Feb - Northwoods Association of REALTORS

Volume 5, Issue 2
The Realty Review
February 2015
Northwoods Association of Realtors® & Greater Northwoods MLS®
The Buzz:
President’s Message
 WRA Appraisal Conference -
Patty Werner, NWAR
who are interested in
working on Professional
Standards (includes a
free class and lunch and
then you can be Judge
Judy!). I urge you to
please call Matt and say
“I will volunteer”.
Hello Fellow Realtors!
A VOLUNTEER is a
person who donates his/
her time or efforts for a
cause or organization
without being paid.
Wow, this sounds like
what we do! We are
always
looking
for
volunteers to help out in
NWAR - now is the time
for YOU to step up and
help. Just a few hours in
a year can make a big
difference. The benefits
include a feeling of
accomplishment,
the
chance to network with
Wisconsin Dells 3/17-3/18
your peers, socialization
and just plain FUN!
Right now we are
looking for people to
work the booth (2-3
hours) at the Hodag
Home Show in March
(yes you can pick up
leads), AND also people
 WRA Member Survey - Please
Respond by 2/23
 LIVE Professional Standards
Training - Woodruff 3/26
*New* Affiliate Spotlight
Right now I would like to
thank Bud Arnold for
volunteering to be the
chairman
of
the
Legislative Committee Welcome Bud!
Chartered in 1967 in Rothschild,
River Valley Bank has grown to
serve 16 communities across central
and northern Wisconsin and the
Upper Peninsula. Our full suite of
lending services includes:
Until next time,

Live Long & Prosper,

Patty Werner
Visit our Northwoods locations in
Wausau, Merrill, Minocqua, Eagle
River or Tomahawk to witness our
commitment to understanding and
serving our customers’ needs.
Be a Better Professional!
There are three things above all that distinguish you as a REALTOR:
a thorough understanding of your local market, being a strong
advocate for homeownership and property rights, and your vow to
uphold the lofty standards of the REALTOR Code of Ethics. The first
of those goals is met by staying actively engaged in your community.
The second goal is reached by endeavoring to stay informed and vocal about issues affecting
property owners, and NAR, WRA and the REALTOR Party do a fine job alerting us to state and
federal legislative concerns via publications and Calls for Action. At the local level, we could
use your help by lending your eyes and ears and notifying the board office or Legislative
Committee Chair Bud Arnold of county or town zoning or other regulatory changes that affect
property owners and/or REALTORS.
The third goal is upholding the REALTOR Code of Ethics, and on that note please be advised
that after 2016 NAR will require REALTORS to complete Code of Ethics training every two rather
than four years. The Code of Ethics & Arbitration Manual explains how REALTORS, customers
and clients may engage a local association’s Professional Standards Committee to investigate
ethics complaints and resolve monetary disputes. If you are a REALTOR with 1+ years of
experience, we encourage you to attend our Professional Standards Class on March 26th with
WRA Attorney Tracy Rucka. Tracy’s class will give you a thorough understanding of the
dispute resolution processes and oft-confused concepts like procuring cause, and attendees
will qualify to serve on a hearing panel. This is a great opportunity to distinguish yourself as a
consummate professional, so please visit goo.gl/S2TSDi for details and to register - this is a
learning and networking opportunity you do not want to miss!


Fixed/Variable Rate Mortgages
WHEDA,USDA,FHA &VA Loans
Construction Loans
Home Equity Lines of Credit
Jan Santarius - 715-358-9313
8590 US Hwy 51 N, Minocqua
RiverValleyBank.com
Inside This Issue:
GNMLS President’s Message
2
Affiliates & Sponsors
3
MLS Memo & AE Corner
3
Member Recognition & Events
4
REALTORS on the Move
4
Board of Directors
5
About NWAR/GNMLS
5
Page 2
Volume 5, Issue 2
President’s Message
John Misina, GNMLS
Happy February everyone! There is still
a lot of winter left but we are “hopefully”
headed down the homestretch towards
spring, and again “hopefully” a better
year in real estate versus this past
year. I use the word “hopefully” about
the change of seasons because we all
remember from last year that winter in
the Northwoods can be very
unpredictable (and summer can be nonexistent).
I also use “hopefully” when talking
about our real estate market because I
truly thought 2014 was going to be much
better than 2013. However, the year
2014 was actually down slightly in terms
of the number of residential transactions
closed in our MLS: 2013 had 2,734
closed transactions versus 2,603 in
2014. Though not a huge difference, no
one likes to see the market go in the
opposite direction after a couple years
a significant increase and good
news! Based on the several indicators
within my own office here, 2015 looks to
have the potential to be a great year!
of increases. Average residential sale
price in 2013 was $143,162 and the
average sale price for 2014 was
$145,665.
Thus far in 2015 (thru 2/16), there have
been 133 closed transactions in our MLS
as compared to 132 closed residential
transactions during the same period last
year - essentially the same. However,
the volume is up substantially in 2015:
$16,643,025 in 2015 versus $12,552,763
during the first 6 weeks of 2014. That is
And just a reminder, Professional
Standards Training will be held at the
Woodruff Town Hall on March 26th from
9am-4pm and it will be taught by Tracy
Rucka. All REALTORS with 1 or more
years of service may attend, and there is
no charge to NWAR Members and $25
for others. I hope to see you there!
Finally, we need candidates for
positions on our MLS Board. Principal
brokers who are interested in running
can contact Bonnie Byrnes or Judi
Schmidt-Arnold on the Nominating
Committee.
Until next time, stay warm and sell,
sell, sell!!!
John
WRA Consumer & Member Surveys
WRA conducted a consumer survey this past December of 500 consumers that focused on
issues like the perceived value of homeownership, vacation home rentals, public policy
and opinions of REALTORS. Some of the results are quite enlightening, such as the fact that
younger people are not as confident in homeownership as a way to build wealth or that
only 1 in 5 use the same REALTOR each time they buy/sell a home. Take a few moments to
view a PDF of the full survey results at goo.gl/I0cqhr - it’s well worth the read!
Last Friday 2/13, WRA Members were emailed a 2015 WRA Member Survey intended to gather your thoughts about your
local market and community, real estate industry issues and priorities, and your opinion of WRA’s services and
opportunities for improvement. Please follow the instructions to complete the survey by 2/23 or contact the board office if
you did not receive the survey email.
Political Involvement: There’s an App for That!
by RPAC Chair Cheryl Eskridge
One of the most important duties we have as REALTORS is helping to promote and defend
homeownership and private property rights. While we are fortunate to have one of the strongest
lobbying organizations in the nation in RPAC, it is equally important that we speak collectively with our
voices as well as our wallets to let our leaders know that we are all paying attention to them and the
legislation they pass.
The REALTOR Party has made it simple for REALTORS to watch for important legislation and to contact
your representatives with just a few clicks on your smartphones using the REALTOR Action Center
Mobile App at goo.gl/lz2EXA. Please install the app and enable notifications to ensure you are
participating in important state and national REALTOR Party Calls for Action. Broker-owners should
also sign up for the Broker Involvement Program at goo.gl/hK8R6a which will help you rally your agents on critical
legislative issues. Just as we have annual RPAC fundraising goals, we likewise have Call for Action participation goals and
would greatly appreciate your help in attaining both.
In March we will begin our push for gift baskets and other donations for our RPAC Auction at our annual golf outing, and
we need volunteers to help with contacting local Member offices and arranging to pick up and deliver their gift baskets to
the board office. If you can help (and I promise no meetings aside from a conference call or two), please contact the board
office or give me a call at 712-891-7446. Thank you in advance!
Page 3
Volume 5, Issue 2
Affiliates
NWAR thanks our Affiliates and
Sponsors for their support!
Affiliate Company
Location
Affiliate Name
BMO Harris Bank
Wausau
Deb Duncan
715-358-9025
First National Bank of Eagle River
Eagle River
Theresa Sullivan
Gowey Abstract & Title
Minocqua
Knight Barry Title Service
Minocqua
Northern Title & Abstract
Rhinelander Al Mancl
715-365-5000
Homestead Inspections
Northwoods Title & Closing
Eagle River
Maryann Fath
715-479-6459
Eagle River
Eagle River | Minocqua | Rhinelander
People’s State Bank
Eagle River
Val Dreger
715-479-1794
Ph: 715-479-4151
HomesteadInspections.co
Ph: 715-479-8484
NicoletBank.com
People’s State Bank
Minocqua
Tim Sanderson
715-358-7070
Your source for prompt, professional
home inspections in the Northwoods
Real People. Real Conversations.
Member FDIC
River Valley Bank
Minocqua
Jan Santarius
715-358-9313
Shoreline Title Services
Rhinelander Greg Peckels
715-369-3934
ServiceMaster Specialty
Restoration Svcs - Rhinelander
VS Home Inspections
The Cayo Group at Inlanta Mortgage
Minocqua
Dee Cayo
715-358-9700
Tomahawk Community Bank SSB
Tomahawk
Shelly Cole
715-453-5354
Ph: 715-356-6343
VS.Senkev.com
US Bank Home Mortgage
Minocqua
LeAnn Hayden
715-358-3516
Ph: 715-362-3433
SMSpecialtyRestoration.com
Water/Sewage, Fire/Smoke &
Mold/Biohazard Cleanup & Mitigation
US Bank Home Mortgage
Weston
Dean Kolden
715-218-8007
VanDyk Mortgage Corp
Arbor Vitae
Lee Simanek
715-439-4052
Vilas Title Service
Eagle River
Rick Ernst
715-479-4070
All About Septics & Soil Testing
ENV Property Solutions
715-479-4406
Ph: 715-272-1200
Em: allaboutseptics@frontiernet.net
Ph: 715-661-0561
ENVPropertySolutions.com
Mike Brandner
715-356-3000
Septic and well inspection
and installation
Mold/lead/asbestos investigations,
soil/groundwater testing & more
Patrick Hugunin
715-439-4114
MLS Memo
Lon Fisk
-
Phone
Local Professionals*
Rhinelander
As a MLS, we do not currently have a way to
distribute only specific broker’s listings. The
prospect of negotiating an independent
contract favorable to our agents and
brokers, procuring a company like ListHub
to distribute only approved listings and all of
the other involved costs and time mean this
can be expected to be a long process.
Individual brokers are always welcome to
send their own data, but this would not be
through a MLS feed as we cannot limit the
data to the approving brokerage.
Upcoming Classes/Events
Minocqua
Protect your family and
your investment
AE Corner
Matt Seegert - NWARMatt@gmail.com
We are very pleased to welcome new
Affiliates Jan Santarius of River Valley
Bank of Minocqua and Tim Sanderson
of People’s State Bank of Minocqua.
March 17-18, 2015
Chula Vista Resort, WI Dells
 Exhibits & Guest Speakers
 USPAP Course Offerings
 Networking Lunch
Discount registration thru 3/3/15
wra.org/appraisalconference
Info Brochure: goo.gl/aEv6jc
Since people are already asking
questions about each, here is an early
notice about a couple things to watch for
in our March newsletter:
2015 Golf Outing, Election Dinner &
RPAC Auction: For now, we suggest
keeping Tuesday 6/2 open pending the
official announcement in our March
newsletter. If you can help with hosting
the event and/or collecting donations for
the RPAC auction, please let RPAC Chair
Cheryl Eskridge or me know.
REALTOR Family Scholarship: Some
exciting changes are coming to the
program to help your student beyond
just their first year of college!
Applications will open with the March
announcement and will most likely
remain open through the end of April.
For now, if you wish to send listings to
Zillow/Trulia you will need to open an
account with them and manually enter your
listings to their website.
MLS Tip: Want to get noticed by
customers? Personal contact lifts you to the
top of their mind as the kind of professional
they want to do business with!
Nicolet National Bank
* These are non-member paid advertisements that are not specifically
endorsed or promoted by NWAR.
NWARLonF@gmail.com
This month we need to review changes in
‘portals’. These are companies that display
listing data on the internet, including Zillow
and Trulia which are set to merge soon. To
date, brokers have been able to send their
listings to these various firms via ListHub
who negotiated broker data protections and
made sure these third parties received only
the data they were authorized to receive.
Zillow will no longer be a part of the ListHub
offerings after April 7.
Fifield
March 11, 2015
Monona Terrace - Madison
www.wra.org/RGDay
AE Tip: Want a better idea of where
your buyers are coming from? Do an
inbound search for your county on the US
Census Flow Mapper at goo.gl/AY54N0 to
find out!
Page 4
Volume 5, Issue 2
REALTOR Anniversaries
Lockbox Leaders
Congratulations to the following NWAR Members celebrating a quinquennial anniversary this month:
15 Years:
Sally Seeliger, Appraisals by Seeliger - Minocqua
10 Years:
Anthony Cirilli, Cirilli Appraisal - Rhinelander
Samantha Votis, Action Real Estate - Crandon
Rick Maney, Century 21 Burkett & Assoc - Eagle River
5 Years:
Anthony Tebo, Tebo Lakewood Realty - Lakewood
Thank You!

Tim Sanderson of People’s State Bank in
Minocqua for hosting our January Lunch & Learn.

Sheri Benson of Headwaters Real Estate for
serving as the Event Coordinator for our booth at
the Hodag Home Show in March.

Bud Arnold of Schmidt-Haus Realty for serving as
Chairperson of the NWAR Legislative Committee.
NWAR Committees 2014-15
Office & Percent Assigned
Committee
Chairperson
Gohlke Properties
100%
By-Laws Review
John Morris
Absolute Realtor Sure Realty
85%
Christmas Party
Linda Long Wohlleber
Compass Land Consultants
83%
Education
Andy Harris
Integrity Realtors
82%
Fair Housing
Adam Redman
Redman Realty Group
80%
Finance
Sonny Reeder
Golf Outing
Erik Johnson
Flanders Realty Group
80%
Legislative
Bud Arnold
Lakeland Land Company
80%
Strategic Planning
Jerry Burkett
4 Star Realty
77%
Membership/Orientation
Cheryl Eskridge
Northwoods Community Realty
75%
Personnel
Patty Werner
Eskridge Real Estate
71%
Prof. Standards
Rick Zoerb
Public Relations
Bonnie Byrnes
RPAC
Cheryl Eskridge
Scholarship
Marcia Pluess
Need a refresher? View
SentriLock lockbox training
guides, tip sheets and more at:
www.goo.gl/kN7F3
Lunch & Learn - Mold & Water Damage Assessment
It’s the heart of frozen pipe and ice dam season, and many an unsuspecting
homeowner will soon have to deal with water damage from one or the other.
Fortunately, new NWAR Sponsor Donn Kubnick of Servicemaster Specialty
Restoration in Rhinelander is stopping by on March 11th to show REALTORS how
to tell whether mold or water damage is a fairly minor issue that can be repaired
easily by the homeowner or when it’s time to call a professional.
Lunch & Learn is the second Wednesday of each month from 11:45am until
1:00pm and is free for all NWAR Members ($5 for others). We invite you to
suggest any topics you would like to learn more about at future classes. Please
let us know which future classes interest you by visiting goo.gl/cEXX90 and we
will contact you the week before to confirm your attendance. Thank you!
Lunch & Learn Schedule
Date
Course Name
Details
Mold & Water
Mar 11 Damage
Assessment
What to look for and how to
determine if it's an easy fix or
time to call a professional
Apr 8
Learn how to make your MLS
listing photos *POP*
MLS Listing Photos
Learn how to pull tax and
other useful data to add to
your MLS listings
May 13 County GIS Maps
REALTORS ® on the Move
1 New NWAR REALTOR
^ Closed MLS Office
* New MLS Office
Transfers & Releases
New GNMLS Subscribers
Name
Office
Name
From
Cliff Kolinsky1
Century 21 Burkett & Assoc. - Land O Lakes
Sam Blakley
Blakley & Blakley - Eagle River^
Barbara Kubat1
Hilgart Realty - Park Falls
Kim Halambeck
Advantage Realty - Antigo
Jaclyn Martinson
Century 21 Pine Point - Rhinelander
Ashlei Highfill
Century 21 Pine Point - Rhinelander
Scott Schultz
InVest Real Estate LLC* - Rhinelander
Brian Hotmar
Eliason Realty of the North - LOL
Nick Lasier
Brenda Schmidt
To
Wolf River Realty - Antigo
Coldwell Banker Mulleady - Eagle River
Century 21 Greater Northwoods - Minocqua Coldwell Banker Mulleady - Minocqua
Eliason Realty - Eagle River
Re/Max Property Pros - Eagle River
“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”- Abraham Lincoln
Page 5
Volume 5, Issue 2
Next Board Meetings:
Board of Directors 2014-15
(Area code 715 unless otherwise noted)
Northwoods Association of REALTORS®
Greater Northwoods MLS®
Officers (Term^):
Officers (Term^):
Patty Werner, President
(623) 696-5942
Meetings are the third Thursday of
each month - Members welcome!
John Misina, President
479-4431
John Morris, President-Elect
356-2121
Bonnie Byrnes, President-Elect
686-2481
Sonny Reeder, Treasurer (2)
477-2510
Mark Wagner, Treasurer
762-3291
Erik Johnson, Past President
356-3207
Jerry Burkett, Past President
Directors (Term-Year^ - limit 2-2):
Jean Butler
George Gunderson
Andy Harris
Julie Manthei
Jim Olsen
Judi Schmidt-Arnold
Jerry Burkett
Rick Zoerb
^
+
(2-2)
(1-2)
(1-2+)
(1-1)
(1-1)
(1-2)
(1-1)
(2-1)
(2)
479-3090
Directors (Term-Year^ - limit 2-2):
892-7518
358-0450
476-2111
358-7873
356-3207
543-2300
479-3090
365-3028
Thursday, February 19th
NWAR / GNMLS Board Office
GNMLS: 8:30 am | NWAR: 9:30
Ed Choinski
(1-1)
493-7827
Joe Flanders
(1-2)
420-1110
Scott Freimuth
(1-1)
282-7130
Larry Foltz
(2-2)
428-2350
Adam Redman
(2-1)
358-0450
Julie Winter-Paez
(1-2)
480-4333
President, President-Elect and Past President terms are 1 year each; Treasurers may serve up to two 1-year terms.
Appointed to 1-year term, eligible for election in 2015 to a single two-year term.
The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF REALTORS® created the
MVP Program to encourage
members to take Actions that
will benefit NAR and its
members, as well as to reward
members for being an active
participant in their Association.
Submit your best text for the
eBook "Realtor.com Best Text
and Emails!" by 2/28 and you
will receive: a $50 coupon off
Realtor.com products, a free
webinar and a free copy of
the eBook! See more details
at:
mvp.realtor.org
Northwoods Association of REALTORS ®
& Greater Northwoods MLS®
PO Box 377
320 Oak St, Suite B
Woodruff, WI 54521
Phone:
715-356-3400
Fax:
888-399-2118
Staff@NorthwoodsRealtors.org
Office hours are 8am-5pm Monday through Friday
About Us
The Northwoods Association of REALTORS® was founded in 1953 as a
non-profit organization dedicated to serving real estate brokers and
agents in the Northwoods area. NWAR provides a central hub for
Board Office Location: www.goo.gl/qRzxH
Use East entrance (double doors by drive-up window)
our members to communicate, establish policy, receive training and
implement new solutions to better serve their clients.
Greater Northwoods Multiple Listing Service®, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of NWAR, is dedicated to providing our members with
first-rate service and support in listing and viewing properties and
conducting business in accordance with the ethical standards of the
industry. GNMLS currently serves more than 170 member offices
comprised of over 450 brokers, agents and appraisers.
NWAR & GNMLS on the Web:
Homepage: NorthwoodsRealtors.org
Member Forum: Forum.NorthwoodsRealtors.org
www.goo.gl/2pnHM
www.goo.gl/2fjJs
www.goo.gl/6aOAZ
www.goo.gl/KI9MI