MEMBER TYPE / COUNT
REALTOR® 1368
Offices 136
Affiliate 320
Click here to see which RVAR members have switched firms, gone inactive, or joined recently.
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Grewe Installed as RVAR President
Walter Grewe of Wainwright & Co. was installed as RVAR's President on December 13th at RVAR's Installation and Awards Breakfast. Also installed were Ashley Donahue of Wainwright & Co. as President-elect and Meg Smith of MKB, REALTORS® as Vice President.
Four Directors were also installed: Barry Bridges of Weichert Bridges & Co.; Vic Coffey of RE/MAX All Stars; Shannon Hines of Long & Foster and Rob Logan of The Real Estate Group. Coffey serves on the Board as a Broker representative appointed by the Broker Council. Your 2020 Board of Directors stands ready to serve you!
2019 President Neil Conner recognized Jay Kilby of RE/MAX All Stars with the President's 2019 Bulldog Award for his "persistence and dogged determination as a volunteer" related to his service as Chair of the Work Group who launched the CRS property tax data in the MLS.
Continuing their service on the 2020 Board will be: Immediate Past President Neil Conner (The Real Estate Group); and Directors Dana Berenbaum (MKB, REALTORS®); Jay Kilby (RE/MAX All Stars) and Julie Kingery (RE/MAX Mountain to Lake).
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Cohen Named REALTOR® of the Year
Jerry Cohen, of Park Place Realty, received RVAR's REALTOR® of the Year award at RVAR's December 13th Installation and Awards Breakfast.
Cohen has been a REALTOR® since 1998, serving in many volunteer capacities for RVAR. He recently served on RVAR's Board of Directors. He is best known for his many community service activities, including service on the Committee Service Committee since 2002 and winning RVAR's Community Service Award in 2014.
The REALTOR® of the Year award is RVAR's highest honor, recognizing a local REALTOR® who demonstrates outstanding REALTOR® spirit, business accomplishments and community involvement.
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Fletcher and Wolf Receive RVAR's Good Neighbor Awards
Cyndi Fletcher, of BHHS Premier, REALTORS® and
Allison Wolf, of Freedom First, received RVAR's 2019 Good Neighbor Awards at RVAR's December 13th Installation and Awards Breakfast.
Fletcher was recognized for her many volunteer efforts on behalf of HGW Roanoke Community Projects in association with the Ronald McDonald House of Roanoke. Wolf was chosen for her many hours of service with New Freedom Farm and her work with veterans. In addition to recognizing Fletcher and Wolf, RVAR made a $1,000 contribution to both charities in their honor.
The RVAR Good Neighbor Award, previously the REALTOR® Community Service Award, recognizes a local REALTOR® and Affiliate who gives of his or her time to an organization that improves the quality of life in the greater Roanoke Valley.
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Six Firms Win Distinguished Service Awards
Each year, RVAR recognizes those firms whose agents have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the real estate profession by attending RVAR educational classes, serving on RVAR/VAR/NAR Committees, earning professional designations, contributing to RPAC and attending RVAR/VAR/NAR events. The Distinguished Service Awards were presented to the following firms at the December 13th RVAR Installation and Awards Breakfast:
Small Firms (1-15 agents)
Park Place Realty, LLC
RE/MAX Mountain to Lake Realty
Medium Firms (16-35 agents)
The Real Estate Group
Large Firms (36 or more agents)
BHHS Premier, REALTORS®
MKB, REALTORS®
RE/MAX All Stars
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BOD Appointment
Congratulations to
Cathie Daniel of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Smith Mountain Lake, who has been appointed to serve a one-year term on RVAR's Board of Directors in 2020. The Board made this appointment at its December meeting, filling the vacancy created when Lori Shultz-Moore resigned earlier in the year.
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Recap from December BOD
Click on the picture above to watch the next installment of the video recap of what RVAR's Board of Directors accomplished at its December 12th meeting, presented by President Neil Conner.
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2020 Dues Reminder
To date, 825 members have already paid their 2020 REALTOR® dues (which includes dues to RVAR, VAR and NAR.) The final date to pay 2020 dues is
Monday, January 13th. Simply go to
www.RVAR.com and click on User Login (upper right hand corner). Follow the instructions to log in to access and pay your dues bill online. Any member may contact
Susan Edwards to request a dues bill via email or mail.
Should membership be terminated for non-payment of dues, payment of the annual dues plus a reinstatement fee of $150 will be required to reinstate membership in RVAR, provided reinstatement is made within 60 days following termination. After that, application as a new member is required to restore membership in the Association.
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As of January 2nd, RVAR's Termination of Contract form will be revised. The final sentence of the form will be removed:
A release or other written authorization must be executed by both parties to disburse the deposit under the Contract.
Virginia statute changed effective July, 2018 to give a Broker the right to give written notice to the parties and disburse an earnest money deposit in accordance with the clear terms of the contract. For example, if a buyer terminates the contract during the POA 3-day right of rescission, the contract - and the law - is clear that the buyer gets their earnest money deposit back.
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Advocacy @ Work
Advocacy @ Work is an article aimed at updating members on what is happening in our region regarding Economic Development and/or Governmental Affairs.
National Flood Insurance Program Extended - Again!
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been extended for 9 months until September 30, 2020! This marks the 15th extension (and longest!) in about 2 years and we are glad there was no lapse in the program. The NFIP had been set to expire on Friday, December 20th.
The National Association of REALTORS® supports and continues to push for a long-term authorization of the NFIP along with meaningful reforms to improve the program. We will continue to monitor the progress of this important program and provide updates as needed.
Another extension as part of the same funding bill is the reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program for seven years. Terrorism risk insurance is often required to secure necessary financing for commercial transactions. This program is especially helpful and good news for our commercial members.
NAR National Real Estate Forecast Summit
On December 11th, NAR held its first ever National Real Estate Forecast Summit. Dr. Lawrence Yun, NAR's Chief Economist indicated that according to various leading economists, we will likely not see a recession in 2020 and real estate will remain strong and interest rates will be stable. That is good news for the near future.
"Real estate is on firm ground with little chance of price declines," said NAR's Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "However, in order for the market to be healthier, more supply is needed to assure home prices as well as rents do not consistently outgrow income gains."
2020 General Assembly Session
The 2020 General Assembly session convenes on Wednesday, January 8th.
Click here to review Virginia REALTORS®' 2020 Legislative Agenda. In late January, members of our Leadership Team, Board of Directors and Governmental Affairs Committee will be traveling to Richmond to meet with our area Legislators. Next month, I will include progress of some of the bills that are important to our members.
Happy Holidays!
Article provided by Joe Sutliff, RVAR Director of Economic & Governmental Affairs.
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November Home Sales
The November home sales reflect 411 homes sold and 413 homes placed under contract in November. The average price of $246,339 reflects a 17% increase over the average price in November, 2018.
A link to the November
home sales statistics, including a 4-year comparison, is provided on the front page of RVAR.com. The MLS releases its monthly home sales statistics around the 15th of the following month.
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2019 Profile of Buyers and Sellers
Each year, the National Association of REALTORS® gathers detailed information about buyers and sellers nationwide. How does your experience compare with the national average? Did you know that . . .
* 33% of recent home buyers were first time buyers
* 89% of buyers and sellers worked with a real estate agent
* Buyers typically searched for 10 weeks and looked at a median of 9 homes
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RVAR's Family Fun Night on the Ice
Join us for a night of fun and fast paced hockey with the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs on
Friday, February 21st.
Tickets will be just $12 for adults and $10 for children (
under 12) and includes admission and a meal voucher to be used at the concession area.
Order as many tickets as you would like - bring your family & friends for a fun, exciting evening at the Berglund Center!! The puck drops against Peoria at 7:05PM.
These will be pre-purchase only tickets and
must be ordered by 2:00PM Monday, February 17th. Tickets can be picked up at the "Will Call" window on game day.
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Code of Ethics Changes for 2020
The National Association of REALTORS® has approved the following changes to the Code of Ethics effective January 1, 2020:
- Article 3 focuses on cooperation amongst REALTORS®. A new Standard of Practice will go into effect prohibiting REALTORS® from refusing to cooperate on the basis of a REALTOR®'s race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Article 12 focuses on honesty and truthfulness in advertising, marketing and other real estate communications. Standard of Practice 12-1, which deals with using the term 'free' in advertising, will be revised to read as follows: "Unless they are receiving no compensation from any source for their time or services, REALTORS® may use the term 'free' and similar terms in their advertising and in other representations only if they clearly and conspicuously disclose (a) by whom they are being, or expect to be, paid; (b) the amount of the payment or anticipated payment; (c) any conditions associated with the payment; and (d) any other terms relating to their compensation.
- NAR extended the Code of Ethics training requirement to every 3 years, with the deadline of the current cycle extended until December 31, 2021.
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RPAC Exceeds Goal for 2019!
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Our RVAR Family
Sympathy
RVAR offers condolences to
Ann Pope
of Long & Foster upon the death of her brother; to
Frank Radford
of BHHS Premier upon the death of his sister; and to
Patty Meyers
of Long & Foster upon the death of her husband.
Let RVAR know
if you have news to share.
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Upcoming Events & Deadlines
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December 24th
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RVAR Office Closed
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December 25th
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RVAR Office Closed
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December 31st
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RVAR Office Closes at Noon
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January 1st
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RVAR Office Closed
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January 13th
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Deadline to pay 2020 dues
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February 21st
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RVAR Hockey Night
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Roanoke Valley Association of REALTORS®
Proudly Recognizes Our 2019 Partner / Sponsors
Platinum Level Partner / Sponsor
Diamond Level Partner / Sponsor
Gold Level Partner / Sponsor
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