Show You Care: Clean the Coast!

Come clean up the coastline with me, my kids and a bunch of great volunteers from the Sarasota Association of Realtor's GRAS (Green Realtor Alliance of Sarasota) Saturday September 20 at 8 am around John Ringling Causeway. Follow this link for more details and the registration form: http://www.sarasotarealtors.com/about/event.cfm?eveID=74. Hope to see you there!

Shoes For Kids Please

My office, RE/MAX Alliance Group, is collecting new shoes for school kids to distribute in the Charlotte County Public school system. Sizes 4 youth and 6 adult are needed the most but we have requests for 7 toddlers up to 11 adult female and 13 adult male. If you'd like to help out, drop the new shoes by our office on Webber and 41 or the ones located in Englewood and North Port--or email me at Christina@YourHometownConsultant.com and I'll pick them up and deliver them for you.

Sarasota Young Realtors® 2008 Schedule of Events

MEETINGS - Location: SAR Auditorium - 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

• Friday, August 15 – Internet Marketing
• Friday, September 26 - “2008 Economic Summit”
• Friday, October 10- Short Sales – Bankruptcy, Foreclosure
• Friday, November 14- Fraud in Real Estate

Method of registration and payment is to visit our website at www.sarasotarealtors.com, click on Education Registration, then Membership Meeting. Pay by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Debit Cards. SOCIAL EVENTS – 5:30 pm

• Friday, July 25 – REALTOR DAY BOWLING - Sarasota Lanes
• Wednesday, August 27- Evie’s
• Wednesday, September 24 - Evie’s
• Wednesday, October 22- Evie’s
• Wednesday, November 26 – Evie’s
• Wednesday, December 17 - Christmas Party - Evie’s

Evie’s Tavern is located at 1989 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota The social events are open to everyone, of all ages. No registration is required. For future Social Event locations or for more information, please watch for emails, check the SAR Magazine, or contact Peggy Beiling at the Association at peggy@sarasotarealtors.com.

Calling Our Bluff

\(;harles added a post to the Sarasota County Voices blog late last night titled, "Where Are Those 'Young Professionals' When You Need Them?" in which he challenges young professionals to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty--and even provided a list of opportunities through Habitat For Humanity Sarasota. I just signed up for the Habitat email newsletter and plan to see you at a construction site nearby soon. Young professionals, are you with me? For more details, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SarasotaVoices/message/12273.

Green Features on MFRMLS

SAR's Green Realtor Alliance of Sarasota was amazingly able to have 4 green features added to our new MFRMLS system's listing form. Yet another achievement to set us apart of most Realtor Association and MLS systems across the country! Check it out at www.mfrmls.com. Under the tab “Resources,” then Listing Forms, then check out Residential Listing form. You will not need to log in to see the form. It’s on page one on the left hand side towards the bottom. Thanks for all the hard work, GRAS!

Diversity Certification

The At Home With Diversity certification course is coming to SAR August 20th from 9 to 4 pm.

Created by NAR in collaboration with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the goal of the course upon completion is for you to develop and implement at least one new diversity-based strategy for your business plan that will increase your profit! The course costs $75 and will provide you with 6 continuing education credits. Charles S Bonamer CRB will be the instructor.

"As America becomes more diverse, the top goal of immigrants is to own their own home. REALTORS® can help buyers of any cultural background achieve the American dream of homeownership. Knowing how to work effectively with diverse populations can help you build business success in today's multicultural real estate market." NAR

To learn more about NAR's Equal Opportunity and Cultural Diversity Program, visit http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/diversity.

To learn more about why "Diversity Is Good Business," visit http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/diversity/divgood.

To register for the local At Home With Diversity course, visit https://ecom.director.firstamericanmls.com/sarasotass/edu/scripts/itemlookup.pl.

A great way to spend the day: better yourself, your purse or pocket, your community and the world!

Get Involved, Get Experience

The Florida Association of Realtors is currently accepting applications for committee involvement through July 31st. Word on the street is that volunteering on the state level is a mind-opening experience you'll never forget--and a great way to network outside of your sphere of influence and comfort zone.

To learn more and register, visit http://www.floridarealtors.org/FARBusiness/FARDocuments/Comm-Request-form.cfm.