N E W S A N D M O R E . . .

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october 2010

In This Issue:

Contact Us:HAWORTH

Mon - Fri 9:00am - 5:00pm (by appointment from 5:00 - 7:00pm)

160 Terrace St. 2nd floor, 07641

Phone: 201-387-1150

Fax: 201-387-2535RUTHERFORD

Mon - Wed 9:00am - 5:00pm

(closed from 12:00 - 1:00pm)97 Chestnut St., 07070

Phone: 201-842-6144

Fax: 201-842-6146

Find Us on Facebook

FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Hotsheet

Mission Statement: To provide cost e ective and comprehensive real estate

information using the latest proven technology.

I have always been a child in my heart and my favorite character has always

been Winnie the Pooh. When asked, “What do you really like best in your

life,” Pooh had to stop and think about it because although he liked eating

honey a lot, there was a moment just before he began to eat the honey which

was better than anything but he just didn’t know what to call it.

That’s how I feel right now. I just don’t know what to call the emotions I have

as I begin to close the door on my career with the NJMLS and begin to open

the door on my next great life adventure. I am filled with gratitude for the

immeasurable opportunities you have given to me during my many years with

the NJMLS. My legacy to you has been in helping to build the NJMLS from a

slow walk, to a full sprint, to the significant place we hold in the market today;

your legacy to me has been one of friendship, faith in team work, and an

abiding passion to help each other. I look forward to speaking to you over

the next few months while I prepare for what lies ahead.

It has been my extreme pleasure to serve you and I wish you all many years

of continued success.

Tina

A Special Announcement Please see page 2 for a special message about our Executive Director, Tina Griffin.

XLP EnhancementsCheck out the changes in XL Paragon that were made this month. See page 5.

Coming SoonEnhanced Prospecting. See page 4 for a preview.

Tina Gri n Bids Farewell to NJMLS

Executive Director Tina Gri n is retiring from the NJMLS in January 2011 after 34 years of service. This marks the end of a long career, with many signi cant achievements marking the milestones of a company that has long been the benchmark to which other MLS systems aspire.

Nelson Chen, Broker/Owner of The Chen Agency and President of the NJMLS Board of Directors, states, I have had the privilege and honor of working with Tina Gri n as a board member of the NJMLS for the past

fteen years. Her vision and leadership have propelled our organization to heights that I would never have imagined back in 1995. Tina has shared her leadership skills and imparted her knowledge to all those around her, including me. I will forever be grateful to her for the lessons that she has taught me. We will welcome our new Executive Director in 2011 with great enthusiasm, but no one will ever truly replace Tina.

The NJMLS was founded in 1977 and started with only 30 agents and 14 o ces in a small space in Demarest. Ms. Gri n, then a licensed real estate agent, was recruited to oversee a cooperative of these o ces, a place where the members could visit and be kept up to date about new listings and transactions that had taken place among them. Members of what was then called Real Estate Associates submitted information by lling out listing cards. Once every other week, these cards were gathered, cut up, and literally glued on paper with a photo of the listing.

These were then housed in mail slots, and members came to pick them up. No computers or fax machines, just an agreement to share information among themselves. Before this, the brokers and agents were going to each other s o ces to see what the new listings were, Tina recalls. The idea was to have a central location where the listings would be collected, and the members could come up to that one spot and see what was happening in the marketplace.

The NJMLS moved to a larger space in Closter in 1979 in order to accommodate the growing membership. Shortly after, two local boards merged with them in 1980, the Central Bergen Board, and in 1982, the Pascack Valley Board. 1980 also marked another signi cant accomplishment in the company s history: rst, Real Estate Associates became Bergen County MLS, and second, BCMLS became the rst MLS in the state to enter listings into a computer database that could then be shared electronically. Tina remembers, Realtors were reluctant to involve themselves with computers, but forty brave Brokers led the charge and a very large computer was installed in the Closter MLS o ce. Over the next many years, agents were trained to use the ever developing systems and the buying and selling of real estate was forever changed. With the continued growth of the company in mind, the o ce was moved to the current location in Haworth. In 1995, NJMLS welcomed the addition of the Northwest Bergen Board of Realtors and acquired the Meadowlands MLS in 2002.

Tina s philosophy has always been that the MLS must have a continued commitment to o ering cost e ective quality products and services to its members while utilizing state of the art technology. She has kept a watchful eye over the technological advances of the company, taking it from handwritten listing agreements to the current cutting edge system of integrated databases. She has made certain that these changes meet the ever evolving needs of the membership. Tina is also instrumental in working with the NJMLS Board of Directors to ensure equal and fair Rules and Regulations and policies. The very success of an MLS rests with the integrity of its content. Until rules were formulated and enforced, there was no continuity or reliability. The rules maintain the richness of the data. The MLS began as the stepchild in the real estate industry and today is sought after for our historical data, our up to the minute information, and the always imperative integrity of the data, she states.

The NJMLS has grown extensively under Tina s command. Today our organization tops over 1000 o ces and serves 8500 members. Even more impressively, many of our sta members, the people you speak with on a daily basis, have been here since the company s inception. That is a testament to the type of leadership Tina has demonstrated with all of us.

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Food for Though

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This edition of NJMLS focuses on change; here are some enlightening quotes that may help you embrace changes in your life:

Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.

unknown

We must become the change we want to see.

Mahatma Gandhi

We change, whether we like it or not.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you don t create change, change will create you.

unknown

When you re nished changing, you re nished.

Benjamin Franklin

Change starts when someone sees the next step.

William Drayton

People underestimate their capacity for change. There is never a right time to do a di cult thing. A leader s job is to help people have vision of their potential.

John Porter

The rst step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.

Nathaniel Branden

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

Henry Ford

The present is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope.

Frank Lloyd Wright

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Walt Disney

NJMLS Annual Membership Meeting For Designated Realtors

Designated Realtors are invited to attend our Annual Membership Meeting to be held during the Board of Directors Meeting on Tuesday, October 19, 2010. The meeting starts at 9:30am in our Haworth o ce. Meet your Board of Directors, hear the latest NJMLS news, and enjoy a continental breakfast.Breakfast will start at

9:15am.

Location: 160 Terrace Street, 2nd oor. Please park in the Municipal lot the upper lot or on the hill behind our building. Parking in the spaces directly against the building is not permitted.

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Get Ready for the NEW newjerseymls.com!

Get ready for the new newjerseymls.com. This month we will be releasing your new agent website. You ll immediately notice the streamlined look and user friendly design. Features include:•Easy Access to Member Login, as well as other important logins•Content Keyword Search•Enhanced Content Menus•NJMLS News and Events•Easy Access to Featured information Additional information will be released shortly, so look for this important announcement to be made soon.

Soon to Be Released: Prospecting Upgrade

Prospecting is getting a makeover! Soon, your customers and clients who are set up as Prospects will see a new look when they receive automatic emails of listings. This enhanced version also gives them several new options, making this a more robust interactive experience.

New listings and listings with changes will appear at the top of the list, with information indicating why that property has been sent, such as New Listing or Price Change. A map with the listing plotted on it will alsobe shown.

You will have the option to allow your clients/customers to send comments about a property, and you will be able to respond or add to those comments and retain a running history of this correspondence.

Your clients/customers will have ability to mark each listing as a Favorite, a Possible favorite, or Reject listings they re not interested in seeing again, and compare listings side by side on one page.

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Copying Listings: A new feature has been added in XL Paragon that allows you to copy a listing from one category into another, for example, copying a listing that you have for sale in the Residential category to the Rental category. This feature, as with any Copy Listing function, is only

available for your own listings. You will also see that Copy Listing is now featured on the left side of the Listing Load page. This allows easy accessibility to copy your listings. You have two ways to start doing this:

•Choose the listing you want to copy from the pick list or enter the MLS #.

•Select the category you would like to copy the listing to by choosing it from the pick list.

•Click on Copy Listing. Select elds will be transferred. You will need to complete the remainder of the listing in order to get a MLS #.

Save EMail as Draft: You may now save an email in progress when you are sending reports to customers in XL Paragon. Choose Save as Draft. When you re ready to send the email, return to the Sent Email Log and look for that email marked as Draft. Select Edit/Resend, complete the email and click on Send.

Temporary Listings: Listings that are saved temporarily will now remain In Progress for up to 30 days, providing more time for those using Create Listing Agreement to generate the forms for signature.

Helpful Link: A link to the County/Town lists of Tax Rates is now available as a quick link on the top of the Tax Search screen.

On The Move

NJMLS would like to welcome the following new o ces and Designated Realtors:

Elite International Realty and their Designated Realtor, Alan Gavilanes.

Liberty Realty, LLC on Washington Street in Hoboken and their Designated Realtor, Michael Berney.

J DeMars Real Estate LLC and their Designated Realtor, John DeMars.

Mr. Sold Realty Group and their Designated Realtor, Jose Estrada.

Robin Malley is the new Designated Realtor of Friedberg Properties and Associates in Rivervale.

Francine Lichtman is the new DR of Re/Max Village Square in Short Hills.

Rita George is the new DR at Liberty Realty, LLC on Marine View Plaza in Hoboken.

Helen Feo and Tower Appraisals, LLC in Somers Point.

Doug Herrick and Herrick Appraisal Group in Paramus.

August Market Update Now Available

The August Market Update, containing the latest NJMLS statistics, is now available in XL Paragon. To access this report, please use the following link:

http://www.newjerseymls.com/market/MarketUpdate 08 2010.pdf

TRICK OR TREAT!

Here is a great idea to help make your Halloween a little scarier or sweeter:

Swamp Juice 8 servings

1/2 cup small tapioca pearls found in most baking aislesFood coloring of your choice4 tablespoons sugar8 gummy sh and 8 gummy wormsSeltzer waterLemonade

Filled with gummy creatures and sh eggs, this sweet, bubbly drink is sure to please all your Trick or Treaters.

MAKE THE EGGS: Bring six cups of water to a boil and add the tapioca pearls. Reduce the heat slightly and boil the pearls, stirring occasionally for 20 25 mins.

COLOR THE EGGS: Divide the pearls, with the remaining water, between two bowls. Add four drops of food coloring and two tablespoons of sugar to each bowl. Stir the mixtures, then allow them to sit uncovered for 20 25 mins. Drain and rinse the pearls with cold water.

ASSEMBLE THE DRINK: Spoon two tablespoons of pearls into each glass and drop in a gummy sh. Fill the glasses with seltzer water, then add a splash of lemonade. Place a gummy worm around a spoon as shown.

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Reporting Status Changes on Short Sales

Listing Brokers and agents must update all statuses on a short sale as follows: ARIP when an o er is signed by buyer and seller and being reviewed by the attorneys/bank or lender. Do not wait for bank approval to report the ARIP status. Under Contract once the attorney review has been completed. The listing is reported Sold after closing.Listings not reported as ARIP or UC within 24 hours or Sold within seven days of closing, may be subject to a ne.