The Chattanooga Homebuilder’s Association was decorated with festive fall colors and the smell of homemade chili hung in the air for the October meeting of the Women’s Council of Realtors. The highly anticipated chili luncheon was the centerpiece of the meeting’s edibles, with three pots of different homemade chili and plenty of toppings.
There was also a table of several desserts, including key lime tarts, cheesecake bites and apple fritters. This meeting featured the bottle auction, where members and guests bid on a variety of sight unseen bottles. These included bottles of wine, olive oil, bubble bath, and more. The bids on the bottles started at $15 and went all the way to $45, bringing in a healthy amount for the WCR and their efforts to educate members with the money.
But before the bottle auction, there was plenty of business at hand to attend to including elections and awards. First, Ann Martin informed the group about an upcoming Performance Management Network Course called “Effective Negotiating For Real Estate Professionals.” This course will show attendees how to consistently secure the best outcomes for their clients and communicate effectively under pressure. They will discover techniques for client counseling and advocating for the client, and they will study the art of influence and persuasion. The class also counts as an ABR elective.
Scheduled for November 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at GCAR, the class provides eight hours of TN and GA CE. The cost would normally be $150 if taken somewhere else, but at this offering, it is $80 for Realtors and $160 for non-Realtors. Chattanooga WCR Chapter members can take the class for only $50. Martin also announced that at the next meeting of the WCR, on November 2 at the DoubleTree Hotel, the group has invited some of the top brokers in Chattanooga to sit in on a panel and discuss today’s market and how it affects the operation of their business, their expectations and training of their agents, and what agents should be doing to be successful in today’s market.
Super sponsor for the meeting, Melanie Moore from Full Disclosure Home Inspection, was introduced as the owner and head home inspector for her business. Moore has been a successful land developer and contractor in Georgia, and got her Tennessee license in 2009. She is the current vice president of State of Tennessee Home Inspectors Association. Moore said one of the things the Tennessee Home Inspectors Association does is help educate both consumers and the inspectors of the continuing education, licensing, and using the resources that are there to protect inspectors, clients and Realtors. “There are a lot of things a licensed home inspector has in their standards of practice that protect the agents. The liability exposure you all have is huge,” Moore said. “I am really stressing to Realtors right now…that I don’t think you should come to inspections or should ever read my reports.” Moore explains this advice by saying that the less Realtors know about the inspection, the better it will be for them. She said she knew someone in the room who went through an issue in the inspection process and had to buy somebody something because of it.
“I’ve got the authority to send you the reports from your clients. I also have the ability to let people know that you’ve never looked at it through IP address,” Moore said. “Let me protect you through that liability part of that. That’s what I’m there for. I’m insured for that and educated for that, and that’s what I can bring to the table for you. That way you are saying as few words as possible and can’t be held liable.” Jay Coffey from Coffey Insurance Company was also a super sponsor for the meeting. Coffey entered the insurance business in 1991 and started Coffey Insurance in 2001. His agency is located on Hwy 58, and they have sponsored the WCR for four years.
Coffey said that as an independent agency, they are able to try to get their clients the best deal that fits them from all the insurance companies they work with. Coffey also noted that home insurance is going to rise for everyone because of all the storm damage, but with some companies, price hike will be worse than others. “We have all the customer’s information, and so instead of them having to go to several different agencies and give that information, we are able to take that and shop it amongst the different companies we have. We are like a one stop shop,” Coffey said.
Teresa Groves, president of the Homebuilder’s Association, announced their partnership with the River City Company to host a Downtown Day Out on November 19 and 20. This will showcase properties on the Northshore, the central part of downtown and the Southside, and will include condos, townhomes and single-family homes. The retail from downtown will also participate by giving discounts. If anyone would like to work a four-hour shift on one of these days, they will get a wristband to tour the properties which will be decorated for the holiday season, Groves said.
Joyce Smith, who served as the 2011 state president for the WCR, conducted the presentation of awards. For the category of the highest recruited rate, the Chattanooga WCR won. Smith presented WCR president Kaye Ivey with a check from the State for $100 to celebrate this achievement. Smith also awarded the excellence in service awards to Ivey and Ann Martin. Vice president of membership, Martha Miller, announced that the WCR has six new members. Talking to these members, she said she realized that the WCR is a well kept secret and encouraged every one in attendance to spread the word about what the organization does.
The nominating committee met before the meeting to bring forward the following slate of officers for the new board year: President, Ann Martin; President Elect, Cheree Dumas; Vice President of Membership, Jennifer Grayson; Secretary, Elaine Boyd-Osby; and Treasurer, Brenda Pargeon. The quorum was verified, and the nominations were approved.