Space Coast Association of REATLORS® Blogs

Member/Payment Portal Down for Maintenance Starting 12/30 @ 4:00 pm

By Lindsey Ruschak posted 12-30-2022
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The member portal will be temporarily shut down for maintenance today, December 30th at 4:00 pm until Tuesday, January 3rd at 12:00 pm. During this time period payments, store sales, and registering for classes will be unavailable. This is a system update and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
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Using AI for Photo Enhancing? It’s Legally Risky

By Kymberly Franklin posted 12-08-2022
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Using AI for Photo Enhancing? It’s Legally Risky By Gina Rautenberg NAR: Agents can’t misrepresent a property, but they can enhance photos to improve them. However, the dividing line between those two things is murky. ORLANDO, Fla. – You can’t misrepresent a property, but there are ethical ways to use images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to improve your clients’ experiences and better serve their needs. Artificial intelligence now makes it possible for you to send a listing photo, along with commands for whatever image enhancements you want, to an algorithm – and receive the enhanced photo in seconds. This new frontier for ...
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Q&A: Is Zoom Meeting an ‘Inspectable’ Record?

By Kymberly Franklin posted 12-08-2022
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Q&A: Is Zoom Meeting an ‘Inspectable’ Record? By Ryan Poliakoff Fla. law, both for condos and HOAs, has some rules regarding meeting records and member sharing. But being somewhat new, Zoom meetings enter a gray area. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. –  Question : Many associations turned to Zoom meetings due to COVID. While in-person meetings are now more prevalent, associations continue to use Zoom in conjunction with their in-person meetings. If the public association meeting is recorded (I personally made the request) via Zoom, does the president have the right to state: “The recordings are made expressly for the president and secretary to ...
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SunStats: Powerful Real Estate Market Research Tool Available to You

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-30-2022
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SunStats: Our Most Powerful Real Estate Market Research Tool Yet All the real estate metrics, charts, and data you need to master your market — branded to YOUR business and accessible on desktop, laptop, and mobile. Launch Florida Realtors SunStats Access our powerful database of real estate market research NOW! CLICK HERE ► As a Realtor, knowing your local market and being able to share the latest local data trends is key to your business. And, Florida Realtors has created interactive data tool –  SunStats  – to help members do just that through this robust, user-friendly resource. ...
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Applications Now Open for 2023 “Melbourne Salutes Hometown Heroes” Recognition Program

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-29-2022
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“Melbourne Salutes Hometown Heroes” is designed to honor City of Melbourne residents, business/property owners, or their immediate family members who are actively serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, are veterans, or were killed in the line of duty.  Between May 1, 2023, and July 4, 2023, the City will display street pole banners along New Haven Avenue in Downtown Melbourne, each featuring a different veteran’s name, photo, branch of service, and years served.  Qualified applicants will be selected for banners on a first come, first served basis. To qualify for a banner, honorees must meet all of the following requirements: United States Armed Forces ...
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Long-Term Mortgage Rates Tumble to 6.61%

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-18-2022
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Long-Term Mortgage Rates Tumble to 6.61% By Matt Ott Last week, a 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 7.08%; this week it dropped almost half a percentage point to 6.61% as signs suggest inflation may have peaked. WASHINGTON (AP) – The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate tumbled by nearly a half-point this week, but will likely remain a significant barrier for potential homebuyers as Federal Reserve officials have all but promised more rate hikes in the coming months. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate fell to 6.61% from 7.08% last week. A year ago the average rate was 3.1%. The rate ...
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NW Fla.: Fake Sellers Fool Some RE Agents

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-16-2022
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NW Fla.: Fake Sellers Fool Some RE Agents By Sandi Kemp A referral “seller” uses fake IDs to prove they own a property and then ask an agent to list it for sale. The usual targets: Out-of-state owners without a mortgage. CRESTVIEW, Fla. – Financial advisors rave about paying off debt, but sometimes being debt-free is being vulnerable. As more real estate transactions are being completed by email or overnight mail, without sellers meeting buyers in person, it’s become easier for criminals to target vacant lots owned by absentee or non-local owners. Recently, a vacant Navarre Beach lot was sold without the knowledge of the owner. The lot ...
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NAR Relief Fund: $1.5M for Hurricane Victims

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-15-2022
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NAR Relief Fund: $1.5M for Hurricane Victims By Kerry Smith, Marla Martin The money focuses on Floridians’ housing-related challenges posed by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, such as temporary problems making a mortgage payment. ORLANDO, Fla. – The National Association of Realtors®’ (NAR)  Realtors Relief Foundation announced a $1.5 million grant to help Floridians with housing issues resulting from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. “Hurricane Ian devastated communities across our state and so many people are struggling,” says 2022 Florida Realtors® President Christina Pappas, vice president of the Keyes Family ...
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RateMyAgent agent of the year awards 2023

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-15-2022
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RateMyAgent understands what a review actually embodies – hard work, long hours, heart, and soul, all for the sake of serving clients well. Now, there is finally a way to collectively raise the bar in real estate and celebrate the agents who make our industry better. Every review you collect now, for properties transacted in 2022 will put you in the running for a 2023 award.  Learn more: https://awards.ratemyagent.com/?utm_source=Social&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=AOYA&utm_id=SpaceCoast&utm_term=Nov
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NAR: Commercial Metro Market Reports Q3 2022

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-15-2022
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Commercial Real Estate Metro Market Reports Commercial Metro Market Reports Q3 2022 To help REALTORS® and other housing market analysts get the most out of the plethora of data that is available, NAR Research produces a series Commercial Real Estate Metro Market Reports which provide insights into the fundamentals and direction of the nation's largest metropolitan commercial real estate. Each report evaluates a number of factors affecting the market, including indicators on the economic and demographic conditions of a metro area and commercial market indicators on net absorption, vacancy rates, rent, deliveries, inventory, total ...
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Brevard County Opens Shelters for Tropical Storm Nicole

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-08-2022
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Brevard County Opens Shelters for Tropical Storm Nicole   BREVARD COUNTY, FL. -- Brevard County will open 4 shelters at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, for residents in the recommended evacuation groups and for individuals who do not feel safe in their homes as a result of the potential hurricane-force winds, storm surge, and flooding conditions from Tropical Storm Nicole, which is expected to begin impacting the county late Wednesday and continuing into Thursday. The following shelters will be available for general population, families wishing to bring their pets, and those with medical special needs who have pre-registered or been screened by the Florida ...
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First the Hurricane – Now Construction Scams

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-08-2022
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First the Hurricane – Now Construction Scams By Derek Gilliam Hurricane Ian victims are laser-focused on recovery, making some of them easy marks for scammers offering quick help. And scammers know that. SARASOTA, Fla. – Kathryn Schweitzer worked recently in the yard in front of her small, yellow house in a North Port neighborhood where mildewing furniture, drywall and other personal belongings line the streets, the remains of destruction left behind by Hurricane Ian. Schweitzer tries to shrug off the $8,000 she’s paid so far “just to get the walls back” in her flood-damaged home, because “if you can’t cry, you get to laugh.” She had been ...
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MLS Tip: Ability to Customize Room Order on Listing

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-07-2022
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Ability to Customize Room Order on Listing Oct 18, 2022 You are now able to change the order in which rooms are displayed when looking at Listing Details. Under the Rooms tab in Flexmls desktop, you can control the order that rooms display by dragging and dropping the room cards when adding or editing a listing. The order of rooms you designate will be reflected in the Listing Detail section on the Flexmls For Real Estate Pros Android App and the Flexmls Mobile website (m.flexmls.com). We have also simplified the display of rooms on mobile, making it easier to quickly scan room details. Note: Your MLS may have custom programming related to rooms, requiring ...
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NAR Releases 2022 First-Time Buyer Study

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-04-2022
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NAR Releases 2022 First-Time Buyer Study By Kerry Smith Rate increases will likely change next year’s stats, but for the year ending in June, first-time buyers were fewer in number, older and moving farther than ever before. WASHINGTON – For the year ending in June (from July 2021 through June 2022), the share of first-time homebuyers dropped to a record low year-to-year, while the age of a typical first-time buyer increased to an all-time high. These first-timers also moved farther than ever before. The median distance from their previous homes more than tripled from the distance registered over the previous four years as the shares of ...
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Best Places to Retire? Fla. and Pa. Duke It Out

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-03-2022
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Best Places to Retire? Fla. and Pa. Duke It Out By Kerry Smith Of the top 10 places to retire according to the latest list from U.S. News & World Report, four are in Florida, five are in Pennsylvania and one is in Michigan. WASHINGTON – If you don’t mind cold and dreary winters, five Pennsylvania cities are top-10 retirement destinations, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of  2022-2023 Best Places to Retire in the United States . However, if balmy winter weather is a retirement must-have, there are also four Florida metro areas that made the top 10 list. The only other state to rank in the top 10 was No. ...
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Applications Open for Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizen Oversight Committee

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-03-2022
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, November 1, 2022 2:26 PM Applications Open for Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizen Oversight Committee MELBOURNE, FL -  The Board of County Commissioners and League of Cities seeks qualified applicants for volunteer appointments to represent Finance, Tourism, Real Estate, and Technology expertise on the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizen Oversight Committee. The Save Our Indian River Lagoon Citizen Oversight Committee is a 14-member committee composed of citizen volunteers with diverse skills who make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners for annual updates to the Save Our Lagoon Project ...
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12,000+ Realtors® to "Ready, Set, Grow" at NAR NXT Annual Conference & Expo in Orlando

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-02-2022
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12,000+ Realtors® to "Ready, Set, Grow" at NAR NXT Annual Conference & Expo in Orlando November 2, 2022 Media Contact:  Lauren Cozzi 202-383-1178 WASHINGTON (November 2, 2022) – Realtors® nationwide and globally will gather November 11-13 in Orlando, Florida, for   2022 NAR NXT, The REALTOR® Experience (link is external) , NAR's annual conference and expo – the flagship annual event for real estate professionals. "Ready, Set, Grow" is the theme for this year's in-person and virtual event by the nation's largest trade association. More than 12,000 Realtors® and industry stakeholders from all 50 states, ...
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New Brevard County Fire Rescue Rating May Decrease Resident Insurance Premiums

By Kymberly Franklin posted 11-01-2022
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New Brevard County Fire Rescue Rating May Decrease Resident Insurance Premiums   BREVARD COUNTY, FL.  – Residential and commercial property owners in Brevard County could potentially see lower insurance rates as a result of the county’s latest public fire protection services rating from the Insurance Service Organization (ISO). Brevard County Fire Rescue (BCFR) is pleased to announce the updated designation from the ISO’s Public Protection Classification rating of a Class 3/3X effective Tuesday, Nov. 1.  A Class 3 department allows residential and commercial property owners the opportunity to potentially obtain lower insurance premiums along with receiving ...
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Legal Q&A: Dealing with Difficult Homeowners

By Kymberly Franklin posted 10-27-2022
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Legal Q&A: Dealing with Difficult Homeowners HOAs have rules and sometimes a homeowner ignores those rules. What if the color of a newly painted home falls outside the HOA’s approved color range? SARASOTA, Fla. –  Question : We have a homeowner in my HOA who does not like to follow the rules. Recently, he painted his house a color that is not within the HOA approved color palette. What are the HOA’s options in getting him to comply? – D.L., Plantation Answer : Your homeowner’s association has several options in order to obtain compliance from this owner. The Board of Directors can either choose to fine, suspend use rights to the association’s ...
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U.S. Consumer Confidence Pulls Back a Bit in Oct.

By Kymberly Franklin posted 10-26-2022
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U.S. Consumer Confidence Pulls Back a Bit in Oct. By Kerry Smith Americans’ attitudes improved in Aug. and Sept., only to retreat in Sept as inflation worries flared and short-term outlooks remained “dismal.” BOSTON – The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index decreased in October after back-to-back monthly gains. The Index now stands at 102.5, down from 107.8 in September. The Present Situation Index – consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions – declined sharply to 138.9 from 150.2 last month. The Expectations Index – based on consumers’ short-term future outlook for income, business and labor market conditions ...
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