Posts - page 7

Realtor Survey Shows Strong Demand for Housing in Walkable Communities — The National Association of REALTORS® recently released the "2023 Community & Transportation Preferences Survey" which found that Americans living in walkable communities report a higher quality of life. Learn more...

On Thursday, June 22, 2023 the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation returned to Bel Mateo Bowl for its popular Bowl-o-Rama fundraiser event bringing together over 200 SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for an energetic evening of bowling, prizes and fun, raising more than $6,400 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

State Farm and Allstate have announced they will no longer sell new home insurance policies in California because of wildfire risks and an increase in construction costs. C.A.R. has created a fact sheet, Quick Guide and One Sheets for Consumers to help address some common questions you and your clients may have about how this will affect consumers.

In the latest episode of MLSListings Vendor Spotlight, see how Symbium Rebates enables homeowners to easily find and apply for rebates for home improvements. https://youtu.be/NTPbTS54M6s

3... 2... 1... LAUNCH: LGBTQplusHOMES.com IS NOW OPEN! LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance CEO and Founder, Ryan Weyandt, announced the launch of LGBTQplusHomes.com—a new consumer site that will not only share important real estate content to the LGBTQ+ community through a partnership with Keeping Current Matters, but also allows the LGBTQ+ community to connect directly to practitioners.

The NEW California Rental Listing Service is free for all C.A.R. members: get the listings, leads, and tools you need to conquer the rental market. Together with the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, Rental Beast is proud to provide C.A.R. members with a new member benefit: the California Rental Listing Service, the first statewide source of residential rental listings in California. (Read more to learn about this member benefit, including a link to register for upcoming introductory webinars)

On Wednesday, April 5, 2023, SAMCAR members Sue Walsh (FPC Coordinator), Paul Beaudreau, Judy Taylor, Frank Vella, Jerome Madigan, and SAMCAR Government Affairs Director Fernando Peña met with Congressmember Kevin Mullin to discuss research/data, fair housing, inventory, supply, and affordable housing. The purpose of the meeting was to reinforce National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) priorities, provide the Congressmember with a new resource team, and for members of SAMCAR to weigh in locally on important topics impacting the real estate industry at the local, state, and federal levels. (Read more for an overview of the REALTOR® Priorities discussed).

On Wednesday, March 29 at SAMCAR's 2023 Annual Meeting, the recipients of the C.A.R. Honorary Member-for-Life were recognized by Association Executive Alane Gilbrech, acknowledging their achievement of this prestigious membership distinction. Honorary member Marilyn St. Germain-Hall led the Pledge of Allegiance to open the program. Also at the Annual Meeting was the presentation of "2022 by the Numbers"—an infographic annual report—a legislative update with SAMCAR Government Affairs Director Fernando Peña, introduction of the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan by President Marla Perego, and an MLSListings update with Dave Wetzel and Mark Messimer.

See a demo of the rich mixture of tax data and listing data available to you in Realist (from CoreLogic), and the powerful sales and marketing tools offered, in the latest episode of MLSListings Vendor Spotlight. Watch Now: https://youtu.be/bxqphhvlX6o

In 2022, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded $54,000 in grants and donations to numerous charities in San Mateo County thanks in large part to the generous support of SAMCAR members and sponsors. Read more for a detailed report of 2022 charitable giving.

In this video, MLSListings Corporate Trainer David Scalora explains how to locate the area number of a listing or on a map search in MLSListings using the layer menu feature.

2023 SAMCAR President Marla Perego and the Board of Directors were officially sworn into their term by special guest Installation Officer, San Mateo County Supervisor David J. Canepa, at SAMCAR's 2023 Installation ceremony on Thursday, January 19, 2023 at Domenico Winery in San Carlos. Also honored were SAMCAR's Past Presidents, Outgoing Directors and Committee Chairs, and award winners for 2022 REALTOR® of the Year, Affiliate of the Year, Community Service, and Homeowner Hero Awards.

San Mateo County home sales reports and infographics (with data from MLSListings, Inc.) for all of 2022 are available for you to share on your social media, e-mail and other marketing (remember to use the hashtag #SAMCARStats when sharing on social media).

On Thursday, December 15, SAMCAR Board of Directors and Staff gathered at Stamp Bar & Grill in San Carlos for a holiday luncheon where the three most recent Region 25 chairs -- Jesse Gutierrez (2020), Elmer Martinez (2021), David Zigal (2022) -- were recognized for their service to the Association.

In September 2021, the California Legislature passed and Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 263 (Rubio). The legislation changed the continuing education (CE) course requirements for Department of Real Estate (DRE) licensees effective January 1, 2023. SB 263 did not change the overall 45 hours needed of continuing education. Licensees with a renewal date of January 1, 2023, or later are required to take an Implicit Bias course and an Interactive Fair Housing course as part of their 45 hours of CE. Total required 45 hours of CE remains the same. Please review C.A.R.'s License Renewal page for more information: https://www.car.org/en/education/licenserenewal

Watch this video for a quick rundown of the new and exciting offerings now available from Aculist. https://youtu.be/keEaPg1YpdI

Alane Gilbrech, Executive Officer of the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® is being honored by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® with the REALTOR® association Certified Executive (RCE) designation, which recognizes exceptional efforts made by the REALTOR® association executives.

On Wednesday, October 19, 2022, the San Mateo County REALTORS® Foundation returned to Bel Mateo Bowl for its popular Bowl-o-Rama fundraiser event bringing together over 200 SAMCAR members, staff, and friends for an energetic evening of bowling, raffle prizes and fun, raising more than $7,800 to benefit housing-related charities in San Mateo County.

The Young Professionals Network of the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS®, SAMCAR YPN, invites you to join a monthly mastermind group featuring informative speakers and panels, and an opportunity to connect with your colleagues and discuss the topics that matter most to you and your business. Join us on the second Thursday of each month at 10 AM on Zoom.

MLSListings invites you to watch the latest episode of MLSListings Vendor Spotlight for an overview of the vast amount of tools and resources available to you on Realtor.com: https://youtu.be/1ILjDyGfY7o

On Thursday, August 4, SAMCAR members and friends gathered at San Mateo Central Park for the annual Member Appreciation Picnic. Guests enjoyed boxed lunches from Esposto's Catering and a hosted bar, as well as games like giant Jenga and cornhole, and an opportunity to meet and connect in person outside on a sunny day in San Mateo. SAMCAR partnered with the Food Recovery Network to fight food waste and work to end hunger by donating excess food from this event. Surplus boxed lunches and individual bags of potato chips were donated to the LifeMoves First Step For Families, which provides interim shelter and services to 39 families experiencing homelessness in San Mateo. Photography of the event was provided by Affiliate member Craig Burleigh. View more photos on Flickr. Many thanks to SAMCAR members and friends for joining us for the picnic and to our 2022 Corporate Sponsors for making this event possible.

In August 2021, the SAMCAR Foundation awarded CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse) a $2,500 grant to provide support towards keeping domestic violence survivors and their children safely housed in the San Carlos area. Read more for a report from CORA providing a snapshot of the impact of this partnership on the lives of survivors of intimate partner abuse and their children.

PRDS has updated its Fire Hardening Defensible Space ("FHDS") form. The revised form is dated 6/2022. Unlike C.A.R., PRDS only had to make a few minor changes to better help Agents and their Clients understand the two complex state laws that necessitate use of a hybrid type of form that is both a Seller Disclosure and an Agreement between the Seller and Buyer.

The video recording of the latest episode of MLSListings Live – which takes a close look at two products you have free access to with your MLSListings subscription (Cloud MLX and Cloud Streams) – is now available to view on-demand. https://youtu.be/hbGQsbByY9Y