Michigan Association of REALTORS®

The Numbers Are In...

MAR Convention & Expo Brings Members Extraordinary Value

MAR once again brought its members an amazing value for their Convention & Expo registration. At this year’s event in Mt. Pleasant, MAR offered the more than 1,200 attendees 45 educational sessions that were approved for state continuing education credit. An amazing 4,230 CE credits were obtained at this event!

“The variety of continuing education offered, coupled with the quality, allowed you to choose sessions that would impact your business,” said Mary Rockwell of the Northeastern Michigan Board. "This was also a tremendous time saver, that is not available at your local level. You could pickup the majority of your education requirements including legal all at one event.”

MAR promises to bring as much value, if not more, to next year’s event. Mark your calendar to attend September 17 – 19 at the Marriott Detroit at the Renaissance Center. For more information, visit the MAR Web site. Sponsorships and exhibit opportunities are available.

MAR was proud to lead the fight to protect REALTORS® throughout the state by playing a key role in defeating the sales tax on services by first not having real estate services included in the tax and secondly by pushing successfully for a repeal of the tax. This is a prime example of MAR flexing its muscles and using the strength of our membership to protect you and your bottom line.

This has been an ongoing process that saw victory early on when over 10,000 members responded to a MAR Call to Action Campaign leading to comments during floor debates about the REALTORS® flooding email boxes. Even though Granholm’s proposed two percent tax was originally rejected by the legislature, MAR kept watch, continuing to meet at a marathon pace with legislative leaders to ensure they knew that our industry strongly opposes any form of tax increase before meaningful government reforms. Members of your public policy team were in the halls of the Capitol in the early hours of the morning when the sales tax on services was passed. They were also there when the last vote was made to repeal the tax.

“MAR worked diligently to ensure real estate services were not covered in the new tax, and opposed any tax on services. Though real estate services in general were not included, several items were that would impact our members’ cost of conducting business in Michigan,” said MAR CEO Bill Martin. “We are extremely happy with the action the Senate has taken in listening to the concerns of the real estate industry.”

“Without the work of MAR and RPAC, the real estate industry could have been hit hard with taxes. I can sleep better at night knowing MAR is keeping vigil. This is why year after year I contribute to RPAC. In today’s economy, our industry is extremely vulnerable and we need to make sure we are protected and MAR is doing that,” said Jeff Thornton of Briarwood Realty in Williamston.

To find out more about what MAR and RPAC do to protect your business visit the MAR Web site. MAR and RPAC will continue to protect its members into 2008 and far into the future.

Before you leave for the holidays, don’t forget to reserve your spot at the top REALTOR® leadership event of the year, Achieve 2008 being held January 17 – 18 at the Amway Grand Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids. This two-day conference is designed to assist REALTORS® in developing and recognizing the skills and performance of local and statewide leadership by translating positive strategies into winning business results. Speakers include Patrick Anderson of Anderson Economic Group, Susan Stratton of Leading Edge Mentoring and Dick Gaylord, NAR’s 2008 President. MAR is dedicated to bringing you top-notch events and Achieve 2008 will be no exception.

With the help of McClelland & Anderson, we are taking the most commonly asked questions from our legal hotline and putting them in e-news. We will be featuring a different question each issue.

QUESTION: I represent a buyer who has entered into a purchase agreement. My buyer was not satisfied with the home inspection and has decided not to buy the house. The purchase agreement clearly states that if the buyer was dissatisfied with the inspection report he could terminate the contract and receive a full refund of his earnest money deposit. The sellers disagreed with the buyer and have stated that they want the buyer’s deposit. I’m of the opinion that I can release the money to the buyer based upon the clear language of the purchase contract. Am I correct?

Disbursement of an earnest money deposit shall be made at consummation or termination of the agreement in accordance with the agreement signed by the parties. However, any deposit in the trust account of the broker for which the buyer and seller have made claim shall remain in the broker’s trust account until a civil action has determined to whom the deposit must be paid, or until the buyer and seller have agreed, in writing, to the disposition of the deposit (emphasis added). The broker may also commence a civil action to interplead the deposit with the proper court.

Since the seller is making a claim to the earnest money, you cannot release the money to the buyer. The fact that it seems quite likely that the buyer would prevail in any litigation over the earnest money deposit does not mean that you can release the earnest money to the buyer over the objection of the sellers.

“Success is measured by your ability to maintain enthusiasm between failures.” — Sir Winston Churchill

Mahatma Gandhi, Norman Cousins, Helen Keller, Christopher Reeves and Thomas Edison are just a few names that come to mind in a discussion about optimism and success.

Mozart is another example of a genius who had exemplary self-confidence in the face of adversity. A psychological analysis of his correspondence shows that he carried optimism to an almost pathological extreme. Toward the end of his life, when he suffered the deaths of four children, serious illnesses and repeated professional and financial disasters, his optimism actually rose.

People who are considered successful in life measure high on assessments of optimistic attitudes. It would be easy to presume they are optimistic because they are successful, but there is enough research to show that the optimism comes first.

Traditional wisdom puts forth the idea that to be successful, you must have two things:

More recent research shows that a third element contributes strongly to success:

Gerry Hoeffner will be a featured speaker at Achieve 2008, the must attend leadership event of the year for REALTORS®. Gerry has over 25 years of employee development experience. His passion for the study of human behavior and his experience in manufacturing, retail sales, financial services, and the medical field provides a broad spectrum of insight and knowledge to his work. Gerry is known throughout the U.S. and Canada for his high-energy presentations, humor and a “straight talking” approach to managing the human side of your business. Register for Achieve and see Gerry and all the dynamic speakers MAR has lined up to get you moving in the right direction for 2008.

AOL Money & Finance ran an interesting story entitled “Housing Market on Verge on Stabilizing?” The story sites NAR’s forecast that sales will slightly rise in 2008.

Visit AOL to read the entire story now.

That's right. Tens of millions of Americans don't celebrate Christmas religiously, either as followers of non-Christian religions (Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews) or as individuals with no religious affiliation. Because many stores tap into the cash value of Christmas with their plethora of Santas, ornaments, and Christmas fanfare at your nearby mall, we can easily overlook the depth of the diversity present in America during this season. In reality, many different events, both spiritual, religious, and tradition based, are being celebrated in many different ways during these times.