The SCAOR Card – Issue #011 – SCAOR Value

September 5, 2017
Welcome to SCAORvalue!  As NAR moves into 2018 with a new CEO, Bob Goldberg, who is interested in re-starting the conversation about value, we are also interested in sharing your local member benefits.  A new section of the website will be developed to list all SCAOR REALTOR benefits aptly titled SCAORvalue.  Second, we will publish those benefits within the monthly SCAORcard for all members to review.  Third, we will conduct a membership survey later in the year to inquire what benefits you consider valuable.  Lastly, we will work hard to take that information and improve it as we head into 2018 when the SCAOR Strategic Plan will be reviewed and approved.  
 
Let us be clear, we are here to serve the membership and make your experience as a REALTOR the best it can be.  We want to provide cutting edge technology, exemplary customer support, innovative education and grass roots advocacy. 
 
Feel free to communicate to us what is on your mind.
 
– SCAOR Staff

How is your NAR membership valuable?  Let us out the ways.  50 to be exact.*

Advocacy

Representing you and your clients before Congress and federal agencies:

  1. Protecting tax incentives for homeownership and real estate investment, including the mortgage interest deduction, commercial depreciation and 1031 exchanges
  2. Guarding private property rights and advancing sound and reasonable lending standards and access to credit
  3. Lobbying for reasonable regulations
  4. Providing financial and technical assistance at every level of government
  5. Supporting candidates who protect real property ownership
  6. Providing grants and guidance for community economic development and improvement

Brand Advantage

Offering you an identifiable, marketable brand identity:

  1.  Protecting the REALTOR® trademark and the high standards the word represents
  2. Promoting the trademark and REALTORS®’ adherence to a Code of Ethics as points of difference among practitioners through national advertising
  3. Creating and managing the .REALTOR top-level domain

Creating and partnering with companies to give you cutting-edge technologies:

  1. Providing extensive commercial and residential property data and listing information through Realtors Property Resource® (RPR)
  2. Bringing business-building tools to market, including Sentrilock’s Bluetooth® REALTOR® lockbox through the REALTOR Benefits® Program, and dozens of technology applications through Second Century Ventures, the REach™ technology accelerator program, and the Center for REALTOR® Technology

Linking you to consumers through far-reaching media properties:

  1. Realtor.com®, NAR’s official website, contains the most accurate national listing data available. It also includes international listings from more than 40 countries. CommercialSearch.com is NAR’s national commercial property listing  platform
  2. HouseLogic, NAR’s resource for home owners, providing trusted information on protecting, improving, and maintaining the value of the home
  3. Real Estate Today, NAR’s weekly two-hour radio show, now in 200 markets

Research Intelligence

Producing market research unavailable elsewhere:

  1. Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, and Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences
  2. Commercial Real Estate Lending Survey Report, Local Market Assessment Case Studies, and State by State International Business Reports
  3. Member Profile, Commercial Member Profile, and Firm Profile

Advancing your industry through authoritative, closely tracked economic indicators:

  1. Monthly existing-home sales data and Monthly pending home sales index
  2. Quarterly metropolitan median home prices
  3. Quarterly commercial real estate outlook and market survey reports

Professionalism and Cooperation

Advancing your industry through standards of professionalism:

  1. Maintaining the REALTORS® Code of Ethics, the cornerstone of the REALTOR® organization and the distinguishing characteristic of your membership
  2. Setting forth policies and procedures to ensure vigorous, fair, and impartial enforcement of the Code by local and state associations
  3. Using dispute resolution, mediation, and arbitration tools and procedures to provide efficient and economical resolution of contractual disputes between members
  4. Providing world class mediation and advanced professional standards training
  5. Facilitating cooperation between REALTORS®, contemplated as the norm in the Code, through the MLS
  6. Ensuring that REALTOR® membership and MLS participatory rights are available on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms
  7. Using IDX and VOW policies to ensure the ability of MLS participants to conduct brokerage activities online, including advertising other participants’ listings

Education

Helping you increase your professionalism through degree-, designation-, and certification-granting programs and through continuing education credit:

  1. Master of Real Estate (MRE) degree through REALTOR® University
  2. CE credit, designations, and certifications, including newer ones such as Military Relocation Professional (MRP), Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource (SFR), and Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES)
  3. NAR’s institutes, societies, and councils, which offer designations, networking opportunities, and coursework that includes business concentrations such as commercial real estate, international, land, and appraisal
  4. E-books from NAR’s Virtual Library that are available for borrowing via computer or tablet
  5. Classes, booklets, and other resource material aimed at keeping you aware of, and operating in accordance with, federal Fair Housing laws prohibiting discrimination in the marketplace

REALTOR Benefits®

Offering special pricing and value-added products and services from major providers:

  1. Technology: Dell, Lenovo, Placester, SentriLock, Sprint, Xerox, Xceligent, Inc.
  2. Travel & Automotive: FCA US LLC (formerly Chrysler Group), Avis®, Budget®, Hertz®
  3. Office Supplies & Services: FedEx, OfficeMax®
  4. Financial Services & Risk Management: Intuit®, REALTOR® Credit Card, REALTORS® Federal Credit Union, a division of Northwest Federal Credit Union, American Home Shield, Victor O. Schinnerer & Company.
  5. Liberty Mutual (auto, home, renters), REALTORS® Insurance Marketplace (includes health exchange access to major medical and medicare plans, plus short-term medical, supplemental plans, telehealth, dental insurance, vision insurance, discount drug card)
  6. Transaction Management: DocuSign and zipLogix™
  7. Gifting & Marketing Resources: FedEx Office, REALTOR Team Store®

Networking

Creating opportunities for you to extend your referral partners nationally and internationally:

  1. REALTORS® Conference & Expo every November
  2. REALTORS® Legislative Meetings every May in Washington, D.C.
  3. Young Professionals Network, Certified International Property Specialist Network (for CIPS designees), and commercial networking events
  4. REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC), which in addition to its critical role in association advocacy, offers opportunities to network with some of the real estate industry’s most involved practitioners
  5. Broker summits and events where you can network with peers in your business area of expertise

Legal Assistance

Supporting you, your brokerage, and your association on legal matters:

  1. Financial and technical help on industry-important legal cases through Legal Action Program
  2. Legal help through friend-of-the-court briefs and other actions to help inform court analyses of cases
  3. Summaries of real estate—related state and national court decisions

Safety

Urgently getting resources to you to help you operate your business safely:

  1. Regularly occurring safety webinars and articles for managers and agents in NAR’s publications and on its websites
  2. Pre-packaged presentations for managers available through REALTOR® Magazine Online
  3. Safety checklists and other handouts for agents and their customers

*Content reprinted from Nar.realtor.

Posted in The SCAORCard

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