Announcements

The first notice of the second installment billing will be sent to members via email on April 4, 2006. When you receive the email, do not delete it as it includes access to pay the bill online. To pay your dues bill online, your license number is your login ID and `cbr' is the password.

CBR's Spotlight on Community Service award recognizes members quarterly who are involved in their communities in a variety of ways. This award was not designed for the outstanding contributor but to acknowledge the average REALTOR® who donates their time and energy to improving their community. Our first quarter 2006 awardees are spotlighted on page 55. The application is included as an insert in this magazine. Applications will be reviewed next on August 1. Please nominate yourself or someone you know.

Randy Lashley, Keller Williams Capital Greater Columbus Realty, is starting a recreational REALTOR® softball league that will play on Monday nights at Berliner Park in Columbus, from 5:30 to as late as 9:30 p.m. depending on the number of teams. The entry fee is $380.00 per team and each team will play10 people on the field, but should have least 13 people on your roster. If you are interested joining or have any questions about the softball league, please contact Randy by April 15, 2006 at 614-778-3848.

From time to time we have a need to contact members who are fluent in a foreign language. We have compiled a list of members who speak in various languages and are in the process of updating that list. If you speak a foreign language and would like to be added to the list, please contact Lynn Hackworth at Lhackworth@columbusrealtors.com or (614) 475-4000 x248 with your name, contact information and the language(s) you speak.

The CBR Residential Education Committee began plans at the end of 2005 to offer its members the opportunity to take a specialized seminar in foreclosure prevention. In light of the publicity the foreclosure situation in central Ohio has had in the media, the committee felt that REALTORS® need to have the tools to help their clients who may be having difficulty selling or buying a property that is in a short sale or pre-foreclosure situation.

On May 15 and 16, 2006, CBR will offer a two-day seminar taught by Mildred Wilkins, REALTOR® and President of Home Ownership Matters (HOM), an Indianapolis educational firm.

The course will be offered for 12 hours of continuing education credit. Topics covered include: Aspects of Foreclosure Mitigation, Listing an Upside Down Property, Short Sales, and Buyer Agency.

This two-day seminar is the first installment in a three-level foreclosure intervention specialist certification offered by HOM. The seminar will cost $150. Click here to register. For questions, please contact Lucy Hadley (614) 475-4000 x240.

According to the latest Census statistics, nearly 70% of Americans own their homes?the highest homeownership rate on record. However, most of the gains have been among families without children and upper-income families (defined as those who earn above 120 percent of local area median) with children.

Low- to moderate-income working families with children are less likely to be homeowners now than they were in the late 70s, according to a new study of U.S. homeownership trends from the Center for Housing Policy, the research affiliate of the National Housing Conference. The study also found that, despite expanded efforts to boost homeownership by the last three administrations, the homeownership gap between white and minority working families with children worsened between 1978 and 2003?specifically, the disparity widened to 26 percentage points. The homeownership rate among working families with children declined the most in the Midwest from almost 72% in 1978 to nearly 68% in 2003.