EALTOR NEWS VOL. 6 / ISSUE 1 JANUARY 2015

EDUCATION  ~  SERVICE  ~  INTEGRITY 

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27642 Cashford Circle, Ste. 110 ~ Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 www.cparfl.com ~ Phone 813-406-6081 ~ Fax 813-712-2865 ~ info@cparfl.org

Click here to SUBSCRIBE to the CPARealtor News

In this Issue:  

CPAR Calendar 2

Letter from your President 3

AE Corner 4

Community Outreach 5

New CPAR Members 6

2014 CPAR Awards 7

Meeting Recap, NAR News 8

Business Partner Spotlight 9

CPAR News 10

Business Partners 11-12

Register Now for our NAR-sponsored

Employer-Assisted Housing Class! Free for all CPAR Members. Members register HERE.

Just $10 for Non-Members. Non-Members register HERE. Lunch will be provided.

Make Reservations for upcoming CPAR events

Like us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/

CentralPascoRealtors

NAR’s Employer-Assisted Housing Class is a unique class to help you unlock a new market as well as to help address workforce housing issues in your community.

The EAH class will help you to:

Increase your name recognition

Expand your client base

Gain referrals

Enhance your professionalism

Strengthen your community

Register today!

Jan. 28th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm Pebble Creek Golf Club 10550 Regents Park Drive Tampa, FL 33647

Cost: Free to CPAR Members, $10 for Non-Members (lunch included) Click HERE to register on our website

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

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CPAR Office Closed

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CPAR GMM

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

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Employer-Assisted Housing Class 11 am—3 pm, Pebble Creek

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PRESIDENT Lynn Mooney SouthShore Homes & Properties Lynn@LynnMooney.com

PRESIDENT-ELECT Dwight McDonald International Realty Plus-Tampa Bay EmailMyBroker@verizon.net

VICE PRESIDENT Dennis Derbes Berkshire Hathaway Home Services DJDerbes@BHHSFloridaProperties.net

SECRETARY Gerald Collings SouthShore Homes & Properties GeraldC0123@gmail.com

TREASURER Vicki Derbes Berkshire Hathaway Home Services VDerbes@BHHSFloridaProperties.com

PAST PRESIDENT Toby Caroline Sun ‘n Fun Realty TobyParadise@aol.com

DIRECTOR Patsy Peterman Seagrass Realty Patsy@SeagrassRealEstate.com

DIRECTOR Pete Rundel Action 100 Realty Pete@PetesRealty.com

DIRECTOR Louise Richardson Pro-Active Realty LouiseRichardson71@gmail.com

DIRECTOR David Chen Florida Capital Realty DChen4649@yahoo.com

BUSINESS PARTNER LIAISON Ruth Peeples First American Title Company RPeeples@firstam.com

DIRECTOR Jack Buckley Pro-Active Realty TheCoordinator45@gmail.com

Florida Realtors® Mid-Winter Business Meetings Renaissance Orlando Resort

Save the Date February 11: Lunch ‘n Learn (11:30 am—1:30 pm, Pebble Creek Golf Club) February 19: Expanded Housing Opportunity Class (1:00 pm—5:00 pm, Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay) February 25: New Member Orientation (1:00 pm—4:00 pm, Location TBA)

January 2015 

 CPAR Board of Directors 

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a word from the PREZ... 2015 is here for your Association - it is a “new dawn, a new day, new year and we are feeling good” (Click Here). CPAR is committed to bringing you the best of everything that can enhance your education, customer and client relationships, and increase your income. CPAR (Dwight McDonald, President-Elect) is coordinating two courses that will give you guidance on how to move your business to another level. The EAH (Employer-Assisted Housing) Class will give you guidance on increasing your name recognition, expanding your database, gaining referrals, and enhancing your professionalism. Click Here to make a reservation. The EHO (Expanding Housing

Opportunities) Class on February 19 will give you the knowledge to identify and explain affordable housing opportunities and their benefits to your clients, identify assistance programs, and build partnerships. CPAR (Dennis Derbes, Vice President) will be bringing you information in February on “Taxes and the Mistakes Independent Contractors Make in Preparing their IRS Filings,” led by Paula Rose, Atlas Tax and Accounting. March will bring a session with Sue Dutcher (First American Title) on the Dodd-Frank Act and how it affects you and your business.

Coming soon is a CE class on Linked In and how to use it for your business. Kim Dickey will also be returning with a CE class, the topic of which will be announced soon.

CPAR’s Outreach schedule (Director Louise Richardson) is being formulated. Do you have ideas that you feel that CPAR should consider implementing? Contact Louise at Outreach@cparfl.com.

All of CPAR’s programs and events are for ALL of its members, including the educational ones that have subject matter which appears to be just for Realtors®. The better educated you are, the more successful you will be and the better CPAR will work for you.

Are you passionate about something? Volunteer to bring it to the Association for consideration and possible implementation if it is not already in place. Contact our AE, Vanessa Frost, at Vanessa@cparfl.com or call 813.406.6081.

Until February, Lynn

Lynn Mooney

From your President 

Book Review by Lynn Mooney 

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Takin' Care of Business: The Big Idea for Small Business by Brian Buffini and Joe Niego

This is a must read for anyone in business. You’re never too old or too young to be successful in business. The disciplines in this book are attainable (only if you read and implement). Let the light bulb go on and start “Takin’ Care of Market-ing, Sales, Daily Disciplines, Customers, Money and much more.” The book is only 142 pages.

… “Customers who have had an exemplary experience with a business are usually bursting to tell others about it.” … “If you give your clients an extraordinary experience, not only will they loyally return to your business time after time, but they’ll also tell others about you.”

Vanessa Frost

Join a CPAR Committee—Helping Others Helps You!

CPAR has committees that keep the association running smoothly and help us reach out to the community. We need your participation to make CPAR grow and fulfill its potential. Expand your skills and create networking opportunities while making a difference in Pasco County. Here are some of our committees and contact information for their chairpersons:

Membership ~ Jack Buckley ~ thecoordinator45@gmail.com

Advocacy ~ Robert Kane ~ robkane76@gmail.com

Professional Development and Education ~ Dwight McDonald ~ education@cparfl.com

Outreach and Affordable Housing ~ Louise Richardson ~ outreach@cparfl.com

Young Professionals Network ~ David Chen ~ dchen4649@yahoo.com

Events ~ Ruth Peeples ~ rpeeples@firstam.com

 AE Corner    

Elite  My Florida Regional ~ Merri Jo Cowen

Platinum 

Embrace Home Loans ~ Tyler Cain and Scott Slone First American Title ~ Ruth Peeples

Gold 

IERNA’s Heating & Cooling ~ Julie Rinaldi National Property Inspections ~ Lynne Tonte

Sandon Mortgage ~ Rick Sandon Security National Mortgage ~ Ray Williams

WCR Tampa Chapter ~ Shannon Damschen

 Thank you to our 2015 Sponsors 

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Silver Centennial Bank ~ Nancy Pupello Eagle Mortgage ~ Karen Calhoun

Herbert H Landy Insurance ~ Joe Flynn Hillsborough Title ~ Joellyn Robles

Market Prime Mortgage ~ John Farris Mason Title ~ Mary Turner

Peeples Maintenance Repairs ~ Ron Peeples Prime Protection ~ Joed Hassani

Rainbow International Restoration ~ Steve Dumas Tampa Home Inspection ~ Bobb Courtman

Two Men and a Truck ~ Eugenia Parlow

Community Outreach

The CPAR 2014 Angel Tree program was a success! We were provided with the names of 28 children from the Pine View Elementary and Middle schools in need of a smile on their faces this holiday season. Our members stepped up, along with some additional agents from Berkshire Hathaway Florida Properties in Wesley Chapel. Over 200 gifts were wrapped, bagged and tagged to be distributed to the children prior to the school closing for the holiday break. These are difficult times for

many families and it was a great feeling to help in some small way to allow these children to be “children” at Christmas. We also received gift cards to provide to a few of the parents who were struggling to put food on the table. Again, thank you so much for everyone who helped make this a successful event.

Vicki Derbes

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Vicki Derbes delivers gifts to Pine View Middle School

Community Outreach 

4D Building Solutions Tom Rinicker 

 Know It Now Inc.

Bill Hyatt 

BHHS Florida Properties Group ~ Wesley Chapel Glendora Merchant 

Justin Joseph Robin Walker 

 Florida Realty Nell Petty 

 Victor J. Cruz Victor Cruz 

 People’s Choice Realty

Charlotte Stoking  

Florida Luxury Realty Euler Pereda 

Realtors® 

Business Partners 

Welcome New CPAR Members 

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Outgoing President Toby Caroline presented the 2014 CPAR Awards at our December membership meeting. We also shared in a fun Yankee Swap gift exchange, where members opened and “stole” each other’s gifts. We also concluded our food drive for Metropolitan Ministries and were able to give the charity organization a check for $430, which was raised from class fees collected for Kim Dickey’s November CE Class “The Art of Controlling the Sale.”

Complete list of Award Recipients: 

Realtor® of the Year ~  Margie Bradley 

Mentor of the Year ~ Dennis Derbes 

Business Partner Company of the Year ~ First American Title—Ruth Peeples 

Award of Excellence—Committee Chairman (Juanita Dennis Award) ~ Louise Richardson 

Bill Moorer Humanitarian Award ~ Harold Sample 

President’s Award ~ Lynn Mooney 

Honor Circle Award ~ Patsy Peterman 

Rising Star Award ~ Pete Rundel 

Outstanding Dedication Award ~ Lynne Tonte 

Total Dollar Volume ~ Toby Caroline 

Total Number of Transactions ~ Pete Rundel 

2014 CPAR Awards 

Toby Caroline presents the Realtor® of the Year award to Margie Bradley

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Outreach Committee members Ruth Peeples, Vicki Derbes and Louise Richardson show food donations and a $430 check for Metropolitan Ministries Members of the 2014 Board of Directors pose with outgoing President Toby Caroline

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Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase, two of the largest lenders in the U.S., have agreed to start showing some of their borrowers their FICO scores for free. FICO scores are a key metric lenders use to decide who to lend to and what interest rate to charge. President Barack Obama announced the move on Monday at the Federal Trade Commission, emphasizing the importance of making these "once-secretive scores" more transparent to millions of consumers. In February 2014, the Consumer

Financial Protection Bureau called on large credit-card lenders to make credit scores more available to consumers. CFPB says it received complaints from consumers who couldn't access their credit score. FICO scores are used in about 90 percent of consumer-lending decisions, according to financial services research firm CEB TowerGroup. Consumers can purchase some of their scores, but everyone has several FICO scores — and they can't necessarily see the one the lender is using. By knowing their credit score, consumers can take steps to improve it over time, which may result in greater loan savings and making credit more available to them, financial experts note. Bank of America says that it will begin providing its consumer credit-card users with their FICO score later this year. Ally Financial plans to offer car-loan customers their score in February and roll it out to all customers in the summer. Chase plans to offer FICO credit scores at no charge to the roughly 10 million users of its "Slate" credit card. FICO, through its growing list of partnerships, told The Wall Street Journal that it expects nearly 60 million consumers in the U.S. to soon have access to their FICO scores.

Source: “Millions More to See Their FICO Scores,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 12, 2015) 

Consumers Will Have Access to FICO Scores 

CPAR Membership Meeting Recap At CPAR’s Lunch ‘n Learn meeting on Jan. 8, Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey presented us with information on ongoing and upcoming Pasco projects. We also learned from CPAR Business Partner Scott Smith (We’ve Got Your Customers) the importance of having an account with Google My Business, where customers can find information about your company and also leave reviews. Be sure to come to our next meeting on February 11th at Pebble Creek Golf Club, where Paula Rose of Atlas Tax & Accounting will teach us how to avoid common tax mistakes made by independent contractors.

Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey discusses Pasco projects

Scott Smith shows members the benefits of Google+

Links to documents provided by Commissioner Starkey:     

Pasco County Strategic Plan Pasco County Major Projects Capacity Projects

Resurfacing Projects Pasco Market Areas

CPAR Business Partner Spotlight 

How To Get Home Buyers Calling YOU! According to a Google Consumer Survey conducted this year:

Half of people begin their formal home search 6-12 months in advance, with about three-quarters starting within a year of the purchase.

Two in three researched prospective agents extensively online prior to working with them.

Question: What does this tell us? Answer: That those that show up have a HUGE Head Start over those that don't!

Add in the Fact that 90%+ of home buyers search online during their home buying process and we can all agree that it's no longer just Nice to be found online, It's an Absolute Must if you want to stay in front of this market!

7 Strategies to Get Home Buyers Calling You

1. Know Who Your Ideal Client Is and What They Are Searching For 2. Set Up Your Website the Right Way 3. Set Up Your Google Plus Page the Right Way 4. Directory Listings 5. Reviews 6. Content Creation Strategy (Photos, Videos, Blog Posts, etc) 7. Social Media Strategy to Push Out Content

Who Is Scott?

15+ Years Building Local Businesses Founded Sales Company in 2003 and Grew It to $10Million+ in

Sales Founded We've Got Your Customers in 2009 to help Build and

Save Local Businesses

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Scott L Smith Local SEO Consultant 

We've Got Your Customers 

813-400-1105 http://wevegotyourcustomers.com 

When You Absolutely, Posi vely Have To Be Found!  

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How important do you consider file / OS backups?

I consider backup very important because my Windows system has about 60 GB files, and some files are very important, and one bit of damage to those files can cause the whole Windows system to malfunction. The easiest way to solve this kind of problem is preventive care – backup which takes about 30 minutes for 60 GB files.

Is it necessary to clone an entire hard drive or just backup data files?

Every system usage and configuration is different. It depends on the system usage and how the system is configured to decide whether it is necessary to clone an entire hard drive or just backup data files. To me, my Windows system usage is important, changes are frequent, and my Windows system is configured to backup the whole system, which is simple, easy, and takes less time to backup the whole system which is the clone of the entire hard drive of my Windows system.

How often should backups be performed?

Every system usage and configuration is different, especially how frequently the files and system are changed. I do backups every Friday evening. However, sometimes before and after important application and system update, I do additional backups, too.

What kind of backups should be performed (full every time, full followed by several differentials, full followed by several incremental)?

I configured my Windows system to do full backups every Friday evening which makes restoring easy.

What media do you use for backup storage, and where do you keep the media?

I use a USB portable hard disk as backup media and keep it in my fire safe.

Is it necessary to test a backup?

Yes. It is necessary to test a backup. By using a USB portable hard disk as backup media and configured full backup, the restore is very easy to verify whether the backup works or not.

 

David Chen

Personal Computer System Backup FAQ 

Sometime today, you're going to need a break. Might we recommend you use

Calm.com to help you with that?

Calm.com is a website (and app) which provides soothing scenery, ambient music,

and guided meditation options to help you center yourself.

Better than the waterfall and aquarium

screensavers of the old days, Calm

allows you to configure a relaxing

experience for a pre-determined amount

of time, and can be a welcome break

from the endless stream of news, email

alerts, and social media distractions.

Why not try a 2-minute Calm session right now?

Refresh Yourself with Calm.com 

 Business Partners Thank you for your support! 

Affordable  Home Inspec on of Tampa Bay 

Steve Whallen 813‐948‐4176 

Darren Anderson 813‐996‐0604 

Sara Allen                                  727‐526‐5338 

Brian Arrighi                             813‐251‐2921 

Chris Black                                 813‐782‐1777 

Doug Drozd                               813‐949‐5131 

Karen Calhoun                          813‐966‐3081 

Tyler Caine, 813‐380‐8487 Sco  Slone, 813‐295‐4660 

Cindy Maxie                                   813‐961‐3391 

Angela Miller                            352‐521‐0141 

Alberta Bland                           813‐875‐1200 

Joellyn Robles                           813‐287‐2130 

George Cooper                         813‐340‐8363 

Julie Rinaldi                               813‐948‐6355 

James Ward, 813‐770‐8459     Jason Roux, 813‐787‐9590 

Helen Schwetz                          727‐329‐2000 

Mitchell Rothenberg 813‐632‐0550 

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Nancy Pupello                       904‐477‐7011 

Emerald Inspec on Service, LLC 

George Swatzbaugh III        352‐322‐2700 

Rebecca Lynn Walker        813‐390‐0140 

Janalee Jones                      813‐376‐3618 

Tom Rinicker 813‐300‐5027 

Joseph Flynn                             352‐350‐2477 

Law Offices       of Mercedes  Gonzalez Hale 

Mercedes Gonzalez Hale        813‐973‐8900 

Mary Turner                              813‐264‐6110 

Jodie Wilson                              863‐602‐3845 

Lynne Tonte                              813‐973‐2004 

Tony Hedayat                              813‐960‐7378 

Sco  Goldsborough               813‐363‐6745 

Joed Hassani                             813‐704‐0493 

Steve Dumas                             813‐907‐0503 

Randy Mabry                            727‐942‐9363 

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Ray Williams                      Mike Williams                     

Nathaniel Bi man                               727‐724‐5438  

Brian Finucane                         813‐362‐8453 

Lauria Grant III                                 813‐994‐1471 

Tampa Home Inspec on 

Bobb Courtman                            813‐909‐9516 

Ruth Peeples                                  813‐968‐5170 

Shelly Grover, 727‐519‐4710 

Wendy Bechtelheimer            813‐839‐4250 

John Farris                           813‐867‐4820 

Michael Mar n                   407‐878‐1238 

Sco  Smith                            813‐748‐8008 

Ron Peeples                              813‐774‐2386 

Bill Hya                               727‐415‐8305 

 Business Partners Thank you for your support! 

READY FOR A CHANGE? Contact Dwight McDonald, CPAR President-Elect, for answers

to all your CPAR and membership-related questions. 813-629-6954 ~ emailmybroker@verizon.net

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Central Pasco Association of Realtors® 27642 Cashford Circle, Ste. 110 ~ Wesley Chapel, FL 33544

www.cparfl.com ~ Phone 813-406-6081 ~ Fax 813-712-2865 ~ info@cparfl.org

Membership Dues & Fees CPAR 1 GTAR 2 EPAR 3 PRO 4 WPBOR 5

Local Dues (Primary Membership) $75.00 $120.00 $115.00 $168.00 $170.00

Florida Realtors® Dues & Issues Advocacy $126.00 $126.00 $126.00 $126.00 $126.00

NAR Dues & Public Awareness Campaign Assessment

$155.00 $155.00 $155.00 $155.00 $155.00

Total Annual Dues $356.00 $401.00 $396.00 $449.00 $451.00

Application Fee (Local) $75.00 $195.00 $110.00 $150.00 $250.00

Application Fee (Florida Realtors®) $30.00 $30.00 $30.00 $30.00 $30.00

Business Partner/Affiliate Dues (Primary Membership)

$90.00 $195.00 $150.00 $250.00 $250.00

1 Information obtained from CPAR 10/1/14 2 Information obtained from GTAR 10/14/14 3 Information obtained from EPAR 10/28/14 

4 Information obtained from PRO 10/14/14 5 Information obtained from WPBOR 10/14/14  

Did you know? NAR allows Local Board of Choice… Regardless of office location, Realtors® may join any local real estate association they choose.

~ My Florida Regional MLS membership

~ Supra Active Keys, eKeys, and Lockboxes

~ Professional Development Education and CE credits

~ Office convenient to North Tampa, New Tampa,

~ New Member Orientation

~ Social events for fun and networking

~ Public Advocacy

~ Community Service opportunities

CPAR offers the same benefits as other local real estate associations:

Wesley Chapel, and Land O’Lakes 

Attention Brokers!

~ Fast start for new agents ~ Lower startup costs ~ Orientation for new agents ~ Low primary and secondary

dues for transferring brokers 

Compare and Save! CLICK HERE

for more information and applications on

our website