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Tee time at MAR's Convention A panoramic view of the breathtaking Thornapple River provides the backdrop for this expansive, 18 hole course, featuring bentgrass fairways and impeccably groomed tees and greens. Winding along 7,000 feet of river frontage, your game guides you over gently rolling hills, through hardwood-lined fairways, and near three of the most enchanting, untouched wetlands found in the Midwest. Get out and take advantage of this great REALTOR® networking opportunity. Put together a four-some team or register at the MAR web site as a single player. Registration fees include 18 holes of golf, cart, range balls, a continental breakfast, lunch, contest holes and the 19th Hole Party at the end of the outing. Learn more about Thornapple Pointe here. Defend against identity theft Identity theft is a serious crime; its impact on consumers and businesses is staggering. Current estimates by the Federal Trade Commission indicate that there may be as many as 10 million victims of identity theft each year. Studies estimate that victims of identity theft spend $5 billion to undo its harm, while businesses lose nearly $50 billion in revenue annually. The FTC has received thousands of real estate-related identity theft complaints. Many consumers first learn they are victims of identity theft when they are in the process of renting or buying a home, derailing their real estate dreams while they work to rebuild their good name and destroyed credit. Identity thieves may also rent or purchase a home fraudulently. Clearly, identity theft is an important issue impacting both home buyers and real estate professionals across the nation. Connick to perform at NAR Conference New Orleans’ own popular pianist, singer and bandleader Harry Connick Jr. will be the featured act of the National Association of REALTORS® Celebrity Concert on November 12 during the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in the Crescent City. Connick, with his unique contemporary style, will put some pep in the step of more than 30,000 REALTORS® and guests who are expected to inject more than 34 million in tourist dollars into the local economy during the November 9-13 conference. The Celebrity Concert is sponsored by Bank of America. REALTORS® will also sponsor the construction of seven Habitat for Humanity homes at the “Musicians Village” (http://www.habitat.nola.org/musicians_village.php) in the Big Easy. Connick and another New Orleans jazz great, Branford Marsalis, are honorary chairs of the Habitat’s Operation Home Delivery effort, which includes 81 Habitat homes for displaced musicians and a community center, the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. Connick and NAR were among the first responders to assist the city following Hurricane Katrina. In addition, NAR, state and territorial associations of REALTORS® will sponsor 54 Habitat homes in the Gulf Coast area, including the seven in the Musician’s Village, as part of the REALTOR®–Habitat Partnership for Gulf Coast Recovery program. For the past six years, NAR has sponsored Habitat builds in each of the cities hosting its annual conference. Register for the NAR Convention here. Public housing to get $2.2 billion facelift HUD awards funding to develop, modernize units Inman News The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday awarded more than 3,145 public housing agencies across the nation $2.2 billion in federal funding to make large-scale improvements to their public housing developments. The funding comes from HUD's Capital Fund program, which is distributed annually to public housing agencies (PHAs) to help them develop, finance, and/or modernize the public housing in their communities. The funding can also be used to improve management operations within the agency. "Just over a million families rely on local public housing agencies to provide safe, decent housing," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who announced the funding. "This funding gives these entities the resources to make major improvements to their developments. HUD is proud to assist them in this effort to provide quality affordable housing." Over the past five years, PHAs in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities have leveraged this funding, through the Capital Fund Financing Program (CFFP), and issued bonds in the private market to raise additional capital for major modernization needs. Although the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 included an amendment that allowed PHAs to borrow funds on the private market to raise capital for major repairs to its housing stock, it was not until 2001 this financing tool was utilized. Repairs that will normally take five or 10 years can be accomplished in one to two years with the resources the program generates in a shorter time period. PHAs pledge a percentage of their future Capital Fund, subject to annual appropriations, under CFFP to repay debt. HUD is a federal agency that implements housing policy.
By Karen Saunders It's almost five o'clock on Friday afternoon. Do you know where your newest marketing pieces are? If you're a small business owner, they may be buried on your desk because you've got so many other important details to handle. Or they're still sitting on your assistant's desk where she's staring at them hopelessly. She's an administrative assistant, for heaven's sake, not a designer, and she knows what she's produced so far is not very memorable or effective. All of us would like to think our product is so good, our services so unique, they'll simply sell themselves. Not so! Strong branding, powerful images, compelling web pages and outstanding marketing pieces make or break that upward sales curve you crave so urgently. In today's market, your customers and clients are influenced more than ever by the visual presentation of your marketing pieces. If they are well designed, they're likely to be read, remembered and respected. Here are five simple, but essential tricks of the designer's trade that you can use immediately, at little cost, and with excellent results to profit you both short and long term.
MAR Calendar of Events
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720 North Washington Avenue • P.O. Box 40725 • Lansing,
Michigan 48901-7925 Copyright © 2005 Michigan Association of REALTORS® |
