RE/MAX Realty Consultants Names Lolita Malave Director of Agent Development

   

LOLITA MALAVE

"Lolita Malave has joined RE/MAX Realty Consultants as the newest member of its dynamic management team. Malave brings to the company 15 years of experience in real estate. She is a graduate of the University of Florida.

    Malave will serve as the Director of Agent Development for the Triad area with an office in Winston Salem and Greensboro. “Helping the real estate community is my first priority," Malave said. “Providing the Triad area real estate brokers with the opportunities the RE/MAX brand has to offer, as well as its abundant resources, is a huge benefit for them. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

    As one of the most recognized names in real estate, RE/MAX has more than 90,000 Associates in over 90 countries. Malave believes another advantage offered by her new company is the focus on continued education. RE/MAX Realty Consultants continuously offers in house training. RE/MAX also offers on-demand real estate courses through an online platform that allows Associates to access hundreds of full-length training programs on their own time.

    Malave believes in giving back to her community and her profession. She has done so in various leadership roles. She is a member of Greensboro Regional Realtors Association, North Carolina Realtors Association, and National Association of Realtors. She has served on GRRA Board of Directors 2007 to 2013, GRRA president elect 2011, GRRA President 2012, GRRA Foundation Board of Directors and Publicity chair, GRRA Chairwoman- Social Committee, Realtor Political Action Committee, Vice Chair of GRRA Facility Committee 2014, GRRA New Member Orientation instructor, Member of GRRA Social, RPAC, Community Service and Governmental Affairs Committee. She has served in leadership on the state level as well with the North Carolina Association of Realtors as a Board of Director 2011- 2013, 2015, NCAR Convention Committee member, NCAR Diversity Committee member, NCAR Legislative Committee Chair 2014, vice Chair 2013, committee member 2012, 2015, NCAR RPAC Trustee 2014, 2015, Committee vice Chair 2015, NCAR Issues Mobilization chair 2014, committee member 2013.

     She is a member Southwest Guilford County Women’s Club, Certified facilitator for the Alzheimer’s Association, and a former director for Adams Farm HOA. She also carries the following designations: GRI, e-Pro, Certified Residential Military Specialist."

- A Press Release

Price of Homes Sold Increase 4.2% in Guilford County

"Greensboro, NC – The seasonally adjusted average home price in Guilford County in August 2014 was $174,601, a 4.2% increase over August 2013’s average of $167,575 according to monthly figures prepared by Dr. Donald Jud of Jud & Associates for the Greensboro Regional REALTORS® Association.  Existing home prices in this cycle bottomed in March 2012 and have since risen 15.4%.  

In August 2014, the Time on Market (TOM) was 91.8 days, 1.3% less than it was in August 2013.  Over the past 12 months the TOM has declined and the spread, which shows the ratio of selling to listing prices, has also risen, indicating less discounting in the market.

Sales of existing, single-family homes in Guilford County increased during last month compared to the previous month.  A total of 392 units sold in Guilford County in August 2014 and 386 sold in July 2014.  The number sold was higher by 1.5% compared to the level of sales recorded in July, but it was 8.2% below the number sold during August one year ago.

The inventory/sales ratio, which indicates the number of months to clear the current inventory of homes on the market, was 6.8 months, the same that is was in July 2014.

“The housing market in Guilford County continues to strengthen” said Marian Stafford, president of Greensboro Regional REALTORS® Association. “More houses are coming on the market. The improving inventory trend is helping to moderate home price growth, and interest rates remain historically low.  Whether buying or selling, work with a Greensboro REALTOR® to help you navigate the process.”

The Greensboro Regional REALTORS® Association, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support its members in their business pursuits by promoting the highest professional ethics and being the primary provider for quality services, education and real estate information in the market area."

- A Press Release

NC Homeowners Alliance funds mailer for Robbie Perkins

I came home yesterday to find a mailer for Mayor Robbie Perkins' reelection bid in my mailbox, and immediately wondered if his campaign was switching approaches because of the color scheme and slogans.

That's when I realized it came from the NC Homeowners Alliance, with a donation from the National Association of Realtors. On the front, the mailer shows several stock images (including the same one of Perkins that's on the back) on top of a shot of downtown Greensboro and featuring the catchphrase "The experience we want - The vision we need."

On the back (below), what looks like a stock image of a black family accompanies a checklist of the reasons why the NC Homeowners Alliance supports Perkins over Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan for mayor.


I've written about the NC Homeowners Alliance twice before, once about its donations to NC Rep. Marcus Brandon and then in a little more detail in an article about the Triad Real Estate & Building Industry Coalition, or TREBIC. From the article: 

The NC Homeowners Alliance is tied to the North Carolina Association of Realtors, a Greensboro-based organization that is not part of TREBIC. The association’s president, Lou Baldwin of Baldwin Companies in Winston-Salem, is a board member of the PAC, association employee Bryan Jenkins keeps the PAC’s books and association vice president Andrea Bushnell is the board’s secretary. NC Homeowners Alliance board member Amy Hedgecock works for Fowler & Fowler Realtors and has served as the president of the High Point Association of Realtors, which is one of TREBIC’s member organizations.

NC House candidate pressed to exempt real estate industry from tax reform

NC House candidate Debra Conrad (center) with fellow candidate Ed Hanes Jr.

We’re reporting today about a remark by Republican state House candidate Debra Conrad drawing a link between campaign cash raised to help candidates in more difficult races get elected and committee assignments. The remark was made yesterday during a campaign event hosted by the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.

Jordan Shaw, communications director for House Speaker Thom Tillis, has denied that there is any such connection.

Conrad didn’t say where she got the notion that candidates that raise significant funds to help their peers are rewarded with choice committee assignments. When pressed on the question, she said, “I’m feeling the pressure that it could be an association.”

She also said, “I hope that I don’t disappoint [Tillis]. It’s more of a team mentality. If you don’t make the goals, you don’t get to play as much. It’s no criticism of the speaker; I just think that’s the way it is.”

The admission of at least a perception that raising money for the party translates into power and influence in the House’s committee structure raises the question of whether private business interests dictate important policy decisions on issues such as taxation and regulation. These decisions impact which sectors of society, industries or business segments bear the burden of paying for government services.

Conrad’s remark yesterday was bracketed between exchanges with Lou Baldwin, president of the NC Association of Realtors, during one of series of encounters the chamber billed as “speed dating,” in which one or two candidates spent 15 minutes at one table before a bell was rung and they moved on to the next.

Throughout the sessions candidates had spoken about the likelihood that in the next session the NC General Assembly will modernize the tax code, expanding it to include services. The tax code was last amended in the 1920s when the economy was based on manufacturing and agriculture, and is widely viewed as outdated. 

Baldwin wanted Conrad’s assurance that modernization of the tax code would not include a tax on land transfers, although her previous comments had indicated she leaned against it. 

“On tax modernization, taxing services — in the next sentence you said a land transfer tax impedes the sale of real estate,” Baldwin said. “Can we go ahead and exempt that?” 

Conrad responded, “I would think so, but I’m kind of biased because I’m a licensed realtor.” 

She added that in light of the need to allow the housing market to recover she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to impose any taxes that would impede real estate sales. 

Following Conrad’s remark about a perceived connection between raising money for other candidates and committee assignments, Baldwin pressed his issue again. 

“You’ll go down there with the perspective of maybe expanding taxes on services but trying to do no harm to the recovery of real estate?” he asked. 

“Oh, absolutely,” Conrad responded. She added that she views the collapse of the residential real estate market not as being caused by the real estate market, but by the mindset that everyone should own a home without understanding the consequences of not taking responsibility for a mortgage. 

Baldwin emphasized the importance of his industry by telling Conrad that the real estate industry has helped the nation recover from the last several recessions. 

Conrad also told the handful of people at the table that she once accompanied representatives of Reynolds American on a trip to Raleigh to lobby against a tax increase on tobacco products proposed by Gov. Bev. Perdue.