Copy

GAKA News September 2016

View this email in your browser

September News

October Membership Meeting

 

Join us for our October Membership Meeting!



Tuesday, October 11,  2016
10:00am

St. Mary's Social Hall
608 High St.
Freeport, PA 16229

This month we will be voting on our 2017 Board of Directors!

Please make sure to attend to vote on the future leaders of your association!


The Slate of Officers running for election on October 11th are as follows:

President - Jennifer Luzik
President Elect - Joy Foust
Secretary/Treasurer - Brenda Berger
Immediate Past President - Janice Schoneberger

Running for open Director seats -
Billie Joe Easterlin, Lois Decker, Timothy McCue and Joseph Weltner

A small breakfast of fruit, pastries and coffee will be provided.

The cost of attendance is $5 per person.

Click here to RSVP!
 

RPAC Lottery Sweepstakes



Have you made an investment to RPAC? You still have a chance!

For a $20 investment to RPAC you will be registered into a drawing for $200 worth of scratch off tickets!

Only Realtors may invest.

One entry per Realtor.

Realtors spouse's are eligible to enter.


If you would like to invest, you will have an opportunity at the Membership Meeting on Tuesday, October 11th.


If you are not able to attend the Membership meeting and still wish to participate, please contact Courtney Box at exec@gakarealtors.com.

Triple Play



Join your fellow Pennsylvania Realtors at Triple Play this December for countless CE classes all in one location!

When:
Monday, December 5, 2016 - Thursday, December 8, 2016

Where:
Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ


Register by October 17th and pay just $89.00!

For a list of classes being offered and to register,
please click here.

New Member Orientation

Our new member online orientations is now online! If you are a new member or have never taken the new member orientation, now you can do it in the comfort of your home or office. This is a requirement of GAKA membership.
The orientation is free to members, all you need to do is click the link below.
You will need to add the orientation module to your cart.
You can acess it for free by entering 
GAKABRORIENTATION in the coupon code field. 

Online Orientation

State Legislative Update

 

The state legislature is busy moving bills as the final days of this session are scheduled and we expect continued action next week and when the legislators return Oct. 17.

The House Urban Affairs Committee voted Senate Bill 1282 (Wagner, R-York), Clarification of Declaration Per Parcel Indexing Fees for Condominiums, Cooperatives & Planned Communities, out of committee this week. The bill would control how the county Recorders of Deeds Office may charge fees for the recording of amendments to declarations of condominiums, cooperatives and planned communities. Many counties have begun to assess indexing fees in a different manner than they have done in the past and are charging fees based upon every unit and unit owner (per parcel) in a condominium, cooperative or planned community. The fees assessed bear no reasonable relationship to the amount of work involved to perform this service. In some counties, they have assessed several thousands of dollars in fees for the recording of a simple and short declaration amendment.

This week, PAR's Legislative Committee voted to support this legislation.

PAR's Legislative Committee approved a request from PAR's Commercial, Industrial and Investment Committee to request that the state legislature and/or the Independent Fiscal Office conduct a study of 1031 exchanges and the effects on Pennsylvania's economy. Currently PAR supports House Bill 700 (Bloom, R-Cumberland), which would allow like-kind exchanges.

PAR's Legislative Committee voted to send a letter of support of House Bill 1391 (Everett, R-Lycoming), regarding private property rights of owners with oil and gas leases and the inconsistency of royalty payments.

Standard Forms



New Sale & Settlement Contingency Forms

On January 1, 2017, new Sale & Settlement Contingency forms will be published.

You can get ahead of the curve by downloading the sample forms from PAR's Standard Forms webpage and using the Guidelines for Preparation and Use to learn exactly how the forms have changed.

Any questions about these, or any PAR forms, can be directed to Standard Forms Manager, Desiree Brougher.

Hope Center Donation Drive

October is Realtor Reach Out Month!

In honor of Realtor Reach Out Month,
the Greater Allegheny - Kiski Board of Realtors® is holding a Donation Drive the entire month of October.

We are asking each member office to put together at least one box of donation items and bring it with them to our Membership Meeting on Tuesday, October 11th! 

Every office that participates will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card.


Not sure what donation items are needed?

Please click here to view the wish list!


Upcoming Events

October (All Month)- Donation Drive for Alle-Kiski Hope Center

October 11th - Membership Meeting, Elections!
         St. Mary's Social Hall,10:00am

October 17th - Last day for Triple Play Early Bird Registration
  Register today to pay just $89.00

New Members

Please welcome our new members for the month of September:

 
Realtor® Members:

Lindsay Glasser - Howard Hanna Real Estate Services - New Kensington

Jessica Kronen - RE/MAX Dynamic Realtors

Deborah Lettrich - Northwood Realty Services

Peter Schogel - Keller Williams Realty



Industry Partner Members:

Todd Johnson - Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

 

A Note From Our President

 
Reflections

One of the primary functions conducted by the Board of Realtors, whether on a State, National or Local level, is to be an advocate for homeownership, the very fiber of our day to day business. Constant changes in laws and regulations often create challenges for consumers and home owners. Extreme efforts are being made to become aware of legislation as it is introduced at all levels, so that we as realtors can make our voices heard BEFORE bills are passed or regulations written. It allows us the time to speak to our representative and encourage them to vote in a mannter that would promote and protect home ownership.

Through your membership of the Greater Allegheny-Kiski Area Board of Realtors®, you are also a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors®, and as such can be altered through a Call to Action Center that not only alerts you to various bills currently in the legislative bodies, but also enables you to easily contact your representatives. If you have not taken time to join this valuable service, please do so immediately by visiting www.parealtor.org and clicking on the Call-to-Action Center.

Earlier this week, agents who are registered, received a very important Call-to-Action request to contact their state Senators about a bill that recently reached their desks. PAR has issued a Call-to-Action on House Bill 1437 which would amend the Municipal Property Maintenance Code. This bill would require that certificates be issued by municipalities who choose to conduct resale code inspections, regardless of the nature of code violation found. The amendment creates a new category of "Temporary Access" certificates that would allow a sale to move forward, but require that substantial code violations be corrected prior to the new owner inhabiting the property.

With vocal and written support from Realtors over the past several months, this bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously and has now been sent to the Senate. It is imperative that we encourage the Senate to act upon this before this current session ends. You can see how valuable the passing of this bill would be to help you in achieving your goal of home sales. It is important that you respond and do your part in letting your Senator know how important this would be. Unfortunately, we had less than 10% of our Membership respond to this request. I know that the other 90% of you who have not taken the opportunity to contact your Representative will agree that this is valuable to your business to do so.

Please let your voice be heard and respond to this Call-to-Action and those coming in the future!

To respond to the current Call-to-Action, please click here!

Warmest Regards,

Janice Schoeneberger
President

 


Our mailing address is:
500 N.12th Street, Suite 100
Lemoyne, PA 17043

 






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Greater Allegheny-Kiski Board of Realtors® · 500 North 12th Street · Suite 100 · Lemoyne, PA 17043 · USA

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp