May 2008

Our Association is looking within its membership for candidates to fill the following positions: five ABoR directors; ABoR chairman-elect; ABoR secretary/treasurer; two Texas Association of REALTORS® (TAR) directors; and two TAR regional vice presidents. Deadline to apply is June 30. An online application and position descriptions may be accessed at www.abor.com/leadership/abor_leadership_form.cfm.

For more information, contact Vicki Harris at 512/454-7636, ext. 1001. Please note: the call for volunteers for the 2009 ABoR committees (including the Realty Round Up, Political Action and Diversity committees) will begin in July.

    Stand up for your profession, your clients and all Austin homeowners by speaking     out against the Austin City Council’s “Point of Sale” ordinance. As many of you know,     Austin Mayor Will Wynn appointed a task force to establish mandatory energy     efficiency standards for Austin homes which would be enforced when homeowners     sell their homes. Though ordinance plans are pending, this “Point of Sale” mandate     is part of City Council Resolution #20071213-064 passed on December 13,2007.

These upgrades could potentially cost Austin homeowners thousands of dollars and prevent many Austinites from selling or buying a home. Like you, we believe energy efficiency is important. However, we also believe it’s critical to keep homeownership within the financial reach of Austin citizens.

So, what can we do? Reach out to anyone who will listen and tell them to contact the Austin City Council to voice their opposition to the “Point of Sale Ordinance”! Visit www.keepaustinaffordable.com for more information and ideas on how to get involved. And check out http://www.abor.com/austin_endorse.cfm for resources you can use to spread the word.

As an ABoR member and citizen of Austin, it’s easy to see how critical this is. Please join me in keeping Austin affordable for homeowners!

Socar Chatmon-Thomas
2008 Chairman of the Board

How do you think the mayor’s plan for energy-efficiency retrofits at the time of sale will affect housing opportunities for Austin residents?

Take your family out for hamburgers, hot dogs and America’s favorite pastime as the ABoR Foundation presents scholarships to 10 recent high school graduates before the Round Rock Express game on June 18. Event tickets cost $25 for adults and $10 for children and include reserved game seating and a buffet meal that begins at 5:30 p.m. in the United Heritage Center.

For tickets or more information, contact Laura Pagnozzi of Independence Title at 512/567-5491, Susan Patterson of Independence Title at 512/914-8984 or Rita Barousse in the ABoR Professional Development and Education Department at 512/454-7636.

Long-term and emerging trends that will likely impact real estate industry professionals have been identified in “Cycles of Change,” a report prepared by the Strategic Issues Work Group of the National Association of REALTORS®’ (NAR) Association Executives Committee. The report addresses online, consumer, transaction and technology trends, among others. John Horton, ABoR’s secretary/treasurer, and David M. Foster, ABoR’s president & CEO, were part of NAR’s 2008 Association Executives Committee Strategic Issues Work Group that created this report. Click here to access “Cycles of Change.”

Learn how to effectively promote workforce housing initiatives at the grassroots level in “Home From Work.” Designed by the National Association of REALTORS® and premiering in Texas, the course will be held on June 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the ABoR Auditorium. Course cost is only $20. Register online at www.abor.com/courses/. For more information, contact Shirley Williams in the ABoR Professional Development and Education Department at 512/454-7636, ext. 1602.

Picture it: you are closing out your listing, inputting the sold information in the MLS. You get to the field “Selling Agent.” Your first instinct: it’s my listing and it sold, so that would mean I put my info. Not so fast!

A throwback to a time when buyer representation wasn’t a common practice, “Selling Agent” actually refers to the agent who represented the buyer during the purchase of the property. Until the mid-to-late 1990s, buyers typically didn’t have any representation or it was a sub-agent of the listing agent. However, the advent of buyer agency has changed that terminology and relationship.

And the MLS is changing the label to more accurately identify the information required. “Selling Agent” will now be called “Buyer/Sub Agent.” In Listing Maintenance and on the reports, it will now display Buyer/Sub Agent and BA. This change is now in effect.