VOL. 2 ISSUE 1 FIRST QTR 2011

The REALTOR® Party Political Survival Initiative: Let Us Hear From You

Important Information for NAR Members About Our Political Survival

In March 2011, NAR launched the REALTOR® Party Political Survival Initiative. The initiative is a bold and powerful proposal to make the Voice of Real Estate one of the most influential advocacy groups in America. There are monumental issues we're facing — in Congress, in the regulatory agencies here in Washington that govern mortgage financing, in your statehouse that’s faced with critical budget crises and declining property tax revenues, and in our municipalities and counties. Each of these issues impact our ability to do business and serve clients. We must act as one to ensure the future of mortgage financing and to keep housing affordable in America. We must have the power to shape this pivotal moment for the American Dream of Home Ownership everywhere and at every level of government. To fund such a nationwide effort, the REALTOR® Party Political Survival Initiative proposes a dedicated dues increase of $40. Because it is "dedicated" to this initiative, the dues increase would be used exclusively to fund political advocacy efforts. Nearly 70 percent of this money is earmarked for state and local issues. If it is approved, over 50 percent of the NAR budget would be devoted to political advocacy, which consistently ranks among members as the number-one benefit they receive from NAR. The proposal will be voted on by the NAR Board of Directors at the Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in May

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS ARTICLE AND THE REALTOR® MEMBER COMMENTS

NOTE: MEMBER COMMENTS ARE RUNNING 90% AGAINST THIS FUNDING AND DUES INCREASE PROPOSAL

JANUARY ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT MONTH 1st—HAPPY NEW YEAR! 5th—10:30 AM BOD Meeting at Wecks Grill 12th—11:30 AM GMM with Kim Dickey at Pebble Creek Golf & Country Club 19th- 3rd—Florida Realtors Mid-Winter Conference Orlando

FEBRUARY HAVE A HEART MONTH 2nd—10:30 AM BOD Meeting at Wecks Grill 16th—GMM “Heart Healthy” at St. Joseph’s Hospital North, Van Dyke

MARCH WEARING OF THE GREEN MONTH 2nd—10:30 AM BOD Meeting 9th—GMM

APRIL 12th—13th Great American Realtor Days at Tallahassee 14th—GMM The New HUD & Affordable Housing Seminar Jack Mariano 14th– BOD Meeting after GMM 28th—11:30 AM Brown Bag Lunch ‘N Learn Technology 28th– 5 PM Before Dark Networking Beef O’Brady’s Bruce B. Downs

MAY 9th—14th NAR Mid Year Conference 19th—GMM New FREC Rules 19th– BOD Meeting after GMM 21st—Rock Around the Clock Sock Hop Pebble Creek Golf & Country Club

JUNE 1st—10:30 AM BOD Meeting 9th—Effective Speaking—Pebble Creek Golf & Country Club

JULY 14th—Panel—Sinkholes, Chinese Drywall, etc. 14th—BOD Meeting after GMM

AUGUST 3rd—10:30 AM BOD Meeting 11th—Risk Management

SEPTEMBER 8th—Annual Meeting & Affiliates Fair/Chinese Auction at Pebble Creek Golf & Country Club 8th—BO Meeting after GMM

OCTOBER 13th—Up-To-Date Technology at Pebble Creek Golf & Country Club 13th—BOD Meeting after GMM

NOVEMBER DESIGNATION AWARENESS MONTH 2nd—10:30 AM BOD Meeting 9th—14th NAR Annual Meeting

DECEMBER 7th—10:30 AM BOD Meeting

WELCOME TO..

New CPAR AE

Joan Eustice

Joan began her career in Real Estate several years ago as the Administrative Marketing Manager fo r a mega team in one of Tampa’s Keller Williams offices. After moving to Pasco County, she began working for a local Keller Williams office as Director of Agent Services and then as Market Center Administrator. Since taking early retirement, she has worked as a Virtual Assistant to several Real Estate agents and as the Administrative Assistant for a local Real Estate firm. She looks forward to getting to know and working with us at CPAR, sharing her experience and knowl-edge, as well as learning from each of us.

Contact her at: CPARAE@CentralPascoRealtors.org

CONGRATULATIONS

Susan Seidle, Prudential Tropical Realty

for winning the $50 gift certificate to the Grove Movie Theatre from Inland Homes

Thanks to everyone who helped!

Deborah Farmer, StarLight Realty awarded the LaBarbera

& Associates Meritorious Award for Extended Service to the Greater Tampa Association

of REALTORS®

Nice job Toby Caroline, Sun N’Fun Realty and Deborah

Farmer, StarLight Realty for the Fox News WTVT interview

that aired in March. Good information and you looked

great!

CLICK ON ADS TO GO TO WEBSITES

Lynn Mooney Broker/Owner

SouthShore Homes & Properties

Your Association has had a busy three months with more to follow. On January 12th, we were inspired by Kim Dickey, Eastern Marketing Director for First American Title, with “Turning Internet Suspects into Prospects into Clients”. Then on the 19th through the 23rd, we (Lynn, Patsy and Margie) attended the Florida Realtors Mid-Winter meetings in Orlando. Successful ideas were shared at the round table sessions on Layaway for Dues, Discount Cards for Programs and Events, online means for members to share their listings and affiliates to showcase their products, Networking events, Educational Programs and more. Your short and long range planning committees will be meeting in the near future to see how best to implement some of the presented ideas to offer more value to our members. Potential website vendors were interviewed February 8-11. On the 24th, the Before Dark Networking Event at Beef O’Brady’s in Wesley Chapel was a hit. No work – just play. The month of March was exceptionally busy for the Association with the participation at the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce Business Expo. We made lots of new friends and renewed acquaintances with ones we had not seen in some time. Our Door Prize (donated by Rae Mims of Inland Homes) was won by Susan Seidle with Prudential Tropical Realty. Thank you to all our volunteers – Joan, Claudette, Patsy, Margie, Lynn, Deborah Catterton, Toby, Cody, Alex and Steven. On March 17, our Attorney Hank Sorensen, gave us guidance on the new MARS regulations regarding Short Sales now required by the Federal Trade Commission. These are regulations went into effect January 2011 and you need to understand them if you are involved in short sales. They are very comprehensive and the fines are huge. We participated in the District 6 Bay Area Explosion – a Techno Camp for Residential & Commercial REALTORS – on March 23 and 24. There were interactive technology sessions, advanced MLS training, plus free lunch and a wonderful networking party. Be sure to put the following dates on your calendar:

April 12-13 – Great American REALTOR Days – Tallahassee (Contact Joan at CPARAE@centralpascorealtors.org for more information)

April 14 – Commissioner Jack Mariano – Pebble Creek April 28 – Before Dark Networking – Location TBD

Also, watch your E-mail for scheduled dates for Workforce Housing Grant training, the Sock Hop, hands on database E-mail class training. In May, at the Mid-Year meetings, the NAR Board of Directors will be voting on a $40 mandatory dues increase for the Realtor Party Political Survival Initiative. You can view more details at http://www.realtor.org and then sign in. Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Lynn P.S. Remember, we are here for you. Please do not hesitate to let us know about your successes and your concerns.

CPAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES

JANUARY, 2011 Motion #1: To change the name of the Long Range Planning minutes to Leadership Planning meeting. Motion Passed

Motion #2: To ratify committees and committee members as presented today. Motion Passed.

Motion #3 To extend membership dues payment without late payment penalty through January 15, 2011. Motion Passed

MARCH, 2011 Motion #1: To move Board of Director’s meetings to afternoon after General Membership meetings and allow absent members to participate by electronic means, i.e., Skype, conference call except in times of Executive Session. Motion Passed

Motion #2: To create a membership drive campaign/contest to bring in a membership application and draw for a prize to participate in grab bag of cash drawing. Motion Passed

CLICK ON ADS TO GO TO WEBSITE CLICK ON ADS TO GO TO WEBSITES

NAR Estimates Shadow Inventory by State BY JANN SWANSON

The National Association of Realtors'® (NAR) have taken a stab at estimating just how wide and deep the much discussed "shadow inventory" of housing may actually be. Shadow inventory is generally described as the number of homes in bank inventory waiting to be sold plus the homes in that have been foreclosed but for a variety of reasons (redemption periods, marketing or legal reasons) are being held off the market and homes where the mortgages are delinquent and are likely to eventually be foreclosed. The shadow inventory is considered to be a marker for how long it will take for a depressed housing market to return to normal. The study, conducted by NAR Research Economist Selma Hepp, estimates shadow inventory on a state-by-state basis using the following data sources:

Numbers of 1st lien loans in the foreclosure inventory and a share of delinquent loans anticipated to enter foreclosure based on Lender Processing Services (LPS) roll rates.

The share of delinquent loans already on the market based on NAR's Realtors Confidence Index (NCI) in which Realtors report what share of their sales were short sales or foreclosures.

Loan modifications as estimated from the Office of Comptroller of the Currency/Office of Thrift supervision Mortgage Metric Q3 2010 report; the assumption is that 30 percent of the state level number will default.

REO not currently on the market based on state level share of existing sales that are foreclosures from the NAR's RCI.

Hepp points out that the foreclosure epidemic, while a national problem, has not been evenly distributed across the country. Four states, Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada have suffered highest foreclosure rate and account for 42 percent of the foreclosure inventory today; adding in Illinois, New York, and New Jersey brings that number up to 60 percent. Delinquencies seem to be easing; in the last quarter of 2010 serious delinquencies fell in all but four states and the national rate is down 38 percent. As a general rule those seriously delinquent loans did not begin to perform, rather they entered into loan modifications, were sold pre-foreclosure or progressed from delinquent to foreclosed. As a result of the last disposition foreclosure inventories in all states rose between the third and fourth quarters of 2010. (continued next page)

NAR Estimates Shadow Inventory by State (continued)

The two states with the largest shadow inventory are Florida (441,461) and California (227,964), fol-lowed by Illinois (121,226), New York (107,485), and Texas (93,761). The issue in Florida, Hepp says, stems largely from the sheer size of the foreclosure inventory which takes a long time to clear while in both Florida and New York the pending foreclosures are inflated because of an extended time for delinquencies to reach foreclosure. On the other hand, Nevada and Arizona, despite ranking in the top three states for foreclosures for several years, are 16th and 11th in shadow inventory because their inventory is moving faster through the pipelines and makes up a larger share (55 percent in Arizona and almost 70 percent in Nevada) of all home sales. However, the actual number of homes in the shadow inventory is not the problem. The difficulty lies in how long it will take before those homes are cleared. Until that happens, they will continue to exert downward pressure on prices and increase the marketing time of non-distressed properties. Hepp derives the number of months for each state to rid itself of its inventory by dividing the inventory by the monthly number of distressed sales. The numbers range broadly from seven months in Nevada to 51 months in New Jersey. Much depends, Hepp says, on the saturation of distressed sales. As New Jersey has reported that about 20 percent of existing home sales over the last year were distressed sales it will take a longer period for the shadow inventory to clear than at Nevada's 70 percent rate mentioned above. At that rate the current shadow inventory would clear in 7 months. While no other state comes close to New Jersey, other states facing protracted number of months to clear inventories are New Mexico (38), New York (34) Colorado and Rhode Island (32), and Delaware (30). The study concludes that it is very likely that saturation of distressed properties will continue to vary widely among states but also vary within states from month to month. Also, the months' supply estimate is de-pendent on levels of monthly home sales by state. The estimate presented here is based on 2010 existing home sales, thus any change in existing home sales would impact clearance of shadow inventory. And finally, there continue to loom various issues which may also affect shadow inventory and how long it takes to clear it. One current issue is the controversy over banks' foreclosure processes and documentation which has a significant impact on what happens with shadow inventory.

GET TO KNOW YOUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

DIRECTOR Deborah Catterton

Keller Williams Realty, New Tampa

Deborah Catterton is a Georgia peach originally from Atlanta. She resides in Wesley Chapel with her family and has made Florida her home. She has held several positions of employment in the customer service arena. One of her favorite was with Coca Cola USA in Atlanta as a Marketing Researcher. After moving around every year for 17 years and renting and buying 7 homes she decided to become a REALTOR in 1998. Deborah is certified with FAR, NAR, SFR and At Home with Diversity. She was CPAR’s Treasurer in 2008 and a Director in 2009 - 2011 and feels honored to be a part of CPAR. Deborah has served on the Finance/Audit, and Ways & Means committees. While Chair of the Ways & Means, her committee had two very successful events that raised over $2,200.00 for CPAR. She enjoys being a REALTOR and working on the CPAR Board. Deborah believes that “Nothing is more important than Integrity”.

VICE PRESIDENT Patsy Peterman Seagrass Realty

I was born in Baltimore, Maryland, however, being an “Air Force brat”, we were transferred from Maryland to Germany at my ripe old age of 3, where we lived for 2 years. After our tour of duty in Germany, my family moved to Tampa, Florida where I started and completed my schooling with a brief hiatus of 1 year in Madrid, Spain.

I have been a licensed Florida REALTOR® since 1980 and have also held a real estate license in Tennessee when my husband and I lived just outside of Memphis. I am the broker/owner of Seagrass Realty and am a member of the Central Pasco Association of REALTORS® . I have been fortunate enough to have held several offices with this A ssociation throughout the years and I am currently the 2011 Vice President of the Asso-ciation. In addition, I am a member of the Greater Tampa Association of REALTORS® and a past member of the Women’s Council of REALTORS®.

GET TO KNOW YOUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

DIRECTOR Lee Cannon

Seagrass Realty

Lee Cannon assumed office as Sheriff of Pasco County, Florida in January 1993. Prior to his election as Sheriff, he was in private law practice. Before going into private practice, he was the Chief Legal Counsel of the Pasco County Sheriff's office from 1988-1990. He worked for the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office from 1985-1988 rising to the level of Deputy Felon Division Chief. He holds a Juris Doctorate from Nova University Law Center and a Bachelor of Science form the University of Tampa. Cannon has over twenty years in various law enforcement and prosecution positions. His law enforcement spans form uniform patrol officer, police supervisors and detective at the Tampa Police Department. Cannon was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Florida Sheriff’s Association and has chaired various Sheriff’s Association Committees including Chairman of the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission, a Member of the Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission, Vice Chairman of Children’s and Families, Inc., and served on the Juvenile Justice Board of Pasco and Pinellas. He was selected by the United States Department of Justice to participate as one of 35 law enforcement chief administrators from around the world in the 1998 National Executive Institute. Cannon has dedicated many hours to community associations and has stressed the importance of greater attention to public safety and values for our young peo-ple. After leaving law enforcement, Cannon was hired by the Public Defender’s office of the 13th Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough County). Shortly after starting with the Public Defender’s office, a private law firm presented an offer that would better provide for his family and involved a broader practice of law. IN 2003 Cannon retired form the practice of law, but soon realized his desire to stay involved in the work environment. Cannon, having represented clients in the real estate profession, decided to enter real estate in 2004. He began his new adventure with Peterman-Wall Inc., and later moved to Seagrass Realty LLC. Cannon is a US Navy Veteran and a charter member and past president of the Rotary Club of Land O’Lakes. He also serves on the Keep Pasco Beautiful Board.

World's Best Hamburger Recipe INGREDIENTS - 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (or you can use ground chicken or turkey) - 1/2 onion, finely chopped - 1/2 cup shredded Colby or Monterey Jack cheese - 1 teaspoon soy sauce - 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce - 1 egg - 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix - 1 clove garlic, minced - 1 tablespoon garlic powder - 1 teaspoon dried parsley - 1 teaspoon dried basil - 1 teaspoon dried oregano - 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary - salt and pepper to taste DIRECTIONS 1.Preheat a grill for high heat. 2.In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. Form into 4-6 patties. Grill patties for 5 minutes per side on the hot grill, or until well done. Serve on buns with your favorite condiments. Enjoy! From the Kitchen of Deborah Catterton—Keller Williams

ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES

Advertise in our Quarterly CPAR eNewsletter

Ad sizes are FULL COLOR 3-1/2” X 2-1/2” Your AD is also a HYPERLINK TO YOUR WEBSITE Artwork due by the 25th of March, June, September, December Distributed to all CPAR members Mass emailed to a Bay Area REALTOR® database

COST ONLY $40 PER AD

Contact Deborah Farmer at 813-310-0444 Deb@StarLightRealtyTampa.com

EVENT SPONSORSHIP Recognition in all event advertising including CPAR newsletter

& website Recognition at event Your logo featured prominently on tabletop tent cards Your logo featured on printed program and/or agenda Exclusive distribution of your printed materials or promotional

Items

COST ONLY $50 PER EVENT

Contact Deborah Catterton at 813-390-1873 DebCatt@gmail.com