Donahue Installed as RVAR President

Ashley Donahue of Wainwright & Co. was installed as RVAR’s President on December 10th at RVAR’s Installation and Awards Breakfast at the Hotel Roanoke. Also installed were Meg Dorsey of MKB, REALTORS® as President-elect and Jay Kilby of RE/MAX All Stars Realty as Vice President.

Four Directors were also installed: Veronica Faz of BHHS Premier, REALTORS®; Shannon Hines of Long & Foster, REALTORS®; Rob Logan of The Real Estate Group; and Kelly Soriano of Wainwright & Co. Your 2022 Board of Directors stands ready to serve you!

Continuing their service on the 2022 Board will be: Immediate Past President Walter Grewe of Wainwright & Co.; Dana Berenbaum of MKB, REALTORS®; Julie Kingery of Mountain to Lake Realty; and Todd Wampler of Century 21 Wampler Realty.

Conner Named REALTOR® of the Year

Neil Conner, of The Real Estate Group, received RVAR’s REALTOR® of the Year award at RVAR’s December 10th Installation and Awards Breakfast.

Conner has been a REALTOR® since 1995. His RVAR Committee service dates back almost 20 years. He is best known for serving as RVAR’s President twice, in 2008 and 2019.

The REALTOR® of the Year award is RVAR’s highest honor, recognizing a local REALTOR® who demonstrates outstanding REALTOR® spirit, plus RVAR and community involvement.

Morris and Brown Receive RVAR's Good Neighbor Awards

Glenda Morris, of Long & Foster, REALTORS® and Paula Brown, of Freedom First Credit Union, received RVAR's 2021 Good Neighbor Awards at RVAR's December 10th Installation and Awards Breakfast.

Morris was recognized as a tireless advocate on behalf of the Roanoke Valley SPCA. Brown was chosen for her many hours of service with United Way of Roanoke Valley. In addition to recognizing Morris and Brown, 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. 

Homes Sales for November

zipForms Will Continue as MLS Benefit 1st

Virginia REALTORS® has sent out emails announcing that NAR will stop providing zipForms as an NAR member benefit as of December 31, 2021. That statement is correct.

However, RVAR and the Roanoke Valley MLS have a contract with zipForms, which the MLS BOD has extended until December 31, 2024. The expiration of NAR’s license agreement with zipForms at the end of this month will have no impact on MLS brokers and agents who access zipForms via FlexMLS.

Dues Reminder

To date, 900 members have already paid their 2022 REALTOR® dues (which includes dues to RVAR, VAR and NAR.) The final date to pay 2022 dues is Wednesday, January 12th. 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. OR drop by the RVAR office with your check or credit card 8AM-4:30PM M-F OR use the drop box outside RVAR’s front door. Any member may contact Susan Edwards to request a dues bill via email or mail.

NAR's Ethics Training Deadline



To date, 1,190 RVAR members have already reported their completion of a 3 hour REALTOR® Code of Ethics training class, which is required by NAR. But that means, there are still 243 RVAR members who still need to take and/or report completion of this required training.

NAR requires all REALTORS® to complete 3 hours of REALTOR® Code of Ethics training every three years. The current cycle will end December 31, 2021. Failure to meet NAR’s requirement is a violation of NAR’s membership requirements and will result in suspension of membership on January 26, 2022 until the requirement is met or until membership is ultimately terminated on March 1, 2022.

If you have already completed the REALTOR® Code of Ethics training for your license renewal, just send a copy of the certificate of completion to [email protected]. If you joined within the last 6 months and have not yet attended New Member Orientation, you will receive ethics training credit when you attend Orientation.

You can take the required class on NAR’s website! NAR provides two options – one option provides CE credit ($29.95 cost) or other option is free, meets NAR’s requirements, but provides no CE credit. Click here to access NAR’s ethics training options.

Code of Ethics Changes for 2022

The following changes to the Code of Ethics have been approved by NAR’s Board of Directors and will go into effect January 1st:

Standard of Practice 12-1: (NAR has revised this Standard of Practice as follows)

REALTORS® must not represent that their brokerage services to a client or customer are free or available at no cost to their clients, unless the REALTOR® will receive no financial compensation from any source for those services.

(This change was part of a settlement agreement between NAR and the Department of Justice. Even though the DOJ has withdrawn from the agreement, NAR chose to implement this change, once approved by NAR’s Board of Directors.)

Standard of Practice 1-8: (underlining indicates additions)

REALTORS®, acting as agents or brokers of buyers / tenants, shall submit to buyers / tenants all offers and counter-offers until acceptance but have no obligation to continue to show properties to their clients after an offer has been accepted unless otherwise agreed in writing. Upon the written request of the listing broker who submits a counter-offer to the buyer’s / tenant’s broker, the buyer’s / tenant’s broker shall provide, as soon as practical, a written affirmation to the listing broker stating that the counter-offer has been submitted to the buyers / tenants, or a written notification that the buyers / tenants have waived the obligation to have the counter-offer presented. REALTORS®, acting as agents or brokers of buyers / tenants, shall recommend that buyers / tenants obtain the advice of legal counsel if there is a question as to whether a pre-existing contract has been terminated.

RVAR 100th Anniversary Series

As our 100th Anniversary celebration comes to an end, 2020/21 RVAR President, Walter Grewe and 2022 RVAR President, Ashley Wainwright Donahue reflect and look forward, as we begin our next 100 years. 

New Flood Risk Disclosure Required as of January 1st

The Residential Property Disclosure Act has a new, affirmative disclosure starting on January 1, 2022. Sellers with actual knowledge that their property is a repetitive risk loss structure must disclose that to the buyer. If the seller does not know if their property is a repetitive risk loss structure, then the seller does not have to do any research or make the disclosures.

The law defines a ‘repetitive risk loss’ as two or more claims of more than $1,000 were paid by the National Flood Insurance Program within any rolling 10-year period, since 1978. The disclosure must be provided to the purchaser on a form that will be provided by the Virginia Real Estate Board on its website.

The law clarifies that the Seller is not required to provide this disclosure if the property is subject to a ratified contract prior to January 1, 2022.

Reminder: this is a SELLER disclosure, not an agent disclosure.

The Residential Property Disclosure Act applies to any transfers by sale, exchange, installment land sales contract or lease with option to buy residential real property that has one to four dwelling units. There are 9 exemptions to the Residential Property Disclosure Act: (1) court order; (2) foreclosure or deed in lieu of; (3) estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust; (4) between co-owners; (5) direct family; (6) divorce; (7) failure to pay taxes; (8) to/from the government; and (9) first sale.

RVAR is awaiting the Virginia Real Estate Board to release the new disclosure form in order to add it to RVAR’s zipForms library. Related revisions to the Summary of Rights and Obligations form will be available in RVAR’s zipForms library as of January 1, 2022.

What Will the 2022 Market Look Like?



What’s the market outlook for 2022? What are the market trends to watch? Will the market change soon? If these are questions you are asked by clients, you will not want to miss the next “Economic Update”.

Dr. Lisa Sturtevant, Chief Economist for Virginia REALTORS®, will be our guest presenter for the December “Economic Update”. Dr. Sturtevant will provide a reflective look at the real estate market both statewide and regionally while also giving us some insight on what to expect in 2022. Dr. Sturtevant does an outstanding job and this is a “don’t miss” presentation.

The “Economic Update” will be held on Tuesday, January 25th via Zoom. The presentation will begin at 9:00AM with a brief welcome followed by Dr. Sturtevant’s presentation and include time for questions & answers. We should conclude no later than 10:00AM. (NOTE: This session was originally scheduled for December 14th.)

Click here to register or contact the RVAR office. Once you are registered, the Zoom meeting link will be sent to you in a reminder email a few days prior to the meeting.

The “Economic Update” has the goal of providing local, informative presentations regarding topics that affect you and your business. All REALTOR® and Affiliate members are encouraged to attend.

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 4th.  

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 Fayetteville at 7:05PM.

These will be pre-purchase only tickets and must be ordered by 2:00PM Monday, January 31st. Tickets can be picked up at the "Will Call" window on game day.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 4th.

RPAC Exceeds Goal for 2021!

Thank you to the 570 REALTORS®, Affiliates and RVAR staff who contributed to the 2021 REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) fundraising campaign! RVAR exceeded all the goals set for us by Virginia REALTORS®, raising $51,742, including 24 Major Investors (contributions of $1,000 or more). A sincere thank you to all those below who contributed more than their fair share.



Upcoming Education

Virtual GRI Classes: RVAR has partnered with Virginia REALTORS® to offer virtual GRI classes throughout 2022 Each class is offered in two half-day sessions. Below are the classes offered through the end of the year.

GRI 506 Risk Management

January 5th 9AM-12:30PM

January 6th 9AM-12:30PM

Instructor: Doug Wolfe

Students will get a crash course on risk management, escrow, equal services, environmental concerns, and state and federal regulations such as lead paint and antitrust. CE Approved = 6 hours Legal Update with Flood Content; PL Approved = 3 hours Risk Management and 3 hours Escrow Requirements. Click here to register.

GRI 504 Working with Buyers

February 2nd 9AM-12:30PM

February 3rd 9AM-12:30PM

Instructor: Nancy Pav

Students will learn the categories of active buyers, techniques for lead generation, components of the home showing process and negotiation strategies. The class will also review the mortgage process and financing options, including options for first time buyers. CE Approved = 6 hours Real Estate Related; PL Approved = 2 hours Real Estate Finance. Click here to register.

GRI 505 Working with Sellers

February 22nd 9AM-12:30PM

February 23rd 9AM-12:30PM

Instructor: TBD

Students will learn proven strategies for lead generation for Sellers, plus tips for listing presentations and marketing listings. PL Approved = 2 hours Current Industry Issues / Trends. Click here to register.

GRI 502 Sales Contracts

March 8th 9AM-12:30PM

March 9th 9AM-12:30PM

Instructor: Michael Guthrie

Students will receive guidance and tactical skills for writing and presenting a variety of real estate agreements, such as disclosure forms and sales contracts, including contingencies. CE Approved = 6 hours Real Estate Contracts; PL Approved = 6 hours Contract Writing. Click here to register.

Our RVAR Family

Sympathy

RVAR offers its sympathy to John Dickinson of Hall Associates upon the death of his father.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines

Platinum Level Partner/Sponsor