Michigan Association of REALTORS®

Last Tuesday, local association executives, representing approximately 75 percent of the membership, attended an On the MARk Meeting at MAR headquarters. Here is a recap if you were not able to attend.

MAR CEO Bill Martin showed an example of what the new pocket card photo ID will look like. DLEG hopes to begin issuing the photo cards to new licensees and even current salespersons/brokers in September. Scanning technology for the cards is currently being developed and will soon be available. MAR Education Coordinator, Andrea Bates gave attendees a look at DLEG’s new license/continuing education search option that can be found at https://www2.dleg.state.mi.us/colaLicVerify/.

MAR’s Vice President of Public Policy and Legal Affairs, Rob Campau provided a public policy update where he emphasized the importance of members using the MBT estimator that is found on MAR's Web site and encouraged AE’s to communicate this with their members. The estimator can be found along with other public policy information at http://www.mirealtors.com/advocacy.html. MAR’s Director of Public Policy and Legal Affairs, Brad Ward talked about MAR using NAR resources to help with RPAC. There will be a series of postcard mailings with ads in MAR publications. The first card has already been sent and there are three more to follow. All attendees were provided printed samples of the cards that can be viewed at http://www.mirealtors.com/advocacy/rpacmedia.html.

How many voters are in your association?

The MAR director elections open tomorrow and will remain open until September 27, 2007. To help local associations better understand the break down of voters for the districts open for reelection (districts 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 13), MAR has complied the number of qualified voters for each local association by district. You can use this data to help communicate with your members about the election and the importance of voting.

What You Need to Know About Convention 2007

Make Your Members Happy, Save them $$

The countdown has started and the 2007 Convention & Expo is around the corner! It is hard to believe fall is almost here, let alone the largest REALTOR® event in the state. It is true, and before you know it you will be greeting your members and attending all of the MAR educational and networking opportunities. While you are planning your trip to the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, there are a few things you need to know and pass along to your members.

• Convention is only 28 days away! Visit the MAR convention Web site for the official countdown. We are set to see you and your members on September 26 – 28.

• Get your members registered now! Save them money by making sure they know the early bird registration date ends September 8. That is only seven working days to get them all registered. There is little that makes members happier than saving $$.

• Register all your rookies/first-timers now! The amazing early bird rate of only $119 for these members also expires on September 8. Remember, save $$ = happy member.

• The Soaring Eagle room block is SOLD OUT! There are other great hotels in the area including the newly acquired Soaring Eagle Inn, however, rooms are going fast. To guarantee their comfort and room choice, please advise your members to book their rooms as soon as possible. Visit the MAR Web Site for hotel options.

• Continuing education is at an all time high! With 43 hours of CE already approved and six hours of appraisal CE, your members will have an abundance of choices to meet their CE requirements. No more boring CE, there is something for everyone.

• Walk-in registration will be available, but MAR does encourage your members to register early and save $$. After all, it is our job to make our members happy!

• Also, if your members are preregistered, they will be able to skip the registration desk and go directly to Convention learning and fun! Name badges will be mailed out on September 9.

• There is still room to assemble the foursome that is going to take the MAR President’s Cup Golf Outing! First place will receive $500. Download a registration form at the MAR Convention Web site.

And finally, everything you and your members need to make this a truly successful Convention & Expo is available at the MAR Conventions Web site, including early bird deals that end September 8!

Events Tailored for Your Commercial Members

MAR is excited to be bringing special programs tailored to our commercial members. If you have members that are interested in commercial or currently practicing in this specialty, you will want to make sure they know about the following events.

MAR Convention Commercial Track

This year’s commercial track will be offered on Thursday, September 27 and will feature the following sessions:

Commercial Real Estate 101: 10 Key Traits for a Successful Broker with Joe Banyai, CCIM, SIOR of Signature Associates 1 hour of CE
Today’s Environmental Issues-Guidelines, Trends and Opportunities with Doug McClure, a real estate law expert 2 hours of CE
TIC’s Education Session – Tom Heineman, National Association of REALTORS®
MiCAR Leaders Panel with Ray Kisor, MiCAR President from Grubb & Ellis Paramount, Randy Thomas, MiCAR Treasurer President-Elect from Colliers International and Rick Birdsall, MiCAR board member from Signature Associates.

Other tracks offered at this year’s convention include technology, agent, appraisal, management and legal and there are already 43 credits of Continuing Education available with more pending approval. Members can register by visiting the MAR Web site.

Industry and Legal Issues Update for Michigan’s Commercial Practitioner

MiCAR, the commercial division of MAR, has teamed with Midwest Real Estate News to bring its members this amazing value in networking, CE and legal and industry updates. Being held October 12 at the Southfield Marriott, the breakfast event will feature the following:

7:30 am Registration and Breakfast
8:00 am Industrial, Office and Retail Panel with Industry Leaders
9 am Break
9:15 am Commercial Legal Issues presented by Greg McClelland – 2 Hours Legal CE
11:15 am Adjourn

If members register here before October 5 registration will be $79/person. Sponsorship opportunities are also available for this event by emailing Corie Costello at ccostello@mirealtors.com.

UM/ULI Real Estate Forum

MiCAR is pleased to announce it has secured a sponsorship opportunity at the UM/RLI Real Estate Forum taking place November 7 – 8 at the Management Education Center in Troy. This annual event is expected to attract real estate professionals from across the industry to discuss this year’s theme, connecting suburban and urban town centers via transit.

This year’s event features Charles DiRocco, ULI Managing Director, real estate Industry/Finance, L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive, Doug Smith, Oakland County, Director of Economic Development, Robin Beltranini, Troy City Council, Michael Dengrate, National City Bank, David Duchscherer, Wendel Duchscherer, Hunter Richardson, Richardson Development Group, Paul Tait, SEMCOG and Peter Allen, Peter Allen & Associates. Mark Falcone, Managing Director and founder of Continuum Partners, Denver, Co, will give the keynote address. The program will also feature a narrated bus tour of Troy development as well as networking.

For more information, or to register, visit the UM/ULI real Estate Forum’s Web site.

13 Ways to Kill A Great Idea

By: Jeff Blackman

1. That is not the way we do things here.

2. That is against our policy.

3. We have never done it that way before.

4. We did not invent it here, we will not do it here.

5. We know that will never work.

6. There is no budget.

7. We cannot afford it.

8. We are just not ready to do that yet.

9. We are way too busy.

10. We will be fine without it.

11. We should not rock the boat.

12. Everything is fine; there is no need to upgrade.

13. Our people looked into that last year.