Yes on Amendment 3

Just one more weekend before we vote YES on Amendment 3. A YES vote will prevent any government entity attaching another tax on transfers of title on real property. The property doesn't even have to sell to incur a transfer tax. The transfer tax could include an owner transferring his title to an LLC or transferring title at death or transferring title to a beneficiary deed, etc. Remember to vote November 2nd. It is imperative to stop another tax.

Realtor Property Resource

Realtor Property Resource was introduced to our Jefferson City Area Board of Realtors general membership meeting Tuesday. It's pretty exciting stuff. One website will have all the information we can use. Sometime in November next year our Board should have access to it. Currently Kansas City is using it.

The Realtor Property Resource website will have information on schools, home owner associations, taxes, prior sales information, a Realtor Value Model, flood maps, plat maps, neighborhood info of building permits, economic factors, quality of life details...etc.

Our presentor said Realtors in California are currently using it. Can't wait til we have it.

Mentor Program

Today was a day of celebration for me. I got to see and hug my very first student I ever mentored in high school, Jenae Campbell. Both of us got to talk about the mentoring program to our Jefferson City Area Board of Realtors General Meeting. It is called REACT. The program consists of a Realtor volunteering to mentor a high school student. The mentor meets with the student 30 minutes or more each week on a one on one basis in the high school. It is the mentors job to ask questions, listen, and encourage. The purpose is to keep the student in school and see them graduate.

I met Jenae in January 2003. In 2004 Jenae graduated and is now working as a case worker in Springfield, MO. Her goal is to become certified as a case worker and then go on to become a child psychologist. I'm just poppin' my buttons. I am so proud of her.

I encourage you to make a difference. Jenae certainly is and so is the mentoring program.

Bar Code for Houses

We are in the process of bar coding our listings. Soon a prospect can stop at all our listings, scan the sign, and get the scoop. Pretty exciting! Buyers now have the choice of picking up a flyer in the brochure box and/or scanning the sign. Oh, I wonder what's next!

Transfer Tax Amendment

The wording for the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 is "Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to prevent the state, counties, and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate."

VOTE Yes to prevent additional taxes!

Does anyone want a yard sign advertising/promoting the constituional amendment? Let me know and I will make arrangments for you to have one.

School Mentoring Program

I have been asked to present the REACT program details at our next Jefferson City Area Board of Realtors meeting. Interestingly, I hadn't really thought about why I volunteer as a mentor to high school students. I just do it. But now I know!

I want to make a difference in this world. Even if it is a teeny tiny difference for the better! Upon graduation, my first student (mentee) made a diorama for me. It was a starfish with a popular short story enclosed, The Starfish Story by Loren Eiseley. I will paraphrase, if you do not remember it. A person was walking on the beach throwing starfish into the water. When another individual came upon him, he asked, "Why are you doing that when there are so many starfish washed up on shore?" His reply, as he bent down to throw another starfish into the ocean, "It made a difference for that one."

You remember someone in high school who made a difference for you. Now you can be that someone!

Transfer Tax Amendment

Thank you to everyone involved in the success of placing the Transfer Tax Amendment on the Missouri ballot this November. The verbiage, however, is confusing on the ballot. The intent is to stop any future transfer taxes. Voting YES will prevent any future transfer taxes. So on amendment 3, remember to vote YES. Vote YES to stop future taxes. Have I repeated myself enough?