Victoria M. Lowry

The first person from Pennsylvania, District 8 Vice President Victoria Lowry, was selected for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2011 Leadership Academy class.

Broker/owner of Liberty Realty in Pittsburgh, Lowry said, “I think the education that NAR gives you is first rate. To take advantage of training at the national level can only help me in promoting the real estate industry.”

The nine-month Leadership Academy is designed to nurture and inspire new leaders. Participants gain and expand upon existing leadership skills and abilities while learning more about NAR.

Lowry serves on PAR’s Legislative, Specialized Practices and Convention and Marketing Advisory committees and is a past NAR director. She is a past president of her local association, the REALTORS® Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh. Lowry holds the Certified Property Manager (CPM) and the Green designations and the At Home With Diversity (ADWD) certification and is active with Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). She is also a REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) Golden R and a President’s Circle member.

The first session is this week in Chicago and will focus on The Pacific Institute Excellence in Leadership course, which teaches habits for personal and professional efficacy.

Since the Academy was formed in 2008, 80 REALTORS® have graduated and many advanced to serve in volunteer leadership positions.

PAR has been hearing from members who are concerned about a portion of the law that outlines ways in which the insurance will be funded, including a tax on the profits from real estate sales.

In talking to representatives from the National Association of REALTORS®, we’ve found that the tax is directed at high-income taxpayers and will have no impact on the vast majority of homebuyers.

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 levies a 3.8 percent tax on the profits from the sale of real estate, residential or investment. The average taxpayer would not be affected by this tax.

Anyone with an adjusted gross income of less than $200,000 is exempt from the law. The law will apply to married couples who file a joint return if their income is more than $250,000.  (It was estimated that approximately 3 percent of U.S. taxpayers fell into this category in 2009.)

Only the sales of homes that have a “net investment income” would be considered under this tax. The existing home sale capital gains exclusion rule still applies. According to NAR, the new Medicare tax would only apply to a home sale gain realized in excess of the $250,000/$500,000 that pushes the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income over the $200,000/$250,000 income limits.

The Washington Post recently ran an article outlining how the tax would be calculated. Author Benny L. Kass gives several scenarios of how the tax would be calculated for those who fall within the income/profit guidelines.

NAR’s Myth Busters and its FAQs provides REALTORS® with additional information on the tax provisions. For specific details, consult your tax advisor.

Military personnel have one more year to take advantage of the federal homebuyer tax credit. Those who were serving overseas between January 2009 and May 2010 are eligible. Lucien Salvant, managing director of public affairs for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), said since some service members may be limited by financial reserves, REALTORS® can help by checking clients’ eligibility for a mortgage and  the tax credit before looking at houses. “The tax credit is designed to help those folks meet their down payment and monthly obligations by lessening that financial burden,” Salvant said. Service members have until April 30, 2011 to sign a sales contract and until June 30, 2011 to close on a home. Both the $8000 first-time homebuyer and $6500 move-up tax credits apply.

REALTORS® across the nation will soon be able to access online data about every property in the U.S.

Ron France

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) is gathering property information for the REALTORS® Property Resource™ (RPR), one of NAR’s Second Century Initiatives. Ron France, vice president of RPR, said, “It’s a rich set of data built into a system that REALTORS® will be able to use when researching data on property, to gather information for comparable property and market analysis.” France added that more than a thousand REALTORS® are beta testing the software in 12 MLS markets and RPR has signed licenses with almost four dozen MLSs, representing more than 210,000 REALTORS®.

REALTORS® are invited to share why they love being a REALTOR® in a new NAR program called “The Heart of the Market.”

Members are asked to go online and submit their personal stories about why they love being a REALTOR® and how being a member of NAR has made a difference to them, their clients and their community.

The goal of The Heart of the Market is to foster the positive relationship between members, state and local associations and NAR, as well as clients and communities. Association staff can also share why they love being a part of the REALTOR® family.

Once the stories are posted to the “Gallery,” members will be able to easily share their story via their personal Facebook page, Twitter and e-mail. Members will be mailed an “I Love Being a REALTOR®” pin.

PAR is encouraging members to enter. The top three associations with the greatest member participation percentage up until July 15 will be eligible to win prizes. Associations will be recognized for member participation at the 2010 Leadership Summit in Chicago.

Article 10 of the Code of Ethics currently forbids REALTORS® from discriminating against any protected classes (race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin) listed in the federal Fair Housing law. NAR’s Professional Standards Committee approved a change (video) to Article 10 and to Standard of Practice 10-3 so the list now reads “race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin or sexual orientation.” 

PAR members Bill Lublin, 2009 NAR Professional Standards chair and Dominic Cardone, 2010 vice-chair, shepherded the change at NAR. PAR’s Professional Standards and Equal Opportunity/Cultural Diversity committees, along with the PAR Board of Directors, voted to support an expansion of the article at the January Business Meeting.

In other developments in NAR professional standards:

Local associations are now encouraged to return all or part of arbitration filing fees when parties reach a successful resolution through mediation.  Although the committee approved this rule, it won’t officially be included in the manual until 2011. Many PAR local associations have already adopted such a policy.

REALTORS® who change brokerages may continue to advertise their involvement in transactions that happened with a previous broker, as long as the advertisement has a disclaimer.  A new case interpretation helps to clarify the rights of agents to advertise their role in property sales after they leave a brokerage. The disclaimer must state something like “some of these properties were sold while I was affiliated with another firm.”

A  complete list of approved rules changes by the NAR Professional Standards Committee is available.

NAR’s MLS Issues and Policies Committee changed its rules to allow MLSs to require photos or other graphic representations although sellers may still “opt out.” The NAR committee also decided that MLSs can require REALTORS® to submit seller disclosure information.

Hank Lerner, director, PAR Member and Legal Services, said, “In the past, some MLSs were requiring photos but NAR’s policy didn’t support that. Local MLSs can still decide whether or not to make either of these requirements, although there are a number of issues to be considered before adopting one of these rules. For example, an MLS would have  to determine how many photographs it wants to require, what kind of photographs (interior and/or exterior) and whether to apply the rule to new construction, vacant land and commercial properties in the same way it would apply to residential resale.”

The committee clarified MLS information on price reductions and days-on-market. In the past, some MLSs, brokers and educators have told agents that price reductions and days-on-market information is “confidential” and cannot be shared with buyers. Effective immediately, if this information is tracked in the MLS , it can’t be considered confidential and can be provided to customers or clients – although it can’t be shared in advertising or via IDX.

The MLS Issues and Policies Committee also added and changed some short sale rules. Some MLSs may already allow or require disclosure of potential short sales. The MLS can also allow REALTORS® to disclose in private remarks how any lender-imposed reduction in the commission will be handled. The rules approved in Washington now give MLSs the authority to require listing brokers to disclose within a set time period if a lender-imposed reduction has occurred, and what the amount of the reduction in compensation to the cooperating broker.

For a complete list of changes, see the list.

Brokers who participate in this program can have NAR’s Calls-to-Action sent directly to their agents.

Don Roth, president of the PA Association of REALTORS®, encourages Pennsylvania brokers to enroll in the Broker Involvement Program. “The intent is to get more members involved in legislative efforts,” Roth said. “Ultimately, this will give us greater influence with our national legislators and the issues we’re dealing with.”

To enroll, a broker completes the application. When NAR issues a Call-to-Action regarding a particular legislative issue, notification is sent to the broker. The broker can then decide to have NAR forward the information to his agents. “The broker has complete control,” Roth added. “He can decline having any Call-to-Action sent if he wants to.”

Todd Polinchock, one of PAR’s representatives to NAR’s REALTORS® Political Involvement Committee (RPIC), said research shows that when the Call-to-Action comes from a broker, there’s a 25 to 30 percent greater chance that an agent will respond.

“REALTORS® get inundated with e-mails on a daily basis,” Polinchock said. “They’re more likely to open them if the e-mail is from their broker.”

And a higher response rate means legislators are getting the message. “When legislators get e-mails from our members, they might not read every one of them but they do count them as they come in,” Polinchock said. “Sending thousands of e-mails shows them the strength and solidarity of the REALTORS®.”

Pennsylvania had an 18 percent Call-to-Action response rate last year, higher than NAR’s nationwide rate of 13.8 percent. PA REALTORS® marked an impressive 24 percent response rate when encouraging Congress to extend the Homebuyer Tax Credit.

NAR Region 2 Vice-President Greg Herb said, “The Broker Involvement Program is an effective and more efficient way to make our voices heard. NAR does all the work once the broker has signed on. This is a tremendous communication tool that allows our message to be heard.”

Sheila Salvitti

An avid golfer since she was six years old, Salvitti is one of 50 semi-finalists selected for REALTORS® Magazine’s “30 Under 30” feature for 2010. The final 30 will be announced in May and the results of the online voting determine the web award for the most popular candidate and represent a portion of the committee’s decision. The online voting ends Sunday, March 28 at midnight.

Playing golf competitively in college, Salvitti learned the importance of preparation, focus, flexibility and she applies these skills to her real estate career.

Salvitti joined Coldwell Banker Premier Properties in North Wales in 2006. She holds an Accredited Home-Staging Specialist designation and last year her sales volume was $7.5 million.

A graduate of the College of Holy Cross, Salvitti initially worked in sales for a software company. “I was frustrated with being stuck at a desk all day and wanted control of my own business. I had a background in interior design so I decided to merge my love for sales and interior design and become a REALTOR®,” she said.

Salvitti focuses much of her efforts on the first-time homebuyer, which makes up more than 25 percent of her sales volume. She hosts first-time homebuyer seminars and targets local apartment complexes for attendees, educating potential buyers about the homebuying process.

“I love being a REALTOR® because I love the interaction with people. Every day is different on the job and the industry is always changing. I try to be a positive representation of what the REALTOR® brand stands for,” Salvitti said.

To vote for Salvitti visit 30 Under 30.

REALTORS® Property Resource (RPR) is expected to be a tremendous time- and cost-saving benefit for members, according to Jeff Young, RPR’s senior vice-president of operations.

“Research has shown that $30 million is spent annually purchasing public record and tax assessment data from third parties,” Young said. “RPR will be a single source for agents who sell in multiple areas and will allow them to compare the differences in the market.”

Young said there are 147 million parcels of property including vacant land, parking lots, commercial buildings and residential properties. “This is not a nationwide MLS. There’s no offer of compensation on RPR. We’re trying to create a depth of data for these properties whether or not it’s ever been for sale,” Young explained. “MLSs only have information about properties that are on sale or have sold so it’s a limited history of a property.”

While REALTORS® could obtain this information by extensive research of property records, online or in county court houses, NAR would like to provide this information for REALTORS® in one central location. “This information is better suited to be in one single place and ultimately consumers will benefit because REALTORS® will have access to this information,” Young said.

Currently the database is being built and RPR has collected about 92 percent of the nationwide data. RPR has a blog that allows REALTORS® to learn more. The RPR will be rolled out geographically throughout the country and all members are expected to have access to the data by the third quarter this year. Young said it’s expected that 100 percent of the data will be in place by the end of 2011.

MLSs and Commercial Information Exchanges (CIEs) are encouraged to participate in the RPR so the data will be all-inclusive. The RPR will also have tax records, mapping and school information.

“All real estate is local but the consumer doesn’t know anything about confined market areas,” Young said. “They move from one area of the country to another.”