Seemingly innocent slips of the tongue can hurt your clients’ negotiating power — not to mention violate your duty to keep clients’ information in confidence. Check out this post by AgentGenius contributor Paula Henry about the careless dropping of information she has heard around her office and in the field.

I think you’ll also gawk at some of the comments left in response to Paula’s post from other agents around the country.

Photo credit

Face it: The REALTOR® Code of Ethics isn’t exactly light reading. Weighing in at over 7,000 words, just reading the Code of Ethics is a chore many REALTORS® dread.

VAR’s Code is Good Business campaign makes it easier to understand NAR’s Code of Ethics and demonstrates how adhering to the Code helps REALTORS® earn the trust of their colleagues and clients. Not to mention make more money.

Recently, we’ve added a new feature to TheCodeIsGoodBusiness.com: all 17 articles of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics are now in easy to read layman’s language. We call it StraightTalk. If you need a refresher on the Code, or if you’ve ever felt confused by it, have a look. We’re doing our part to make the REALTOR® Code of Ethics accessible and easily understood.

Other features available at TheCodeIsGoodBusiness.com include:

• Audio clips featuring perspectives of other REALTORS® on the tangible rewards of upholding the highest ethical standards.
• The interactive, addictive, hilarious, but eminently slimy real estate trainer, Ted Truitt.
• Interactive ethics case studies.

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to tell a room full of REALTORS® about blogging. Thank you to the top performing agents at William E. Wood and Associates REALTORS® for your hospitality and attention during my presentation this morning. As promised, here is the link to Susie Scott’s brand new blog. Everyone should give Susie another cheer for diving right in to the blogging revolution! And leave a comment on her blog; you know it will warm her heart!

Giving credit where credit is due, Charlottesville REALTOR® Jim Duncan helped put together the first iteration of this presentation, which can be viewed in the slide show embedded below.

| View | Upload your own

The videos played during todays presentation are also embedded below:

Blogs in Plain English:

RSS in Plain English:

Social Networking in Plain English:

Please feel free to call or e-mail me if you have any questions. Or better yet, leave a comment!

And brokers, if you’re interested in having a VAR staff member or practicing REALTOR®-blogger come speak to your agents about blogging, please call, e-mail, or leave a comment.

You may have noticed some new voices at VARbuzz over the past few weeks. AgentGenius keeps cherry-picking honoring VARbuzz contributors with the opportunity to write for them, and while Danilo, Jeremy, and Matthew continue to post here, we’ve also added a few more to the mix to keep the posts regular and the perspectives varied. Here’s a run-down of the newest VARbuzz contributors:

• Dan Nesemeier is a REALTOR® based in Annandale. His first VARbuzz post is about sellers who are so frustrating, it’s almost comical.
• Heather Elias is an agent in Loudoun and maintains a real estate blog at LoCoMusings.com. Her first post to VARbuzz is about buyers who don’t want to be talked to.
• Tina Merritt is an associate broker from Virginia Beach. She blogs at VirginiaBlogging.com and TinaInVirginia.com. Her first post is just minutes away. Stay tuned!
• Andrew Kantor is a Richmond-based freelance writer on a tour of duty with VAR. He has already written a truckload of VARbuzz posts.

If you’d like to be considered as a contributor for VARbuzz, just drop me a line with a writing sample. Ben at VARealtor dot com.

Brokers: There is no shortage of new rules, regulations and stuff to keep up with this year. Here are a few things to keep in mind and be aware of as we near the mid-point of 2008:

1. Virginia real estate brokers will be required to earn eight hours of broker management continuing education for all broker license renewals occurring on or after July 1, 2008. This is a new requirement. You can earn your broker management CE at VAR’s Convention & Expo 2008 or at an upcoming Risk Management Road Show. You can also contact your local association to see if they are offering broker management CE.
2. Many of the laws passed in the 2008 General Assembly go into effect on July 1, 2008. VAR has just released an electronic brochure outlining those changes for distribution to all brokers. Download it now.
3. VAR successfully lobbied for major revisions to the laws governing Property Owners Associations, Home Owners Associations and Condominium Owners Associations in the 2008 General Assembly session. On June 20, Lem Marshall, VAR’s special counsel, will lead an interactive webcast summarizing changes to the laws. Come armed with your questions and hear how these sweeping changes will affect you and your clients. Check with your local association to see if they will be hosting a site for this important webcast.
4. As a reminder, the Virginia Real Estate Board implemented new regulations effective April 1, 2008. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with the changes, please review this summary prepared by VAR. You can download the updated regulations in full from VREB’s website.
5. The first deadline for NAR’s mandatory quadrennial REALTOR® ethics training is December 31, 2008. Encourage your agents to complete the 2 ½ hours of training early. REALTORS® can earn one free hour towards the requirement by completing the 16 ethics lessons at TheCodeIsGoodBusiness.com or check with your local association to see if they are offering ethics training. Update: The 16 ethics lessons at TheCodeIsGoodBusiness.com count towards Virginia real estate license continuing education credit requirements, but not towards NAR’s 2 ½ hour ethics training requirement.

As Danilo showed us in this earlier VARbuzz post, depending on where you work in the Commonwealth, the real estate market is bouncing back. In the DC area, one of the areas hardest hit by the changing real estate market, especially its outer suburbs, there is good reason for optimism. After all, what goes down must come up, and certain areas in Northern Virginia have gone way down.

Bouncing back might not be the right term for many areas of the state, as they have been somewhat insulated from the national housing slump. Many regions in Virginia, including Richmond and Hampton Roads, have maintained steady appreciation in home prices throughout the national housing slump. Here’s more evidence (some comical, some serious) that the market is looking up:

1. The Richmond area continues to see moderate appreciation in average home values, based on expert economist analysis in the GMU/VAR first quarter 2008 home sales report.
2. The Loudoun Times reports that the best REALTORS® have weathered the storm and are well-positioned to capitalize on the turnaround.
3. Despite what his grandmother thinks, Frank LLosa isn’t broke yet.
4. Blacksburg is tilting towards a seller’s market.
5. The affordability index is coming back down to earth in Prince William and Loudoun.

Things aren’t looking quite so good for one Virginia REALTOR®, as you can see in this video:

What would Ms. Manners say about REALTOR® courtesies? You don’t have to guess even another minute longer. Here’s a guest post from Ms. Real Manners, courtesy of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®.

Dear Ms. Real Manners,

Recently, I received a phone call from a seller complaining that, after a showing, the lights were left on, the doors unlocked and someone had used the bathroom — and left without tidying up after themselves. (Phew!) What are you people thinking?

The old saying, ‘treat it like you would your own home’ does not apply when showing property. Turn off the lights and lock the door! And, when it comes to the bathroom — go ahead and flush the toilet, but don’t take it for a test drive!

We have a tough enough time as it is protecting our reputations as professionals. Treating a seller’s home with such a lack of courtesy and disrespect does nothing to improve the reputation of REALTORS® in their eyes. And disgruntled people talk to others. So even if they are not your client today, they can affect your business tomorrow.

Could you publish (or re-publish) the courtesies we should all be adhering to when showing a listing?

Signed,

Frustrated (and disgusted)

* * *

Dear Frustrated,

But of course.

Showing courtesies:

1. Have a confirmed appointment before showing any property.
2. Arrive on time for showings. Don’t be early. Occupied homes may have owners preparing to leave. Vacant houses may have other appointments scheduled.
3. If you are going to be more than five minutes late for a showing, please call the listing salesperson and/or office to notify the seller of your tardiness.
4. Avoid parking in the driveway. Many sellers find this a little presumptuous and objectionable.
5. Use the sidewalks! Grass and landscaping are precious to the seller. In bad weather, take off shoes and boots inside the property.
6. When showing an occupied home, always ring the doorbell and knock before entering. Knock before entering any closed room.
7. Enter listed property first to make sure that unexpected situations, such as pets or disarming alarm systems are handled appropriately.
8. If sellers are on the property, do not discuss any details of the sale, including price with the seller. Refer all inquiries to the listing agent.
9. Do not use the telephone in someone’s home or business without prior permission.
10. Never use a bathroom at a listing unless it is marked “public.”
11. Don’t smoke in listed property.
12. Be responsible for visitors.
13. Legibly sign and fully complete the guest register.
14. Keep sarcasm and negative comments about the property and neighborhood to yourself.
15. Never allow buyers to enter property unaccompanied.
16. If sellers are on the property, inform them that you are leaving after a showing.
17. Make sure that the house is left the way you found it. Ensure that heating and cooling controls are set correctly.
18. Turn off the lights, shut windows, and lock doors.
19. Return the key to the lockbox and secure it properly.
20. Call the listing broker to report the results of any showing, correct any inaccurate listing information, and anything that appears wrong with the property.

Just a brief post to inform all VAR members that the Hampton Roads REALTORS® Association is collecting donations for those affected by the recent tornado in Suffolk. No matter what part of the Commonwealth you live in, please show your support for fellow Virginians in need by making a contribution through PayPal or by check.

To donate by PayPal, simply click on the orange “Donate” button near the center of the HRRA website.

Guest post from Bill Burruss, Virginia’s 2007 Accredited Land Consultant of the Year.

When your head hits the ceiling in the basement, or the kitchen, you might not sell the house. If you are wider than the door, or bigger than the closet that was converted to a bathroom, you might not sell the house. Being 6′ 5″ tall and weighing over 320 lbs in those days, awkward was the way I felt in a house. I found that I never could make the right move showing the beautiful kitchen cabinets. My female broker could do that with such grace. Once, while closing a basement window during a showing, my tie fell into an open gallon of fuel oil and slapped against my shirt. I did not sell the house and because of the smell, I thought the client (a minister) was going to walk home to Alabama. He instead bought a FSBO and stayed. When you are big, you are just BIG.

I grew up in a land family. My family was in the lumber business and had large land holdings. I had always loved the land and as a child would look at tracts with my father. The awkwardness that I showed in residential real estate during this time was never apparent in my land listings. No ceilings to crash into. No doors to get stuck in. I knew how to walk the land and how to talk about it.

Sensing that helping people buy and sell undeveloped land was my calling, I was determined to improve my land skills and make my living this way. The Lynchburg AE told me about the Virginia Chapter of the REALTORS® Land Institute (VARLI). When I made my presentation on why I wanted to join, the Regional Vice-President for my area was being moved up to Treasurer. My presentation turned out to be my installation as the new Regional Vice-President.

Being involved with VARLI has opened more doors than I could have imagined. Below is a brief list:

• Did pro-bono work for a non-profit group that lead to listing and selling the two
  most expensive commercial land tracts in this area at that time.
• Sold the land holdings for a company that competed with my father’s company.
• Worked with my ex-broker on how to sell a youth camp for her church.
• Assisted in the sale of over 50,000 acres.
• Asked to represent fellow REALTORS® as the President of the Virginia RLI Chapter twice.
• Asked to be a member of the first Virginia REALTORS® Leadership Academy.
• Served on NAR committees as the RLI representative.

Exploring farms and undeveloped land, my clothes still occasionally pick up the aroma of petroleum products, like the one my tie once fell into. But in the outdoors, my preferred working environment, being 6′ 5″ and 260 lbs has its advantages: Hunters can see my blaze orange a lot better. So instead of threatening to walk back to Alabama, my clients now hug me — especially during hunting season.

Since they raised their lending limits, many buyers are turning to FHA loans to finance their home purchases. It’s expected that FHA financing will account for approximately a third of all residential mortgages in the near future. If you’re like many REALTORS®, you’ve seen a dramatic rise in FHA interest from your clients and you’re not completely comfortable with your knowledge of FHA loans. We can help! NAR and VAR recently teamed up to produce a webcast on new FHA loan rules and requirements.

Katie Wethman, an Arlington REALTOR® has already posted a summary review of the webcast to her blog. Anthony Carr, a broker with Weichert’s Burke/Fairfax Station office, wrote us an e-mail saying, “THIS IS FABULOUS! I’ll be setting up a class in my office to review this video and have a Q&A with some lenders. Thanks for doing this. What a creative and EFFECTIVE use of technology!”

With the limits in some areas of the Commonwealth above $700,000, FHA loans are sure to be tapped more frequently than any time in recent history. Make sure you understand the special rules surrounding FHA loans by watching this free one hour webcast.