Sept FCBOR 2013 Newsletter

Volume 2 • Issue 12 - September 2013

F C B O R M o n t h l y N e w s l e t t e r

Gerry is the President ofThe Four Corners Board of REALTORS® You can contact her at 970-565-8408

From the President

At last we have some rain and all the fire bans have been lifted! Happy camping! Lots of exciting things coming up in the next few months. Everyone is busy working on the Dean Hanson Memorial Golf Tournament. It will be held on September 7th this year. It’s a wonderful golf tournament to help further the education of our area youth!

The Annual Meeting is coming up on August 29th at Shiloh’s at noon. We will be electing our new officers, meeting some new members of the Board, and just relaxing and visiting. The Installation Banquet will be held September 26, at noon at Addison’s. Need to get your nominations in for Realtor® of the Year! They are due at the Board Office by August 31.

The Affiliate Drive is ongoing. We have three new affiliates; House of Carpets, Top Line Floors, and Keesee Motor Company. Please stop by their place of business and welcome them to the Board.

The 2012-2013 Four Corners Board of REALTORS Board of Directors:

President/ Gerry Parker / 565-8408 / [email protected] President-Elect/ Robin Rice / 565-8408 / [email protected]

Past President / Ken Williamson / 565-2000 / [email protected]/Treasurer / Bob Toles / 946-1194 / [email protected]

Director/ Brenda K. Bates / 565-2000 / [email protected]/ Jo Ann Cauley / 565-8408 / [email protected]/ Preston Dillon / 560-9144 / [email protected]

Director/ Dawn Utrup / 570-3110 / [email protected] Director/ Carol Click / 565-2000 / [email protected]

Association Office StaffAssociation Executive / Denise Unrein / 565-0112/ [email protected]

FCBOR CALENDAR OF EVENTS

1 9/3/2013 2:10 PMstaff

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25 26 27 2829 30

September 2013Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

1 2 3 4 56 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 1920 21 22 23 24 25 2627 28 29 30 31

October 2013

September 2013

Sep

1 -

7

Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sugar Pine Ranch Rally (Sugar Pine Ranch) Dolores Farmers Marke 15th Annua; Harvest Be

Cortez Farmers MarketDean Hanson Memoria

Sep

8 -

14

8 9 10 11 12 13 14Dolores Farmers Marke 5:00pm 7:00pm

Business After Hours (Habitat for Humanity)

Bike and Hike on WethCortez Farmers Market

Sep

15 -

21

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Dolores Harvest Celebr Dolores Farmers Marke

12:00pm 1:00pm Cortez Chamber Luncheon (Shilohs)

9:00am 11:00am BOD Meeting (Chamber Room)

Cortez Farmers MarketGround Hog Fall Festiv

Sep

22 -

28

22 23 24 25 26 27 28Dolores Farmers Marke 12:00pm 1:30pm

Installation Banquet(Addisons)

Balloon and Art Festival (County Wide)5:00pm 8:00pm Grand

Summer Nights (Mancos)

Bike and Hike on WethCortez Farmers Market5:00pm 12:00am

Kiwanis Annual Charity Night (Corte

Sep

29 -

Oct

5

29 30 Oct 1 2 3 4 5 Balloon and Art Festival

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Community News

Education

The number one way to keep your smartphone hack-proof (and all of the client information and e-mails secure) is to require a password for use. Do not use easy to remember passwords like 1-2-3-4, or 2-5-8-0 (straight down the keypad) or personal infor-mation, such as your birthday or the last four digits of your phone number. Those kinds of passwords are easy to figure out so you want to make the password harder for someone to figure out and use against you. It’s an extra step but one that can potentially save your business and sanity. Alexis Moore, a high-tech investigator, a licensed real estate Broker, and the Vice President of Blackstone Realty Group in California, stresses three golden rules to technol-ogy safety:

1. Keep technology locked up literally and virtually. For instance, don’t leave laptops or tablets in the car visible or out at an open houses.2. Install a tracking device on valuables (see below).3. Install the same anti-virus software and protections as you would on your home or office PC on your phone. Smartphones are susceptible to the same viruses as computers. Moore emphasized that since agents rely on phones & laptops as everyday business tools, a virus can have a devastating financial impact on your livelihood.

Agents are multi-taskers. You take phone calls, answer emails, text, juggle busy schedules, are in and out of your car all day and often times start early in the morning and end late at night. Sometimes the everyday things we do can be a danger to ourselves without even realizing it – like texting and driving. There are devices that utilize Bluetooth signaling to automatically prevent your phone from operating while the car is moving, unless you have a hands-free device. Such devices work on most cell phones and cars. A key feature is to look for a tamper-free safe driving system that reports removal, deactivation or other misuse by text or email to a designated admin-istrator This is especially helpful if you have team members or agents working for you (also great if you have teenagers).Another option for keeping the information on your smartphone safe if it has been lost or stolen is to install a tracking device on it. A tracking device can also be installed on laptops and notebooks. Key features to look for in a good tracking device include:1. Remote storage and/or secure cloud storage options.2. Encryption feature with a permanent delete (quarantine) option.3. Anti-theft features which remotely locks or wipes data from a missing/stolen device, and tracks the device via GPS, Wi-Fi, and phone signal. A bonus feature is that some can remotely take picture through the device’s cam-era to catch any thieves in the act of using the device.4. Real-time internet threat protection to block dangerous text links and keep agents safe online while uploading a new listing to their property website and blocks dangerous links sent to agents.5. Offers a private cell number with a local area code but does not link to the agent’s cell number. Privacy dur-ing this information age is fleeting. If you have researched some of the info-based websites, you know that you can enter a phone number and find out personal information about anyone. Utilize the service that offers a local number, with a local area code, not affiliated with your actual cell number. That makes it impossible to track you in that manner. It works with all carriers.

With the significant investment we make in technological tools it is a financial and business set-back when your laptop, smartphone, net/notebook, purse, camera has been lost or stolen. There is amazing technology on the market that can act as an electronic “leash.” These devices signal when you wander a preset distance from your property, i.e. 60 feet. You can also get “last seen” GPS information. Many of the units are portable and can fit in a wallet or on a keychain. Also invest in an encryption product for your laptop hard drive. If it’s lost or stolen, the thief can’t gain access to your confidential data or your client’s data.

Smartphone Safety

By NAR 2013 President Gary Thomas

We’ve seen interest rates rising recently.Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have gone up almost a full per-centage point since reaching record lows six months ago.

REALTORS and consumers are understandably anxious about what this means for the real estate market. While there is currently no evidence of rising interest rates slowing the economy, they will in-variably have an impact on loans.I believe there is reason for hope. Although it’s likely that fewer peo-ple will refinance, since they already have low interest rates, banks

will still need to make money. As a result, they may need to increase loan originations. To do so, there is a very good chance that lenders could ease credit standards away from over-stringency to ensure the greatest number of qualified buyers have access to mortgage interest.

While you may be hearing concerns from your clients about rising interest rates, don’t despair. Tell your clients that it’s not necessarily bad news for real estate if rising interest rates are bal-anced with opening credit to more consumers.

We’re hopeful—and it’s more than just a glimmer—that if the economy can recover as much as it has under tight credit conditions, it may do even better as credit steadily returns to normal.

What’s up with the Interest Rates?

PENDING HOME SALES

DECLINE

WASHINGTON (July 29, 2013) – After reaching the highest level in over six years, pending home sales declined in June, with rising mortgage interest rates beginning to impact the market, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, edged down 0.4 percent to 110.9 in June from a downwardly revised 111.3 in May, but is 10.9 percent higher than June 2012 when it was 100.0; the data reflect contracts but not closings. Pending sales have been above year-ago levels for the past 26 months, and the pace in May was the highest since December 2006 when it reached 112.8.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said higher home prices and interest rates are beginning to impact affordability, notably in high-cost regions. “Mortgage interest rates began to rise in May, taking some of the momentum out of contract activity in June,” he said. “The persistent lack of inventory also is contribut-ing to lower contract signings.”

Yun notes not all contracts go to closing. “There are some homebuyers who sign contracts with strong lender commitment letters, but have floating mortgage interest rates. Those rates can be locked as late as 10 to 14 days before closing, so some homebuyers may change their minds if the rate rises too much, which apparently happened with some sales scheduled to close in June,” he said. “Closed sales may edge down a bit in the months ahead, but they’ll stay above year-ago levels.”

The PHSI in the Northeast was unchanged at 87.2 in June but is 12.2 percent higher than a year ago. In the Midwest the index slipped 1.0 percent to 114.3 in June but is 19.5 percent above June 2012. Pending home sales in the South fell 2.1 percent to an index of 118.3 in June but are 9.5 percent higher than a year ago. The index in the West rose 3.3 percent in June to 114.2, and is 4.4 percent above June 2012.

Based on year-to-date sales activity, and stable contract signings expected for the balance of the year, NAR projects existing-home sales to rise more than 8 percent in 2013. Inventory shortages will lead the median price to rise by nearly 11 percent this year.

A Huge Thumbs Up to Our Affiliates

Southwest Health Systems 565-6666Colorado Land Title 564-9770First National Bank 565-8132Citizens State Bank 565-8421Mortgage Solutions Financial 739-5758Community Bank of CO 565-8589American AgCredit 259-1540Dolores State Bank 882-7600Guardian Home Insp. 759-9500

Vectra Bank 565-4411Cobalt Mortgage 565-8407Four Corners Builders Assn. 565-1771Mancos Valley Bank 565-5432MD Title 565-8491House of Carpets 565-9192Top Line Floors 565-4877Keesee Motors 565-8431

Would you like to become and affiliate? Need some info? Call our board office at

(970) 565-0112.