Thursday, August 13, 2009

Seven Reasons to Be a Member

You get a number of benefits from NAR’s Commercial Division because TCAR is an Accredited Board.

The commercial real estate market remains challenging, so you're looking for the most value from your membership. To support members, we’d like to focus on several commercial benefits NAR provides. We would like to share with our members these seven benefits.

1. Member Development Services - Education Tools
Since there are so many to choose from – Signature Series, educational opportunities and custom programs -- this month we highlight just one: Top Dogs Webinars. With the NAR discount (not widely published) members receive a $40 discount. On August 20 the topic is "Commercial Property Financing: How to get a Deal Done,” and on August 21, "Impressive Presentations – How to Win Every Assignment." Each session is only $49 for members. Read more details and register at: http://tinyurl.com/TopDogsWeb

2. Events - Commercial Connect in San Diego
Every year the commercial programming evolves. This year, commercial professionals can choose from a beginner or professional track to suit their experience level. A special Commercial block on the trade show floor will feature commercial-specific products, programs and services. With over 2,000 Commercial attendees, the NAR Conference is no residential-only show. Look for regular updates about each commercial event and encourage members to create their own Conference Planner at: http://www.realtor.org/convention.nsf/pages/registration.

3. CommercialSource.com: Becoming a Major Player
This popular commercial property-listing web site continues to grow! This month we welcome the Chicago Association of REALTORS®, the newest data content provider with thousands of listings. Whether listings are done through an MLS, CIE, or need to be manually input on CommercialSource, the website has a solution for your local market. We encourage members to make CommercialSource.com a "favorite" on their browsers. http://www.commercialsource.com/Home/Default.aspx.

4. Commercial Social Networking – we’ve got you covered
Not a day goes by where you don’t hear about social networking and its applications to the business world. NAR Commercial has a growing and dynamic presence on major sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. This month we’d like to highlight the RCA Accreditation community on Facebook. It’s an excellent member resource for posting questions and networking.Go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21668983957.

5. Commercial Research – High Quality, NO Charge!
You know about NAR’s excellent Research Tools, but a friendly reminder will lead you to usable information and data on http://www.realtor.org/

6. Publications - Six Newsy Commercial Communiques
Various publications keep members apprised of breaking news, NAR advocacy, industry events, business development and management tips. Print and electronic communications are free and are received when members indicate "Commercial" as a primary or secondary business in their NRDS profile.
http://www.realtor.org/commercial/rca_publications.

7. Legislative/Regulatory Updates
Well over 50% of all advocacy in Washington D.C. is conducted on behalf of commercial real estate. More than 80 topics can be found on REALTOR.org under Leg/Reg on the Government Affairs page. Topics range from Alternative Minimum Tax to Banks in Real Estate to Commercial Lending to TALF. Members can build their expertise by regularly reading these updates. Go to http://www.realtor.org/fedistrk.nsf/LegRegIss?openview&ExpandView&Count=500

AFFILIATE NEWS TO USE:

Facilitated Online and All Home-Study Courses from IREM® Now Discounted 25%!
Expand your professional skills to include real estate management and get a stream of supplemental income. IREM®, the premier provider of real estate management education, offers a wide variety of home study and facilitated online courses. Register at https://www.irem.org/sechome.cfm?sec=education, during August or September for any of 16 home study and 19 facilitated online courses and get the discount. Enter code IAE25 to get the discount.

Of course, if you have any questions you can always contact the office at 919-228-2588 or email me at kimb@tcar.com and I can certainly point you in the right directon.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

The LLC Fight Goes On

So the saga continues in regards to the LLC tax. Friday we got an update from Rick Zechini, Director of Government Affairs for NCAR. I thought I would just copy and past what he wrote to us, so for the update, please feel free to read below.

"Well, there is a tentative budget agreement (just like the last three weeks). And it’s very similar to the tentative agreement last week. Here is part of our description of the deal from our weekly update that goes out later today:

The $19 billion budget will increase taxes by approximately $1 billion, and includes increases a penny increase in the sales tax, increases in so-called “sin taxes”, as well as a 2 or 3% surcharge on individual and corporate income taxes based on income level. Legislative leaders have also agreed to come back for a special session and look at restructuring the tax code.

Governor Beverly Perdue is again expressing concerns regarding the surcharge and her desire for additional taxes. And some House Democrats are bothered by the sin taxes (taxes on tobacco and alcohol).

So, in summation we have another tentative deal that does not include a new LLC tax. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there appears to be some sort of agreement to have a special legislative session on restructuring the tax code. If that happens, a franchise tax on LLCs will most certainly be on the table."

NCAR will continue to update us on what is going on and as I get the information, I will pass it on to you. This is just another example of how your membership to NCAR/NCRCA is benefiting you.