

President Cheryl Lambert 2012 RPAC Cheryl Nadal with the Award for Highest Percentage Raised for a Medium Size Board

Left: Vince Cautero providing an update on current projects in Citrus County.

Right: Sherry Edwards had a chance to draw for the Queen of Hearts but drew the 2 of Spades in-stead.

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This is your chance to attend Great American Realtor Days~ Rally in Tally for FREE!!

There will be no charge for registration of bus transportation. Limited to the first 50 members to sign up...visit www.raccfl.com or call 746-7550 to reserve your seat on the bus today!!

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The ROCC Committee is gearing up for our REALTORS Association of Citrus County ROCC Team in the Amercian Can-cer Society Relay for Life. This year the Realtors ROCC team will host a spot (overnight camping) at Lecanto High School at 6pm Friday April 12, ending around 10am Saturday April 13. If you would like to walk a lap or 2 for our team please contact ROCC. Invite your family, we walk ALL NIGHT , because Cancer never sleeps. You can walk anytime throughout for as little or long as you like. There will be events going on by other teams throughout the night as well. For more information, visit http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=49971&pg=team&team_id=1308716

If you would like to remember a loved one who passed away from Cancer, We are selling Luminaries to light up the track for a $5 donation. If you know someone who is a cancer survivor, they may join the survivor lap at 6pm April 12. Another fundraiser to help our team reach its goal is a PET WALK on Saturday, March 23rd from 8-10 am at the Crystal River Mall in conjunction with the Humane Society. Dress up your pet and show them off! It’s just a $5 donation and we will meet behind Sears. Fellow Realtors.... Volunteers are truly needed for the following:

• Set up Camp

• Make and Sell food for our team

• Walk laps

• Collect donations for American Cancer Society from businesses and friends

• Tear down camp Saturday

• Advertise these events in your personal newsletters or marketing

• Walk in the Pet Walk,,,,invite friends family and business acquaintances

• Man our table at the Pet Walk

• Clean up after Pet Walk

LET'S DO SOMETHING POSITIVE. For more information, Contact ROCC ...Lorelie LeBrun 352-613-3988 or Becky Nor-man 352-212-7217

Lorelie LeBrun and Becky Norman

ROCC CO Chairs

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4 Big Short Sales Hang-ups Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, February 21, 2013

Short sales are increasing this year, and these transactions can take up to three times longer than a traditional transaction. A lot can go wrong in that timeframe. These are the most common delays, according to a recent article by George “Gee” Dunsten, a real estate broker and president of Gee Dunsten Seminars, at RISMedia.

1. Title issues: Be sure to do a title exam at the beginning in order to identify all individuals on the deed and mortgages, and determine all lien holders.

2. Lack of communication with the lender: Lost documents and misunderstandings commonly cause delays. Make it a habit to follow up with the mortgage servicer twice a week to avoid un-necessary delays.

3. Delaying the start: Some short sales have not even begun until a contract to purchase has been initiated. But this could add up to two extra months to the process. The lender won’t even look at a buyer contract until a seller candidate for a short sale is approved and the market value has been determined, Dunsten writes.

Incomplete packages: Make sure you carefully submit all the documents completely and accu-rately. Submitting incomplete packages is another common culprit of delays. All home owner fi-nancial information will need to be kept current and forwarded to the servicer every 30 days, Dun-sten writes.

Source: “Avoiding the Dirty Dozen Barriers to Short Sale Success,” RISMedia (Feb. 20, 2013)

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Flood Insurance Subsidies Begin Phase-out

A phase-out of federal subsidies for older homes receiving federal flood insurance has kicked in as outlined under the flood insurance reform and reauthorization law enacted last year. As a re-sult, some owners of older properties could see their portion of flood insurance premiums rise. Under the phase-out, owners of second homes and vacation homes see a 25 percent increase in their premiums. That began on January 1. Starting in June, owners of business properties and properties that have experienced severe repetitive losses from flood damage will see a 25 percent increase in their share. Other incremental increases in the share of premiums owners are responsible for are forthcoming this year as well. Access a rate scheduled by clicking the following link:

http://nfipiservice.com/Stakeholder/pdf/bulletin/w-12043.pdf?om_rid=AAAZee&om_mid=_BRJR4vB8w83E3b&om_ntype=INSWeekly

An NAR brochure is available on how to explain the reforms to customers. Click this link:

http://www.ksefocus.com/billdatabase/clientfiles/172/8/1265.pdf?om_rid=AAAZee&om_mid=_BRJR4vB8w83E3b&om_ntype=INSWeekly

For more info contact Austin Perez, 202/383-1046.

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R P A C

REALTORS® Political Action Committee

Someone new to the real estate industry asked me the other day: ”What is RPAC…is it just the Association’s way of soliciting money?”

I pointed to a pin on my collar, my RPAC pin and replied: “This is the most expensive piece of jewelry I own”

Let me put it this way: I pay a total of $4000 – $6000 for my homeowners, windstorm and flood insurance – that’s just like RPAC…let me explain. My home is my investment. I need to protect it from any hazard ~ hurricanes, floods, wind and a multitude of other minor or major catastrophes. So what does that have to do with RPAC? Real estate is my business. Real estate is how I pay my mortgage, feed my kids and pay my bills. I love selling real es-tate. But if the business is slowly eroded over time because of government regulation and laws ~ that may prevent me from doing business. So RPAC is my business insurance… just like insurance for my home.

Several years back, the Florida Legislature enacted a law that charged 6% tax on our com-missions. I remember writing a check to the Fla. Dept. of Revenue for the tax every time I closed a sale ~ it was a killer to say the least. The Florida REALTORS® Association got to-gether and fought that tax and won…so much so that Governor Jeb Bush at the time called the current President of our state Association and told him…Call them off…meaning us REALTORS®. We were on a Call to Action. It took money to do that. That’s what RPAC is for! Amazingly, if each and every one of us gave just $25, we wouldn’t need Sterling R, Crystal R or Golden R Investors…we would ALL be investing in our business. If we all en-couraged our agents to email our legislators using the Call to Action when onerous legisla-tion comes up ~ it is amazing what we could accomplish.

So RPAC is our insurance for our livelihood. I would love to leave our business to my sons, but if we don’t get more involved and contribute to RPAC, I may not have a business to leave.

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Since 1969, the REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) has promoted the election of pro-REALTOR®candidates across the United States. The purpose of RPAC is clear: REALTORS® raise and spend money to elect candidates who understand and support their interests. The money to accomplish this comes from voluntary con-tributions made by REALTORS®. These are not members’ dues; this is money given freely by REALTORS® in recognition of how important campaign fundraising is to the political process. RPAC doesn’t buy votes. RPAC enables REALTORS® to support candidates that support the issues that are important to their profession and liveli-hood.

Calls for Action and Issues Awareness

When Congress is considering legislation that affects the real estate industry, NAR calls on its members to act. Simply by contacting your Member of Congress through an e-mail or a phone call, you can ensure that your business remains strong. NAR members join together and speak with one loud, powerful voice.

Matey Veissi, CIPS, CRS

Florida Realtors® 2013 Treasurer

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Legal Q&A: Disclosures:

Q: I’m an active Florida sales associate. My lender has recently foreclosed its mortgage on my per-sonal home. Is this an event that I’m required to self-report to the Department of Business and Pro-fessional Regulation (DBPR)? A: No. The self-reporting requirements under Chapter 455.227(1)(t), Florida Statutes, involve a li-censee requirement of self-reporting where the licensee is convicted or found guilty of, or has en-tered a plea of nolo contendere, or guilty of, regardless of adjudication, a crime in any jurisdiction. Bottom of Form

Q: May an associate be a shareholder in a real estate corporation? A: An associate may be a corporate shareholder, although Section 61J2-5.016, Florida Administra-tive Code, provides that no sales associate or broker associate may be registered as an officer or director of a brokerage corporation.

Q: I represent a buyer who wants to buy vacant land and develop it. The land my buyer is interest-ed in has gopher tortoises on it. Are there any special rules regarding gopher tortoises? A: Yes. In Florida, the gopher tortoise is classified as a threatened species, and the gopher and its burrow are protected by state law. It’s illegal to harm, capture or transport gopher tortoises or dam-age their burrows, except as authorized by specific Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commis-sion (FWC) permit. Property owners may need to capture and relocate all gopher tortoises before development-related activities can begin. Your buyer can find more information about gopher tor-toises and the permit process on the FWC’s Web site: myfwc.com.

Q: I represent a seller in a transaction. The seller learned after buying the property that it was the site of a murder-suicide years ago. Must this event be disclosed to a prospective buyer even though this murder-suicide did not occur during the seller’s ownership of the property? A: No. Under Section 689.25(1)(b), Florida Statutes, a homicide, suicide, or death that occurred on the property is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction.

Q: Is a new home seller required to disclose insulation information in the contract? A: Yes. Section 16, CFR 460.16, explains insulation disclosure requirements for new home con-tracts. The regulation reads as follows: “If you are a new home seller, you must put the following infor-mation in every sales contract: The type, thickness and R-value of the insulation that will be in-stalled in each part of the house. There is an exception to this rule. If the buyer signs a sales contract before you know what type of insulation will be installed or if there is a change in the contract, you can give the buyer a receipt stating this information as soon as you find out.”

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Q: I keep hearing that pursuant to the Homeowners' Association Disclosure law (Section 720.401, Florida Statutes), the seller must provide the buyer a current copy of the HOA documents. Is this true? A: No. Section 720.401 does not require the seller to provide a copy of the HOA documents to the buyer. The buyer could, however, include a provision in his/her offer requiring the seller to provide the documents to the buyer.

Q: Several days after I obtained a listing, the seller left a message on my voice mail explaining that a member of her family had committed suicide in the home several years earlier. She wasn’t sure whether this was something we were required to disclose to a prospective buyer. Before I could re-turn the seller’s call, a cooperating broker told me he had a buyer who was going to submit an offer to purchase later that day. I’m concerned that the seller and I have a legal obligation to disclose the fact that a suicide occurred in the home. Do we? A: No. Section 689.25, Florida Statutes, states that “[t]he fact that a property was, or was at any time suspected to have been, the site of a homicide, suicide, or death is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction.” The statute further provides “[a] cause of action shall not arise against an owner of real property, his or her agent, an agent of a transferee of real property, or a person licensed under Chapter 475 for the failure to disclose to the transferee that the property was or was suspected to have been the site of a homicide, suicide, or death...”

Q: I understand that there’s a property tax disclosure law that became effective January 1, 2005. Is this disclosure required for all real estate transactions? A: No. The Property Tax Disclosure Summary required by Section 689.261, Florida Statutes, is re-quired only in the sale of residential property and is included in both the Florida Realtors and Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract forms.

Q: I represent a buyer who’s interested in making an offer to a for sale by owner (FSBO) who’s sell-ing the home “as is.” I asked the seller to disclose any latent defects in the property, and he said he didn’t have to because the home is being sold “as is.” Does the seller have an obligation to disclose known latent defects if he is selling the home “as is?” A: Yes. In Johnson vs. Davis, the Florida Supreme Court held that “where the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer.” The disclosure can be made in writing or verbally. In addition, in Rayner vs. Wise Realty Co. of Tallahassee, the First District Court of Appeal provided that this same disclosure requirement applies to residential proper-ties that are being sold as is.

Q: Does the Section 404.056(5), Florida Statutes, radon gas disclosure have to be given to a buyer where the transaction involves the sale of vacant land?

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A: No. The radon gas disclosure is not required for transactions involving unimproved properties.

Q: Does the radon gas disclosure apply to residential leases? A: Yes. Section 404.056(5), Florida Statutes, requires the disclosure be provided prior to or at the time of execution of a rental agreement for any building. However, the statute states it does not ap-ply to residential transient occupancy in a public lodging facility for 45 days or less.

Q: I represent an investor who is selling a home. He tells me that since he’s never lived in the prop-erty, he isn’t required to provide the buyer with a seller property disclosure statement. Is this true? A: Yes and no. A seller isn’t required to fill out a seller’s disclosure statement regardless of whether the seller occupied the property or not. However, pursuant to the Florida Supreme Court case Johnson vs. Davis, a seller is required to dis-close known facts that materially affect the value of the property that are not known and readily ob-servable to the buyer. That disclosure requirement exists whether or not the seller occupied the property.

Q: I’m representing a seller of vacant land. I want to use the FAR Seller Real Property Disclosure Statement, but much of the form doesn’t apply to vacant land. Is there a better form to use? A: Florida Realtors has a Vacant Land Disclosure Statement specifically designed for the disclosure of facts related to vacant land. The form may be downloaded from Form Simplicity. (You will need to enter your login ID and password.)

Q: I’m the listing agent for bank-owned property. I want the bank to fill out a Seller's Real Property Disclosure Statement; however, a bank representative says this disclosure isn’t required by law since the bank never occupied the home. Is that true? A: It’s true that the bank isn’t required to fill out a Seller's Real Property Disclosure Statement or any similar form because there is no legal requirement for a seller to give a buyer a written seller proper-ty disclosure statement. However, a seller of a residential property, whether a bank or an individual and regardless of wheth-er the seller occupied the property, is obligated under Florida law to disclose to a buyer all known facts that materially affect the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer. The disclosure obligation can be fulfilled via either a verbal or written disclo-sure.

Q: Is the seller of a home that has a pending code enforcement action against it required to disclose this fact to a potential buyer?

A: Yes. Pursuant to Sections 125.69 (4)(d) and 162.06 (5), Florida Statutes, the transferor (i.e., the seller) must (a) disclose, in writing, the existence and the nature of the proceeding to the prospective transferee; (b) deliver to the prospective transferee a copy of the pleadings, notices and other mate-rials relating to the code enforcement proceeding received by the transferor; (c) disclose, in writing, to the prospective transferee that the new owner will be responsible for compliance with the applica-ble code and with orders issued in the code enforcement proceeding; and (d) file a notice with the code enforcement official of the transfer of the property, with the identity and address of the new owner and copies of the disclosures made to the new owner, within five days after the date of the transfer.

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WANT TO WIN A FREE MEMBERSHIP MEETING MEAL?

To the first member to email [email protected] the

answer to question below.

What day is the ROCC Committee’s Pet Walk at

the Crystal River Mall?

Last Month’s Winner Was:

Debra Ferguson

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MLS WARNINGS AND FINES FOR FEBRUARY In January the MLS issued the following to Par Warnings: Duplicate Lis(0) Wrong Category or Area (2) Pending and Closed (3) No Photo (1) Branded Virtual Tour (0) Fine: (0) Violation of the same offense will be subject to the following:

1st offense: Written Notice

2nd offense: $50.00 Fine

3rd offense: $100.00 Fine

• Failure to submit contingent, pending and closed information within two (2) business days.

• Failure to enter a photo. Note: The seller may request in writing a photograph of the property not be included.

• Failure to enter a listing in the correct category.

• Duplicate address and/or alternate key for the same property.

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BUSINESS PARTNERS:

Dolan Smith Carpentry Inc Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T)

Dolan Smith Ben Branch

(352) 212-5117 (352) 586-2007

[email protected] [email protected]

Insight Credit Union

Jim Ferrara

(888) 843-8328 Ext. 11500

[email protected]

NEW MEMBERS

Marian “Louise” Lubranecki Parsley Real Estate

Agent No Longer With Now With

NEW MEMBER OFFICES

Inactives with REALTORS® ASSOCIATION OF CITRUS COUNTY

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MARCH 2013

Feb-ruary 2013

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

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3 4 How to Successfully Sell a HUD Home. 3HR CE 1-4pm

5 6 7 Bd Directors 8:30am

8 Ask the Experts~ 4 Pt. Inspections and Insurance 1pm

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10 Daylight Savings

11 12 Orientation 8:00 - 4:00pm Ed Comm 8:30am

13 Contract to Close 9 - 10:30 Tech Comm 1:00

14 Million $ Producer Break-fast Citrus Hills 8am iCE Class ~ Ad-vanced Commu-nication Skills 1-4pm

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17 Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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19 Rethink Session 1:00-4:30pm

20 Spring Begins

21 Setting Goals for what You Want to Happen. 10am-Noon

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24 Palm Sunday

25 Passover begins

26 27 28 MLS Bd of Mgrs 9:00am

29 Good Friday Association is Closed.

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31 Easter

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January and February Residential and Vacant Land MLS Stats

These statistics were taken from the MLS on These statistics were taken from the MLS on

January 31, 2012 February 27, 2013

RESIDENTIAL VACANT LAND RESIDENTIAL VACANT LAND

Active 1668 Active 1643 Active 1707 Active 1656

New 429 New 115 New 362 New 123

Closed 117 Closed 68 Closed 130 Closed 37

Pending 275 Pending 47 Pending 264 Pending 67

BOM 163 BOM 74 BOM 128 BOM 54

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150

200

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1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

Single FamilyCondoMobileVacant

Realtors Association of Citrus County 714 S Scarboro Ave Lecanto, FL 34461 Phone: 352-746-7550 Fax: 352-746-3223 email: [email protected] Web: http://www.raccfl.com

Chart displays Closed listings

Our condolences and deepest sympathy are extended to REALTOR® Louise Schmid on

the loss of her husband, REALTOR® Tony Schmid and to REALTOR® Peggy Taylor on the loss of her mother-in-law.