October newsletter 2014

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Volume X, Issue 10 OCTOBER 2014

THE RACC NEWSLETTER 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 opportunities.

President, Greg Younger

3 Things you can do to build your business today!

1. Generate leads. Talk to people every day. Have real estate conversations. Can you ask this question?

"What are your real estate plans for the future?" Make a commitment to have at least 3 legitimate real estate

conversations a day. A recent Lending Tree survey of single-family, owner-occupied homes stated that 71% of

homeowners are thinking of selling this year. If that's even anywhere close to true, that's a lot of people who are

thinking of selling. Seek them out. Talk to them. Having real estate conversations is something you can control.

2. Convert leads into listing appointments. This is a process of elimination. Go on the listing

appointments where the conditions are right for you to leave with a listing. Keep in touch with the ones where the

conditions aren't right yet… keep in touch until they are ready. Which ones to skip: If they aren't at least thinking

of selling; If all the decision makers aren't going to be there, and willing to give you enough time; If they won't tell you

in advance either how much they think it's worth, or how much they owe and how much they need; If you don't

have enough information to do a ballpark market analysis in advance; Finally, if you haven't been referred in, or

validated in advance… don't go.

3. Price it to sell. Most Sellers have an unrealistic idea of the value of their home. They are by and large

misinformed or uninformed. But they have hopes. And they have very persuasive reasons why we should accept

their price. See if you have heard these:

"We want to at least try a higher price for a couple of weeks."

"We need some wiggle room to negotiate."

"That's what the neighbors sold for."

"That's how much we have to net."

Being a professional listing agent you know how to get them to agree to base their price on the market, not on their

needs. Even if the market is a moving target, use the facts all the co-brokes will use to decide if your listing is worth

showing. Use the facts the buyers will use to make an offer. Use the facts the appraisers will use. Use the facts the

underwriters will use. If they won't agree to price it to sell, don't take it. Or at least don't take it without

agreement in writing to adjust the price when there is no activity.

MLS Tidbit: You can now assign a lockbox to your listing from the MLS and view reports for that

listing. You will still have to login to your Supra account to remove lockboxes from inventory and

maintain them. Just open your listing in the MLS and click the Supra button.

Presidents Message 1

Sept. Membership

Meeting

2015 Officers &

Directors

2-5

6

Full Page Business

Partners

7-8

MLS Advantage 9

Education Classes 11-

13

67 Ways NAR is

Indispensable

14-

16

Realist 1.13 17-

18

MLS Warnings and

Fines

19

Education Corner 19

Calendar 20

On the Move 21

Stats 22

Inside this issue:

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2015 Officers and Directors Elected at September General Membership Meeting On September 11, 2014 RACC held elections for the 2015 Officers and Directors at our General Membership Meeting. 83 Realtors and 38 Business Partners and guests were present for the annual event. Networking began at 11 a.m. and President Greg Younger called the meeting to order at 11:30 a.m. Secretary Rob Tessmer, Jr. provided the invocation and pledge followed by Business Partner Chair Melissa Seney introducing the business partners that were present. Business Partners of the Month, Rhonda Lestinsky and Paul Mellini with Nature Coast Bank took a few moments to address the members. President Elect Debbie Rector introduced the 2014 Officers and Directors before inducting our new members. Please welcome: Stephen Abrams Realty Connect Michael Barth Coldwell Banker Investors Realty Carol Bartolet Sherri C Parker & Assoc. Deborah Beck EXIT Realty Leaders Carol Burns Century 21 J W Morton James Callaghan EXIT Realty Leaders John Carey Coldwell Banker Next Generation Realty Betty Heller EXIT Realty Leaders Lisa Lofley Trotter Realty Heather Peacock ERA American Realty Andrew Ponticos The Andrews Group Stephan Ponticos The Andrews Group Mark Schroder Century 21 J W Morton Michael Smith Century 21 J W Morton Kelly Tedrick ERA American Realty Carolyn Tucker ERA American Realty

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Next, Election Committee Chairman Steve Varnadoe conducted the Election, Committee Members Sarah Spencer and Dennis Pilon confirmed we had a quorum. The slate of officers and directors were approved as slated. Congrats to our 2015 Leadership Team: President Debbie Rector President Elect Rob Tessmer Jr Treasurer Linda Cridland Secretary John Maisel Past President Greg Younger Directors Gitta Barth Jackie Davis Karen Morton Donnie Bass Marvia Korol Holly Jones District7 Vice President Cheryl Lambert spoke about the Florida Realtors® conference, the float and winning the award. Cheryl also talked about the road rally and encouraged members to attend. For more info please visit http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/roadrally.cfm A delicious lunch of Salad, Chicken Parmesan, Lasagna, Garlic Rolls and cookies was catered by Oysters. Jenette Collins, Citrus County Land Development provided a brief update. Jenette mentioned the permit count is up from this time last year. Total permits this year will be close to 11,000. Next we heard from State Representative Jimmie T Smith. Representative Smith thanked our Realtors® for being able to explain what it is that makes this area great...the waterways, festivals and a great community to be a part of. Jimmie took some time to discuss the Sadowski fund, last year we were able to show legislators how important it was. Jimmie would hear from our members like Debbie Scott saying "that number just won’t work". Jimmie expressed how important it is for many of our Realtors® to attend Great American Realtor® Days, it makes other legislators take notice that Citrus County is very serious about what is going on. He encouraged everyone to use their voices for the upcoming legislation session and said he expects our members to blow up his phone and email with their thoughts on different issues. Mr. Smith also said he loves the old historic places around the county, but he would also like to see some new businesses coming in. We need to offer some retail shops. Jimmie stated “he is a redneck kid with a GED who deals with a $70 million budget. If he can do it, we can all do it”! Barbara Wheeler, Mid Florida Homeless Coalition, thanked us for everything we did at the District VII meeting. Barbara was awe struck as to what we were able to do, those donations went to help the homeless in five counties. The Coalition now has a home in downtown Inverness, first time they have had a location in fourteen years. Barbara told everyone that we have to speak to our legislators and let them know what we need done for affordable housing, the homeless and the Sadowski fund. Lots of people going to food banks are just trying to survive and keep a roof over their head, many people have mortgages that are now 50-80% of the income. Parents that are homeless can now get child care so they can find a job, this piece of legislation was passed this year. DVP Cheryl Lambert presented RPAC Awards: Holly Jones, Kathy Tolle and John Holloway Jr were announced as Capital Club Members. Melonie Haag was presented the Statesman Award. All members who are $99 club members were asked to stand and be recognized. Habitat- Sarah Spencer and Rob Tessmer Jr discussed the Ruby Tuesday’s event, they stated Cooler of Cheer tickets still available and Golfers needed for the Tournament on Oct. 6th. Brokers were challenged to bring in teams, doesn't matter if you are good, women need to sign up too. If you can't get a team together, throw us $100 and we will put you as a sponsor. continued

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President Greg took a few moments to make some exciting announcements. Greg told members that they will no longer be charged the $4.50 MLS Listing fees effective Aug. 1st. Effective Nov. 1st Meetings will be free for active agents and Business Partners, with the following exceptions: Installation, Million $ producer breakfast and Chili Cook Off. Remember, you must register ahead of time to receive the meal for free. If you make a reservation and do not show, you will be billed. Effective Jan. 1st Education Classes will be free for CE classes that are 4 hours or less. You will have to pay for 14 hr, Certifications and Designations. Starting October first every time you attend an education class, your name will be entered into a drawing. At the end of every quarter we will draw out one name, that person will receive free MLS Dues for that quarter ($108.75 value). Be sure to sign up for those classes!! The Board of Directors recently designated $50,000 to pay down the mortgage. Greg is looking for members who would be interested in participating on the strategic planning committee. Contact Cheryl if you are interested. This month’s Share n share to benefit the Homeless. $200 to the winner and $201 to the Homeless. Kathy Canfield was the lucky winner. Rhonda Lestinsky drew for the door prize of a relaxation package that contained red wine, beer, candles, bath bubbles, etc. Marvia Korol name was drawn, but she was not present. The winner was Jodie Holder. Tami Scott drew the Queen of Hearts for $280!! She donated $140 to the Homeless Coalition and $140 to the Ron Rae Sail Away Cancer Fundraiser. Thanks Tami! Hazel Carlson spoke about an IRS scam, if you get a call or they come to your house, it is fraud. Ignore them. The numbers that have been coming in have been from area code 202. The meeting adjourned at 1:10pm

President Elect Debbie Rector

inducting the new members

Members and Business Partners

enjoying lunch

Jenette Collins providing a

County Update

continued

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Election Chairman Steve Varnadoe Barbara Wheeler and

Cheryl Lambert

State Representative

Jimmie T. Smith

Rob Tessmer Jr and Sarah Spencer The District VII Float

Legal advice for Florida Realtors members is just a phone call away at 407.438.1409.

Florida Realtors® Legal Hotline attorneys answer questions about real estate license law and related real

property issues. Attorneys also offer legal interpretations of the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract and

other standard business forms and contracts.

What You Need: Have your Florida real estate license number or NRDS number ready when calling the Legal Hotline. The

phone system only allows a limited amount of time to key in the numbers. If you don’t have the numbers,

you’ll have to call back. Once connected, calls for an attorney will be placed in queue. Calls regarding

ethics, MLS or procuring cause will be redirected to staff specializing in these areas.

Save time: Ask a question online: Legal questions may now be emailed to the Legal Hotline. Members will receive a live callback from a

Legal Hotline attorney. Ask a question now. (login required) Who May Use This Service? Current Florida Realtors members. If your license number does not appear in our computer system, you will

not be able to speak with an attorney.

Local board/association attorneys, executive officers and staff.

Private attorneys who represent a current member as long as the member is also on the line for the call.

Cost: As a member service, there is no charge to access the Legal Hotline. If you are calling from outside

the 407 area code, you may incur a long-distance telephone charge.

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Congratulations to RACC’s 2015 Officers and Directors!!

2015 President:

Debbie Rector

2015 President Elect:

Rob Tessmer, Jr.

2015 Treasurer:

Linda Cridland 2015 Secretary:

John Maisel

Past President:

Greg Younger

Director:

Donnie Bass

Director:

Holly Jones

Director:

Marvia Korol

Director:

Karen Morton

Director:

Gitta Barth

Director:

Jackie Davis

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Are You Taking Advantage of MLS Advantage?

Page 9 OCTOBER 2014

MLS Advantage allows participating boards and members to share available MLS listings across the state of Florida. With a single

search, members can find all listings that match your search parameters from participating MLS boards.

Property listing information can be auto-populated from MLS Advantage directly into contracts in FormSimplicity. This valuable

search tool is available only to members of subscribing associations and MLSs.

The easiest way to access MLS Advantage is from our MLS (Innovia).

On the next screen you will want to click on the New & Improved MLS Advantage Link on the left.

Now just enter your search criteria and see your results.

Now just enter your search criteria and see your results.

Be sure to take some time and look around. Check out the reports, help button and available training at the top of the page.

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FREE

Tax Referendum

w/ Jeff Rogers

8:30am

9:00am

To 11:00am

11

3 Hrs

CE Credit

$10 members

$25

Non-member

Free

w/ Passport

12

3 Hrs

CE Credit

$10 members

$25

Non-member

Free

w/ Passport

13

THE RACC NEWSLETTER

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67 Ways NAR is Indispensable to Your Business

NAR works behind the scenes and in the spotlight to protect private property rights, promote home ownership, and maintain sensible credit and other standards at the federal level so you can help your clients buy, sell, and rent real estate in a fair and profitable market environment. This advocacy on your behalf is among the most valuable benefits your NAR membership adds to your business, but it’s just one among the hundreds of the association’s value-adding services. Here are 67 services that put money in your pocket by shaping the environment in which you work or making free and discounted products and services available to you.

Advocacy Representing you and your customers before Congress and federal agencies:

1. Protecting the mortgage interest deduction and other tax incentives for homeownership and real estate investment 2. Protecting private property rights 3. Advancing sound and reasonable lending standards and access to credit 4. Advancing sound environmental policies 5. Providing financial and technical assistance to your state and local associations on advocacy matters 6. Supporting candidates who protect real property ownership 7. Helping you and your colleagues improve your communities

Business Advantage Offering you an identifiable, marketable brand identity:

8. Protecting the REALTOR® trademark and the high standards the word represents through the work of NAR’s Member Policy and Legal Affairs departments. 9. Promoting the trademark and REALTORS®’ adherence to a Code of Ethics as points of difference among practitioners through national advertising campaign 10. Creating and managing the .REALTOR top-level domain

Creating and partnering with companies offering valuable services and products to you: 11. Providing extensive property data and listing information through Realtors Property Resource® (RPR) 12. Bringing to market tools that can help your business, including SentriLock lockboxes, through Second Cen-tury Ventures, and a long list of technology applications through the Center for REALTOR® Technology 13. Helping companies tailor their products to your needs through REach technology accelerator program and the Center for REALTOR® Technology

Linking you to consumers through far-reaching media properties: 14. realtor.com®, NAR’s official web site containing the most accurate and up-to-date national listing data on the Internet 15. HouseLogic, NAR’s popular website for home owners looking for trusted information on managing their home 16. Real Estate Today, NAR’s weekly syndicated two-hour radio show, now in 200 markets 17. Handouts for customers, covering topics such as why use a REALTOR®, how to prepare for a home sale, and what you need to know about home inspections, which are available through REALTOR® Magazine Online and HouseLogic 18. REALTOR® Content Resource, from HouseLogic, which makes free information available for agents, as part of their marketing efforts, to share with customers on home improvements and maintenance, among other consumer-oriented topics

Creating policies and information tools that support your business: 19. Setting rules and standards for MLSes through NAR’s MLS Policy division that help maintain an orderly real estate market 20. Providing print and digital publications and resources -- like REALTOR® Magazine, REALTOR® Associa-tion Executive Magazine, and the NAR Weekly Report -- that spotlight trends and provide insights to help members and association executives be more successful in their business.

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Research Intelligence Producing market research unavailable elsewhere:

21. Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 22. Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends 23. Profile of Home Buyer Feature Preferences 24. Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey 25. Profile of International Home Buying Activity 26. Member Profile and Commercial Member profile (which enable members to benchmark their perfor-mance against their peers)

Advancing your industry through authoritative, closely tracked economic indicators: 27. Monthly existing-home sales data 28. Monthly pending home sales index 29. Quarterly housing affordability index 30. Quarterly metropolitan median home prices

Member Benefits Discounting products and services from major providers to save you money:

31. Technology: Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Sprint, Xerox 32. Autos: Chrysler, Avis, Budget, Hertz 33. Office services: FedEx, OfficeMax 34. Financial services and risk management: American Home Shield, Victor O. Schinnerer, 35. Personal finance and insurance: REALTORS® Insurance Marketplace, REALTORS® Federal Credit Union, a division of Northwest Federal Credit Union, Liberty Mutual, Drug Card America, REALTORS® Den-tal Insurance, REALTORS® Core Health Ins., SMART Short Term Medical, Members Major Medical Plans 36. Transaction management: DocuSign, ZipForm, relay 37. Marketing resources: Lowe’s, FedEx Office, Multi Merchant Prepaid Card, Ifbyphone, Xceligent

Education Helping you increase your professionalism through degree-, designation-, and certification-granting programs and through continuing education credit:

38. Master of Real Estate (MRE) degree through REALTOR® University 39. CE credit, designations, and certifications through REALTOR® University 40. Designations and certifications include, among the newer ones, Military Relocation Professional (MRP), Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource (SFR), and Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) 41. NAR’s business specialty divisions, including Global, Commercial, and Land, among others, each offers classes and other education opportunities targeted to their specialties 42. E-books from NAR’s Virtual Library that are available for borrowing via computer or tablet 43. REALTOR® Magazine’s Architecture Guide, which offers members basic illustrations and definitions of popular residential architecture styles and features 44. Classes, booklets, and other resource material aimed at keeping you aware of, and operating in accord-ance with, federal Fair Housing laws prohibiting discrimination in the marketplace

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Networking Helping you extend your referral partners nationally and internationally:

45. REALTORS® Conference & Expo every November 46. REALTOR® Party Convention & Trade Expo (formerly REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo) every May in Washington 47. Young Professionals Network, which in addition to offering networking opportunities, provides to an entry point into association involvement 48. REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC), which in addition to its critical role in association advoca-cy, offers opportunities to network with some of the real estate industry’s most involved practitioners 49. NAR’s business specialty divisions -- including ones targeted to the needs of state and local association executives, as well as commercial, global, and land practitioners, among others – that offer opportunities to network with one’s peers.

Legal Help Supporting you, your brokerage, and your association on legal matters:

50. Financial and technical help on industry-important legal cases through Legal Action Program 51. Legal help through friend-of-the-court briefs and other actions to help inform court analyses of cases 52. Compliance best practices on regulatory matters of national scope 53. Summaries of latest real-estate-related state and national court decisions

Safety Offering resources to help you operate your business safely:

54. Regularly occurring safety webinars and articles for managers and agents in NAR’s publications and on its websites 55. Pre-packaged presentations for managers available through REALTOR® Magazine Online 56. Banners and widgets 57. Safety checklists and other handouts for agents and their customers, also available through REALTOR® Magazine Online and REALTOR.org

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Realist 1.13 Release Coming Soon! Version 1.13 of Realist is scheduled to be installed on the evening of Monday October 6th and will be available to the membership the following morning. Realist may be unavailable for several hours during that installation process.

Release Highlights Some of the new benefits you will see in this release include:

• Modified email interface to improve delivery to providers with stricter email policies • Ability to save the Realist map as an image file • Ability to select/deselect a comp from the comp property detail viewing screen • Improved compatibility for Window 8.1 with IE 11 and Firefox browsers

1 | Modified email interface to improve delivery to providers with stricter email policies The “From” field on the email dialog has been replaced with a “Reply To” field. To remain compatible with stricter email privacy

policies, all emails will be sent from Realist using an internal email address, but when a recipient of the email replies, the email

address entered into the “Reply To” field will be used.

2 | Added the ability to save the Realist map as an image file There’s a new addition to the map tools that allows users to save an image of the map. By selecting the “Save Map” button a

PNG file is created and can be saved to the user’s computer. Please note that users will need to allow pop ups from Realist for

this feature to work properly.

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4 | Improved compatibility with Windows 8.1 64-bit using IE11 and Firefox Previously customers had experienced challenges using Windows 8.1 and newer versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox. We’ve improved compatibility with these browsers to resolve this issue. 5 | Other Notable Changes in Release 1.13

Upgraded utility services to resolve anti spam email issues

Added several fields for display, search and autopop to support ongoing customer integrations

We hope you enjoy the new features in this release. The new introductory guide has been released and is on the RACC website. Just click the link below. http://issuu.com/raccfl/docs/realist_introductory_guide

3 | Added the ability to select comparables from the comparable property detail dialog A new feature has been added under the comparables summary, property detail dialog. Users can now select/deselect comparables

to be included or removed from the report by using the check box in the upper right hand corner of the dialog.

I always try to discover ways to keep all of us REALTORS out of trouble. One way I have

encountered (and am guilty of myself) is in the “Fill In The Blanks”. Whether it is the listing

agreement, the sales contract or the various addenda: NO Blanks!

I am sure we have all been guilty of this at one time or the other. The blank spaces in our paperwork

are there for a specific reason and we need to remember that and make sure that we cover all areas,

no matter what form we are using. By not filling in the blanks, we are leaving ourselves open to

misrepresentation, liability, or simple confusion in reference to our customers, whether they be

Buyers or Sellers. So Fellow REALTORS, be aware of what you are doing and take the time to be

conscientious in our transactions.

Matey Veissi, 2014 Florida Realtors® Vice-President

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MLS WARNINGS AND FINES FOR SEPTEMBER

In September the MLS issued the following to Participants and/or Subscribers: Warnings: Duplicate Listing (0) Wrong Category or Area (11) Pending and Closed (1) Lender owned (0) No Photo (7) Branded Virtual Tour (0) Lockbox Code in Listing (0) Name/Phone# (0) Sign in Photo (0) Alt Key (0) Fine: (1) $50

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.

Education Connection Corner:

Occupancy standards exist to:

A. Preserve the family character of a

neighborhood.

B. Prevent overcrowding.

C. Both of these.

D. Neither of these.

A rental application may be rejected by the

landlord because of the applicant’s religion?

_____ True _____ False

Email your answers to [email protected] ,

we will draw a winner and that person will receive a

$10 RACC gift Card to use at Education Classes,

RACC Store and Membership Meeting

Congrats to Sarah Fitts she is the first

winner of the $10 RACC gift card!!

Education Testimonials:

9/16 Ask the Expert- Land Development:

“Very knowledgeable and organized!

Every Realtor in Citrus County needs to

attend this class”.

9/18 Ethics with Patricia Sherman: “Most

interesting Ethics Class I have ever

taken”.

9/23 10 Commandments of Contract

Negotiations with Debbie Rector:

“Great common sense advice, best class

ever! Great material and great

presentation”.

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October 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

Bd of Directors 8:30 am

Golf Tour.

Comm 11:00 am

3

Business Partners

Showcase 5:30 pm

Bev Hills Rec Center

4

5 6 Golf

Tournament 11:30 am Southern

Woods

7

Ask The Expert Tax Refern

8:30 am Clerk of Courts

9:00am

8

Tech Comm 1:00 pm

9

U.S.D.A 1:00-4:00 pm

3Hrs CE

10 11

12 13 Columbus

Day

14 Ed Comm 9:00 am

15

16

ICE Negotiating

Skills 9:00-1:00 pm

4 Hrs CE

17 18

19 20 21

Tech Talk 9:00 am

22 Business Partner

Showcase Comm

11:30am

23 MLS

Bd of Mgrs 9:00 am

24 25

26 27 28 29 30

Bd Of Directors 8:30 am

31 Halloween

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22

RESIDENTIAL

Active 1528

New 400

Closed 227

Pending 331

BOM 151

Expired 135

Withdrawn 71

VACANT LAND

Active 1780

New 124

Closed 38

Pending 41

BOM 46

Expired 139

Withdrawn 13

RESIDENTIAL

Active 1506

New 338

Closed 189

Pending 327

BOM 147

Expired 124

Withdrawn 59

VACANT LAND

Active 1822

New 127

Closed 35

Pending 42

BOM 62

Expired 109

Withdrawn 10

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

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

Single Family

Condo

Mobile

Vacant

August and September Residential and Vacant Land MLS Stats

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

August 31, 2014 September 29, 2014