St. Croix Board of REALTORS® P. O. Box 1698 Christiansted, V.I. 00821 (340) 344-5618 (p) (888) 979-6240 (f) [email protected] President’s Report – August 2014 ****REALTOR® EVENTS**** August 15th (Friday 9-11am) Radio 93.5. 9-11a. Host Mark Eckard will talk with Lee Seward, VITAR President Elect about the St. Croix Board of REALTORS®, VITAR, and NAR. Patrice Kelly of Hamilton Real Estate 2014 President St. Croix Board of REALTORS® August 16th (Saturday 9-11am) - Education Seminar on Short Sales & Foreclosures, Attorney Sam Grey instructor, $20, SBDC office at Sion Farm Shopping Center. RSVP please. Thanks to the Education Committee, Lisa Christensen Harris, Chair. Blood Drive postponed due to T.S. Bertha; New date to be announced. Thanks to the Community Outreach committee, Isabel Brady and Julie Rasmussen, Co-Chairs. September (no date yet) – Education Seminar with St. Croix Appraisers. October 11th (Saturday) – General Membership Meeting & Lunch - The Palms. October (no date yet) - Education Seminar to meet your 2-year CE requirement. November 7-10th, NAR Annual Convention, New Orleans, make your air and hotel reservations now. December (no date yet), DR Meeting – Goals for 2015. ******** VITAR's MLS TASK FORCE has asked us to suggest the 5 most important topics facing our three MLSs. Please email me ([email protected]) with any topics you feel should be discussed. Ideas to date include: types of feeds for web sites, web sites on Facebook, guidelines for web advertising re: reciprocity + sister islands, AVMs = automatic valuation models, Flex training. CORE STANDARDS. Your AE and BOD are discussing NAR's new requirements for 2015. We believe the only item we lack on St. Croix is a Strategic Plan that is less than 3 years old. It appears NAR is requiring we hire a Strategic Planner approved by NAR to complete our strategic plan (cost to be determined). NAR may also require an annual financial audit ($4000+). Some funding is available from NAR to implement the Core Standards. NAR 2015 LEADERSHIP SUMMIT (Chicago). President 2015 Kim Lucas and AE Dee Gaskin will attend this by Invitation only event with some funding from NAR. Kim will also attend the Leadership Training. AFFILIATE BUSINESS MEMBERS. A letter has been sent to businesses inviting them to join our Board as Affiliate members. Cost is $250/yr and businesses joining in August receive membership through 2015. Positive responses have been received from Dospiva Land Surveyors, Innovative, Marshall & Sterling and Scotia Bank. The following COMMITTEES are Active and making monthly reports to the Board of Directors: Affiliates, ByLaws/Procedures, Community Outreach, Membership, Education, Finance, MLS, Website. Committee members receive a free Realtor® cap. Thank you to the Realtors® serving on a Committee. Realtor® Caps are available for purchase for $10. We have purchased a Realtor® Banner. We are confident these items will raise community awareness when Realtors® participate in non-profit volunteer events. -- Patrice Kelly, 2014 President