September is awesome!

Fall colors, cool Rocky Mountain air… There is nothing like Fall in Colorado. I do enjoy living here. I just wish I had more time to see it!

Turns out my schedule filled up pretty quickly this month, so I wanted to share just a couple of events that are coming up for me.

Next Wednesday, September 16th I will be presenting to the Wyoming Association of REALTORS® regarding the GRI, Graduate REALTOR® Institute Program. They were kind enough to schedule me to speak during the event.

Also upcoming is an e-PRO event being hosted by the Jefferson Going Association of REALTORS. That event will be taking place at JCAR September 23rd. I am looking forward to all of my other events, but these are a couple where I will actually have a chance to meet with and share stories and information with fellow Real Estate professionals in very comfortable settings. I hope to meet lots of new friends along the way.

For more information, or to register for these events, please follow the links below:

Wyoming Annual Conference – e-PRO Certification Training event

New committee appointment

This past week I received a letter from CAR President Amy Dorsey informing me that I have been appointed to the CAR Political Survival Committee. Just moments ago I affixed my signature to the document accepting this appointment.

I make special note of this because I believe that this committee is vital to the REALTOR organization in Colorado, and I want to send special thanks to the Transition Team, Co-Chaired by Chris McElroy and Kay Watson, and to Amy Dorsey for this honor. While my primary focus in REALTOR organizations has been serving on the Education committees at the local (BARA), state or national level, I have also served on regulatory committees and task forces. My involvement with the regulators has led to a heightened awareness of what legislative processes and political interests are involved in all facets of the real estate industry. I hope to bring that perspective to this new committee, and I look forward to serving.

Southwest Airlines moves forward with fleetwide internet access

So Southwest Airlines has been testing in-flight internet access on flights in California and now they have decided that the service works, customers are happy with it and they are planning on fleet-wide release. (see article here)

Now, this makes me both happy and sad. Happy because I love this idea (see previous post on this topic by clicking here) because I am an internet and email junkie. Sad because I just don’t like the way Southwest handles seating and I wish it was another airline that flew from Denver a lot that would get this up and running. Flew SW recently out of a price necessity and my single, only, biggest complaint is seating. I LIKE to know where I will be sitting. I am a frequent traveler and I want the seats I want, and do not like the idea that someone who buys a ticket after me but checks in online 1 minute before me can get a better seat. I think that is wrong.

BUT – I will say this…now that they are going fleet wide with the wi-fi service on board, I might just have to fly them more often. Seems I’m just that much of a junkie. And hey, if the price fits, right? So lookout Denver based carriers, if the price is the same and one plane offers wi-fi…

REEA Conference in Portland

The 2009 Real Estate Educators Association Conference was held in Portland, Oregon in June. Education Directors, regulators and Instructors from across the country met to share ideas, show off new products and services and to learn about new programs being offered. This year’s event, however, was highlighted by some of the challenges that the organization has faced over the last year. Outgoing President Sylvia Shelnutt discussed openly the dramatic efforts undertaken by the Board of Directors to correct issues related to the organization. (Sylvia also graciously signed my program and wrote a very lovely note to Caroline who works at VanEd and sets up my trips for me) After being installed, incoming President Philip Schoewe talked about how REEA is coming together to move towards an exciting future and a fantastic 2010 conference.

Highlights included meeting up with old friends, making new contacts and learning what new options there were in real estate education around the country. I was also able to connect with our affiliates and education partners to see what they were looking for and how we could help each other. But it wasn’t all work! We even had the opportunity to get out and about! Doug Devitre posted this video from the conference:

With ever-changing laws and regulations, a conference like this is sometimes the only way for me to keep up on what is happening throughout our marketplace. I did learn a lot and I did make some great contacts. With a little work and a little but of luck, next years conference will be even better!

A Million Dollar home or a million dollars? hmmmm

So another home raffle is taking place, this one in Colorado. This time it benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs, and tickets are $100 a piece. You can win a ski home, a Denver loft or you can choose to take the $1 Million dollars in cash.

So my question is which would you choose? Take the chance that the loft is really worth it? Or that you will have enough money to pay the taxes on the Ski home? Or do you take the cash and pay the taxes on that???

It just seems like a million dollars ain’t what it used to be, so I need to jump all over this drawing and win now before it’s too late!

Click Here to find out more, of visit http://www.rockymountainhomeraffle.com/ to purchase your chance at……like, $586,983 or whatever it comes to when you win. And don’t forget to send me my 10%!!!!!

Next stop ~ Crested Butte

Each June the Colorado Association of REALTORS® holds annual Summer business meetings. This year those meetings are being held in Crested Butte, and I’m excited to go! It will be the first time I’ve been able to get back to this part of the state in many years, and I’ll be able to enjoy the trip knowing that I’m not missing any work ~ that’s why I’m there!

Most of the excitement I feel is towards the PSF Fundraising event where last year I won the Diamond! Each year your contribution enters you into a drawing for a diamond, and this time I’m looking for the match to my set! I’ll be hoping to win for the second year.

The meetings themselves will also be interesting. I’ll be attending the PDC meeting as well as some of the events. Learn more about the event on the VanEd Newslog, and I hope to see you there!

Conference Season Rolls On

After some time in North Carolina visiting with the regulators at ARELLO, I had very little time between trips. I ended up leaving for Washington, DC and the NAR Mid-year meetings without ever feeling like I was home!

Quick recap on both conferences – the ARELLO Education Committee changed what delivery methods would be allowable. Any “enhanced” product, i.e. web enhanced, will no longer be certifiable by ARELLO. This means that the delivery of a book where only the exams are completed online is no longer an acceptable distance education delivery method. At VanEd we don’t use this method so we will not be affected by the new rules. And while some providers in real estate education will be forced to adapt their delivery to meet a different set of guidelines, this now brings ARELLO in line with IDECC (who approves appraisal education).

Along with delivery method changes, higher educational standards will also need to be met that also match the IDECC requirements. Again, this is not an issue for VanEd but may require other providers to make some changes to the delivery methods that they use.

At the NAR meetings there of course was lots of talk of economy, but for educators the biggest changes (as always) come out of the Professional Standards Committee. A long review of standards of practices that related to Article 12 took place, and we can all look for more changes and approvals at the Annual Meetings in San Diego. This means that any courses out there may need to again be updated later this year. VanEd will be making changes as soon as possible to make sure that the new SOP’s are all included in our Ethics courses. And yes, that means more work for me. Love it.

Next up? REBarCamp in Denver followed by State Association business meetings in Crested Butte and then REEA. If you have yet to decide on attending the Real Estate Educators Conference in Portland in June, take a look at this video to help you decide if there is anything of interest for you. And if you do decide to attend, let me know! I’d be happy to talk with you about all VanEd has to offer. (If you have trouble seeing the video, visit http://www.reea.org for more information)

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ARELLO conference being held in Asheville

In just a couple of weeks I will be in Asheville, NC for the ARELLO Mid-Year meetings. With regards to distance education, there is a lot going on this time. First, they are hosting a Distance Education seminar on Tuesday, April 28th. I have attended in the past and these are full of valuable information.

Content Areas Include

How to meet the ARELLO-IDECC Instructional Design and Delivery Standards (applicable to primary and secondary providers).

Regulatory acceptance of distance learning, including updates on jurisdictions considering changes in distance education policy.

Perspectives on important distance education issues including strategies for surviving in a down market.

Recent statistics regarding distance learning trends and related technology.

Development and marketing ideas along with best business practices for offering distance education.

At the meeting of the Education Certification Committee there will also be a presentation on issues related to course timing and instructional design that will lead to a discussion on potential new policies that would help ensure students are unable to circumvent design features that then allow the student to complete the course in an inappropriate amount of time.

Don’t Forget ~ I’m Going Behind Bars!

I Need Your Help! I will be locked up April 16!

I thought I would send you a friendly reminder that I really need your help raising bail to send 2 kids to the Colorado MDA summer camp. Please click on or copy and paste this link in your BROWSER https://www.joinmda.org/2009boulderlockup/curt

It only takes a second to help out. These kids are looking forward to the best day of their lives. You can make a difference!

Thank you again for you help.

How can we help students understand the credit crisis?

In looking for an easy to understand explanation of how the Credit Crisis came forward I came upon this website and video: “The Crisis of Credit” by Jonathan Jarvis. It is a visual and audio representation that attempts to clarify what the credit crisis is and how it happened.

For many the credit crisis is easy to understand. Less income and higher expenses, or a reduction in available credit that impacts the bottom line of an individual or family. But some have been asking “what’s the big picture?” which this video helps to clarify.

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