THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602010142
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Real Estate
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
The North Carolina Association of Realtors is the state's largest and oldest trade association. It has over 19,000 members, roughly one-quarter of the state's licensed real estate agents.
However, to put their presence in perspective, you need to know that its members handle close to 80 percent of all real estate transactions.
You also need to be reminded that ``Realtor'' is a trade-marked name belonging to the National Association of Realtors. It can be used only by members of NAR and its affiliates.
It's a proper noun, a given name, and should be capitalized, just like all those other words - Xerox, Kleenex, Jacuzzi - we lazy thinkers have improperly appropriated for generic use.
Out of NCAR's 72 local boards, the Outer Banks Association of Realtors (called the Dare County Board of Realtors until last year) is the 9th largest with 435 members as of Dec. 31, 1995. Last year, sales of existing homes topped $129.1 million, an increase of 15 percent over 1994.
The current OBAR president - an office that turns over each January - is Bobby Harrell, who heads Hudgins Real Estate, Kill Devil Hills.
Harrell wasn't available to talk about the hot topics for Outer Banks Realtors this year, but Tim Minton, NCAR's staff lobbyist, laid out the issues he'll be concentrating on in Raleigh.
One piece of legislation is bound to be at the top of the list for most local real estate agents: Senate Bill 1054. This bill, authored by a Raleigh-area legislator, would restrict or eliminate the collection of advance rents for vacation properties.
The legislation was written in response to problems that have developed after hurricane evacuations and storm damage on the Outer Banks. Questions about when rents should be refunded and who is responsible for refunding the money are nothing new.
But, in recent years, responsibility has been confused when property owners have spent the rent money and simply don't have the resources to pay it back.
Elimination of advance rents would be a hard blow to the resort real estate market. Advance rent is a relatively new concept (the practice was developed in the mid-1980s to provide better cash flow for vacation rental property owners), but it's been the basis for most vacation property mortgages since its introduction.
Not only would eliminating advance rent leave many property owners short of cash to pay their mortgages and other rental property obligations, real estate agents believe it would put a real damper on future sales.
This week, the bill was in the House Business and Labor Committee. While it's debated there, NCAR is trying to develop an alternative.
``We hope to come up with a system that would help both tenants and agents,'' says Minton. ``We need to help the market, especially in Outer Banks area where landlords need to be able to survive through winter.''
He's unsure whether the bill will make it out of committee and, if it does, what its chances of passage are.
Minton says issues of agency are still on the table because the current agency disclosure law has some rough spots.
The law now requires real estate agents to notify customers at their ``first substantial contact'' as to whose agent they are and to get their acknowledgment that agency has been explained in writing. But no one has adequately defined what ``first substantial contact'' means, says Minton.
Agents say there are differences of opinion about when they are required to produce the form. ``You have members of the public who don't want to sign forms as soon as they walk in the door,'' says Minton.
``We're trying to figure out what is in the best interests of the public and our members,'' he explains. ``We want something that informs people about agency without creating a ton of paperwork.''
Realtors - and their customers - have good reason to be concerned about paperwork. Last year, the General Assembly passed House Bill 281, ``Residential Property Condition Disclosure.''
This new law involves more forms to be filled out with every sales transaction, as if there weren't enough already. (We'll examine this new law and how it affects sellers and buyers in a later column.)
NCAR considers 1995 its most successful legislative year ever: They shepherded five bills dealing with real estate licensing and practice through the General Assembly and helped defeat six land transfer taxes bills.
Compared to last year, the Realtors' legislative plate is empty this year. ``We accomplished a lot in 1995,'' says Minton. MEMO: Chris Kidder covers Outer Banks real estate for The Carolina Coast. Send
comments and questions to her at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C. 27959 or
e-mail to realkidd@aol.com
by CNB