October 2008 Archives

DAAR is pleased to announce that Alecia Moroz has accepted the position of Director of Member Services.  Moroz's strong background in communications will add strength to DAAR's new organizational structure designed to produce value-added programs for members.  We are excited about the energy that is produced when our team gets together to plan services and programs for our members and we know that sooner, rather than later, you will see the results of that energy.  Please welcome Alecia to the staff.  She can be reached at amoroz@dullesarea.com, by Ext. 0302, or by her direct line 703-579-0302.

We were advised today that NVAR will not be offering the purchase of SentriCards to Affiliate members, nor will they be allowing Day Codes or Contractor Codes.  PWAR and GPAR have not indicated at this time if they will choose the same policy.  What does this mean to you, the listing agent?  Nothing, if you use a Supra iBox on your listings.  DAAR will continue to offer Supra keys to its Affiliate members.  However, if you choose to use only the Sentrilock lockbox on your listings, you will need to meet all Home Inspectors, Pest Control Inspectors, and possibly Appraisers to provide them access to the property.  Please give this matter serious consideration before determining what type of lockbox to place on your listings and which system best meets your business needs.

The Annual Meeting for the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS®, Inc. has been rescheduled for 8:30 AM, December 17, 2008, at River Creek Country Club prior to the start of the DAAR Economic Summit.  The purpose of this meeting is to elect the proposed slate of directors for 2009.  It is essential that we have a quorum, which is 70.  Please make every effort to attend, and this is a great opportunity to stay for the Annual Economic Summit.  

Following the summit will be the Installation of Officers and Directors, featuring our guest, State Senator Jill Vogel.  Come and support your fellow associates who are giving so generously of their time to support and lead your organization. To sign up for all of these important events, click here and then "Economic Summit" (login and password required) ($20 member registration includes full breakfast and all programs).

DAAR 2009 dues statements will be sent by mail next week and will be due by Monday, December 1st, 2008.  In an effort to make the chore of paying dues more budget friendly, we are pleased to announce a no-interest bi-annual payment structure.  By December 1st, NAR, VAR and ½ of DAAR dues in the amount of $393 are due.  In June, DAAR will bill the second payment of $335 which includes one year of DAAR dues.  Your payment will be slightly higher this year only in order to offset the new bi-annual payment structure.  For future years, your first payment in December will be toward NAR and VAR dues and the second payment in June, for DAAR dues only.  We hope this will make the chore of paying dues a little more pleasant. Please note this arrangement applies only to REALTOR® members, and does not affect Affiliate billing which will remain unchanged.  As an added bonus, DAAR is pleased to announce a "Membership Appreciation Special" for members who keep their primary membership.  As always, you can save time and effort by logging into your account via www.dullesarea.com and paying your dues with just a few clicks.  For more information, email finance@dullesarea.com

REALTORS® who have already paid their 2009 local association dues in Virginia and wish to transfer their primary membership to the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS® will pay no additional fees until June 2009.  You heard correct!  DAAR will give you 8 months of FREE membership if you transfer by December 1st and have already paid your 2009 dues to another local association in Virginia.  Additionally, we will exchange, one for one, all of your gray boxes to the new Supra iBox at our conversion to the new wireless Supra ActiveKEY during the first week of December.  With this special, you will enjoy no cradling wireless technology, no swiping, instant showing notification, 8 months of free membership, and complimentary swapping out soon-to-be obsolete gray boxes for no charge.  For more information on these benefits,  click here .  Contact membership@dullesarea.com for additional information or fill out the online application.

As part of the effort to keep our members informed on the lockbox issue, DAAR has developed a list of Frequently Asked Questions on Lockboxes and Keys  that addresses local association conversion dates, key and lockbox pricing, Supra Active Key conversion and status of gray boxes.  For more information on this issue, please visit Supra Lockboxes and Keys.

In addition to an extensive range of services, DAAR announced additional benefits for current DAAR members.  When members keep their primary membership with DAAR they will enjoy:

• Upgrading to the Supra ActiveKEY for FREE- the only lockbox system that doesn't require daily cradling, key swiping or daily code sharing.
• Free conversion of all your gray boxes to blue iBoxes.
• Paying your dues in two easy no-interest installments, six months apart.
• A one-time 25% discount in our DAAR store.
• Free monthly Lunch and Learns on the latest real estate topics.
• An association focused on listening to your concerns and making your real estate business a success!
  

For more information, download the  flyeror contact Jeanette Newton, 703/777-2468.

Several DAAR members received appointments to NAR committees. DAAR Chairman-Elect Brad Boland of Jobin Realty in Reston received a first year appointment to Conventional Finance and Lending.  DAAR Chairman Candice Bower of Carter Braxton Real Estate in Leesburg received a second year appointment as the State Representative to Risk Management.  VAR Policy Board Member Rick Cockrill of Keller Williams in Leesburg received a second year appointment to Risk Management. Virginia got fewer than normal committee appointments this year and we are pleased and excited that three appointments were made to DAAR Members.  Congratulations!

The October 15th Trade Show was a success.  Thank you's go out to DAAR Staff, the Trade Show Committee, lead by Sandy Loftis, all of our Sponsors and Vendors and the over 200 members who attended.  If you didn't attend this free event, you missed a great opportunity for CE, networking and business development.

The Trade Show concluded with our Annual Meeting, at which CEO Jeanette Newton provided a "State of the Association" address, and Chairman Candice Bower thanked some of our volunteers for their hard work.  We were unable to elect your 2009 new directors as we did not have a quorum.  The Executive Committee will meet and discuss how we should go about conducting this very necessary business. 

In Jeanette's "State of the Association" message she outlined approximately 19 major initiatives either, accomplished or being accomplished now, by DAAR this year.  Those initiatives took a huge amount of time on the part of your volunteer leaders and your fellow associates.  She mentioned some very tough decisions which had to be made, but reassured the members that at all times the BOD remained focused on what was in the best interests of the industry and those members we serve.

Jeanette applauded the hard work of the Board of Directors and thanked them for allowing her to help lead this association forward.

Finally she wrapped up with the following statement:  "We need to be looking into the future in a different way.  As with your businesses, we can: No longer just keep up; No longer can we just compete; No longer can we settle for just being better; We must exemplify ourselves by being different.  This is the premise under which I intend to offer my leadership to this Association over the next few years.  We will be striving for excellence for you, our own members, and the Association, as well as obtaining the respect our industry so deserves from the community we serve."

On other business:
    Our Supra conversion to the Active has been postponed until the week of December 1st due to scheduling conflicts with Supra.  Please keep check the website for additional information.
    We are desperately seeking your help with the Annual Charity Auction scheduled for October 24th.  We need sponsors, donors, and attendees.  Let's show the community that we car and can still find it in our hearts to help where we are needed.
   

As you all know, the DAAR Board of Directors, with input and in consultation with the membership has elected to honor our current contract with GE Supra, while at the same time upgrading our lock box keys to the Active Key.

The Active Key is a "wireless" key which requires no cradling or manual updating.  It operates much like a cell phone, updating itself over the airwaves. If you register your lockboxes with the MLS and your listings, you will receive virtually immediate notification of your showings.

Details are still sketchy, on our key conversion, but I wanted to give you a head's up as to the preliminary plans . The conversion will take place during the week of December 1st.  If you are going to be out of town, you must notify DAAR so that we can make alternative arrangements.  After December 12th there will be a $50 administrative charge to convert your key unless you have made other arrangements with us.

Because there will still be "gray boxes" in the field until PWAR and NVAR's conversion, Supra is allowing you to keep your d-keys for access to those boxes. (The new Active Key will not work on the old AEII gray boxes.)  All d-keys will have to be returned to the DAAR office January 30th, by close of business. All d-keys will be shut down that evening.  At conversion you will be asked to provide a current credit card number and if your d-key is not returned by January 30th, your credit card will be charged for the replacement cost of your d-key which is $150.

You will not have to bring any money with you to the conversion.  Although there will be a charge of $8, which is the prorated cost of the Active Key for the four remaining months until our billing cycle, Supra has agreed to roll that cost into future billings.  There are optional products that you may be interested in purchasing, such as carrying cases, belt clips and car chargers, but those items will also be available after the conversion in the One Stop REALTOR® Shop.

We have invited, PWAR and NVAR to spend a day at DAAR so you can purchase a Sentrilock Key Card if you do business in areas which would require this product.  We are awaiting those costs.

Please watch for further information on specifics for time, and location.

GE Security is looking for agents in the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS® to be the first agents to try out the new eKEY for BlackBerry.  The eKEY turns your BlackBerry into a lockbox key!  This is a great opportunity to see a great new product and provide feedback that will be used in the product development process.

By assisting us, you will receive a new iBOX and a translator fob, both of which will be yours to keep after the test.  The fob converts Infrared to Bluetooth and is an important part of the eKEY for BlackBerry Solution.

The test involves using the eKEY in your daily business to see how it works for you and keeping track of the results.  This will take less than 15 minutes per day.  The test will run for two weeks.

While there is no cost to participate in the test, you will need to have one of the following BlackBerry devices:

1. Pearl
2. Curve
3. 8800 series 

We will be launching the test on October 21st at the DAAR offices.  If you are interested in participating, please contact Greg Russell at gregory.russell@ge.com by October 17th. 

During the VAR Convention in Baltimore, MD, the Delegate Body elected 8 candidates for the VAR Policy Board, the governing body of Virginia Association of REALTORS®.  Among the candidates elected is Candice Bower, of Carter Braxton Real Estate in Leesburg and current Chairman of the Board of DAAR.  DAAR's future representation on VAR's Policy Board will consist of Candice and Gwen Pangle of Long & Foster in Sterling who will be continuing in an unexpired term of office.  Our other representative, Rick Cockrill will be retiring after 6 years of service.  We offer our thanks to Rick for his service, and congratulations to Candice on her election.