Read this from the REALTOR Magazine:

Q. I was in the middle of negotiating an offer on behalf of buyers I was representing. We had submitted a counteroffer in writing to the listing agent and we were waiting for a response. Suddenly, the listing agent contacted me and told me that there were multiple offers on the table. She said her seller instructed her to tell us that we needed to make our “best and final offer” by a certain time that day. This doesn™t seem fair to me. I feel the sellers should have completed negotiations with my buyers before considering another offer. Is the listing agent in violation of the Code of Ethics?

A. No. Considering several offers at the same time or asking one or more potential buyers to make their “best and final” offer by a specific deadline doesn™t violate the Code. The listing agent and the seller had the right to ask that your buyer submit a “best and final offer.” While individual sellers may use that practice infrequently, it seems more common in situations requiring a quick sale, such as relocations and properties sold by lenders. Because these properties are often attractively priced, they can generate multiple offers. Standards of Practice 1-6 and 1-7 of the Code address offers and counteroffers. Standard of Practice 1-6 provides “REALTORS ® shall submit offers and counteroffers objectively and as quickly as possible.” Standard of Practice 1-7 states, “When acting as listing brokers, REALTORS ® shall continue to submit to the seller/landlord all offers and counteroffers until closing or execution of a lease unless the seller/landlord has waived this obligation in writing . . .”

Red the rest of the answer here:   http://tinyurl.com/cmnslg

Today the National Association of REALTORS sent an email out to their members, which incidentally are over a million strong.   It starts off like this:

“February 26, 2009 – President Obama released his budget proposal this morning. A small section of the sweeping budget plan has the potential to become a major impediment to a recovery in real estate markets across the nation. NAR is 100% opposed to the provision that modifies the Mortgage Interest Deduction and is prepared to use its formidable array of resources against its enactment.

As currently drafted, the plan changes the Mortgage Interest Deduction by reducing the amount of mortgage deductibility on families earning over $250,000. This proposed change in the Mortgage Interest Deduction will result in further erosion of home prices and home values. If this proposal is enacted it will set of a new round of price depreciation, will cause greater distress on the balance sheets of banks as the collateral value of mortgage backed securities declines. A second credit crisis could emerge before the first one is resolved.”

To read the rest of this release, click on the link below.   Feel free to check out the actual bill and find out more surfing NAR’s site.   It is excellent!

http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/mortgage_interest_deduction/mid_obama_budget_proposal?lid=ronav0019

If you are so inclined to write or call your politicians, but need help in finding their contact information, please call or write me and I’ll be happy to help!

Respectfully,

Larry

A REALTOR from outside Chicago wrote this note to my broker:

From: Larry Loef
Email: -----------
Phone: -----------     (I'll give you his contact info if you ask for it!)

Dear Ed,

My name is Larry Loef and I am presently an agent with RE/MAX Advantage Realty in Antioch, Illinois. Recently my ex-wife and best friend, Lauri Loef decided to make a life change and move to Arizona. I told her to let me find her an agent. I went on the RE/MAX site and emailed 3 agents waiting to see who would reply first. Larry Feiner responded to me very quickly, and I am glad that it was him. Larry did an absolutely phenomenal job in a difficult situation. Lauri was still residing in Illinois, so Larry went well above and beyond what is expected of most realtors. He was extremely professional, knowledgable and was such a pleasure to work with. He even video taped homes so that we could get a better feel for them. Larry is a huge asset to your office and a model for the morals, ethics and drive that all RE/MAX agents should strive to reach.
I love it!   I say to Lauri and Larry, thank you!   It was a pleasure serving you and I appreciate the recognition!

It seems that now would be really bad timing to change that considering the number of short sales and foreclosures that dot every corner of this state, so I decided to get involved with the Protect Our Homes Initiative.   at their web site, I sign up to get involvedand recieved the following email:

”

Welcome and thank you for signing up to receive the latest updates and learn more about the Protect Our Homes Initiative. During the coming weeks we will be adding valuable information to our site and providing you with more opportunities to get involved in this important effort. So please visit our site often to learn more about the campaign and get the latest on news and events.

A real estate transfer tax poses a big threat to our homes. A real estate transfer tax is a state or local government imposed tax that is collected when you sell or transfer ownership of your home, land or commercial real estate. It is often the equivalent of a sales tax on your home. A transfer tax would reduce the equity people have worked hard to build. We already pay multiple taxes and fees on their homes. A real estate transfer tax will layer on one more significant closing cost we will have to pay.

The Protect Our Homes Initiative will constitutionally shield your home™s equity from the damaging effects of a real estate transfer tax. Since Governments already collect taxes based on your property or home™s value, an additional tax would equal double taxation! By voting YES on the Protect Our Homes Initiative, you are saying NO to real estate transfer taxes and double taxation for good!

We are grateful for your help and appreciate your willingness to play an important role in our campaign. Please tell a friend about this damaging tax and Vote Yes on the Protect Our Homes Initiative on November 4, 2008. If you have any questions, you may contact us at info@protectourhomes.com or at 1-866-591-1103.

Again, thank you for joining our team. We hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,

Frank Dickens
Chairman, Protect Our Homes”

Here are a few other places to check out for more information:

ABCNews- Channel 15 (here in Phoenix) did a story on this issue.   Don’t forget to watch the video in the upper right hand corner.

http://www.protectourhomes.com/ – The home page of the Initiative where I signed up to get involved.   Check out all of their pages to really get a good understanding of the issues.

http://www.aaronline.com/documents/trans_tax.pdf   – Here is some additional information regarding a proposed Arizona Transfer Tax:

And finally, here is what the Arizona Association of Realtors has to say:

“

Three bills HB211, HB2642 and HCR2053 if passed would have placed a sales tax on commission and real estate transfers. One bill included a 3 ½% transfer tax and a 3 ½% commission tax so a real estate transaction would give 7% to the state! The good news? All of these bills have been successfully opposed and are dead! The bad news? As you all know, the current financial year deficit for the State of Arizona is $1.2 billion and forecasters are expecting a 2009 deficit of $1.7-1.9 billion. That™s right folks–BILLIONS! Having no money to spend is making the legislature very unhappy! Now is when they start looking for new sources of revenue income. Now is the perfect time for them to consider a real estate transfer tax!

The time is now then to make a permanent prohibition on real estate transfer taxes! AAR has started a ballot measure to constitutionally prohibit cities, towns, counties or the state from enacting a real estate transfer tax. Signature gathering is underway and we need to collect 245,000 valid signatures by July. Information on the ˜No New Tax on Our Homes™ campaign is available on RALLiNOW.com. If you are interested in gathering signatures, please visit the campaign website at: http://www.nonewtaxonourhomes.com and you can request a petition.”

So please call, comment or write me to get involved!

House #1 A 20-room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern “snow belt” area. It’s in the South.

House #2 Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every “green” feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.

The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summe r. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000-gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the hou se. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

Now, for the clincher:

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ; it is the abode of the “environmentalist” Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford ,Texas; is the residence of the President of the United States ,
George W. Bush.

Is this an “inconvenient truth?”

You can verify it at:http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp