What if you had no-cost-access to a game-changing real estate tech tool? Turns out, you do. It’s RPR®.
RPR® has recently been redesigned and “refreshed”! It now offers powerful features in a simpler, more intuitive interface. It can help you build your pipeline with potential business-building activities such as:

• Tips for building a real estate farm
• Generate listings with your new farm

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• Researching any property
• Creating CMAs
• Preparing impressive listing presentations

Team up with RPR® today! It has improved and increased thousands of new agents’ skills and capabilities. Don’t miss out! Visit narrpr.com to activate your account and supercharge your business.
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               Make Housing Available and Affordable
It’s time for the residents of Washington across the state to come together and address the numerous obstacles associated with buying and owning a home. For most Washingtonians, home ownership is out of reach because of sky-high prices and low inventory. Whether you live in a rural area or a busy metro neighborhood, opportunities for home ownership simply don’t meet the need.

Practical, proven policies are available now to address this issue. As a state, we simply need to come together and make it happen.
This involves:

• Greater emphasis on planning for the housing we need
• Ensuring urban densities for housing are provided near transit
• Providing long-term funding for long-term planning
• Erase Out-Dated Racial Covenants
  
  Read more at: myneighborwa.com

Ecology is pleased to announce that the Skagit River Basin Mitigation Program is now open for new users in an area along the mainstem of the Skagit River. Eligible landowners may now apply to Ecology on a first-come, first-served basis for water under this mitigation program to build new homes.
Ecology purchased water from Seattle City Light, securing legal water for new users in this program. The water supply flows continuously into the Skagit River from the Gorge Reservoir, guaranteeing a legal water supply and providing more water for fish in the Skagit.
Please see our webpage for more information on the program, including an interactive map of the mitigation zone, frequently asked questions, and how to apply:
Skagit River Basin Mitigation Program
Skagit landowners have new mitigation option for water

This Major Medical Health Insurance Exchange provides NAR members with access to qualified (ACA) major medical insurance plans. Through the exchange, you can research health insurance information, obtain quotes, compare plans, and purchase directly online. All of the insurance plans offered in the Major Medical Health Insurance Exchange are Affordable Care Act qualified plans from top-rated insurance carriers.
Find out more about other Insurance options; including Dental, Vision, Life, Home, Auto.. and even pet insurance!

 A long goodbye to natural gas furnaces and water heating -- and possibly other gas appliances -- could begin with action by the Washington Legislature this winter. As initially conceived, Washington state would have forbidden use of fossil fuels for heating and hot water in new buildings by 2030. The plan sought to convert existing buildings to electric heat by 2050 The scope of the measure was revised earlier this month when Inslee's allies in the state legislature introduced identical proposals in the House and Senate to amend the state energy code. The 2030 date to ban heating with fossil fuels in new construction remains. There is no mandate to convert existing buildings from gas to electric heat, but an expectation that utilities will offer incentives for conversions.
"If we don’t start with clean new buildings, we’re going to be bailing water out of a boat while we’re still drilling holes in the bottom of it," said state Rep. Alex Ramel (D-Bellingham), the prime sponsor in the House. "That's why we need to accelerate and strengthen our state’s energy code." [Read more on Goverment Affairs page]

Compiled by:
Jim Neilon, owner of RE/MAX Acorn Properties, Oak Harbor, WA
Scott Friedl, broker with Keller Williams Western Realty, Mount Vernon, WA
Dean Hayes, senior loan officer with Bay Equity Home Loans, Burlington, WA

August 2020
When the stay at home proclamation was issued in March 2020, many were unsure how that would impact the real estate market moving forward. Would potential home buyers continue to want to buy? Would owners still want to sell?
Within two months, the answer became very clear – the housing market is as robust as ever and it continues to move forward. Most sellers are still getting top dollar for their home, and home buyers continue to benefit from low interest rates.
Going into 2020, the housing market around Skagit County and Whidbey Island was particularly strong. According to the North Puget Sound Association of Realtors®, low interest rates were fueling buyers’ ability to purchase homes, and the scant supply of inventory was continuing to push home prices up. Once Coronavirus (COVID-19) hit the area, a good percentage of sellers pulled their home off the market in fear of contracting the disease as buyers tour their homes.
Read the entire report for Skagit County here.
Read the entire report for Island County here.

LEGAL HOTLINE LAWYER ANNIE FITZSIMMONS
& NWMLS LEGAL COUNSEL JUSTIN HAAG
March 26, 2020
WR Legal Hotline Lawyer Annie Fitzsimmons and NWMLS Legal Counsel Justin Haag have put together this list of frequently asked questions to help us all understand how Governor Inslee's “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” emergency order impacts real estate brokers and related professionals.Contrary to rumors, real estate has not been "shut down" but is working in limited capacity for the next two weeks as mandated by Governor Inslee. Real estate professionals are working to facilitate the 17,000 transactions currently in the pipeline and some of these questions may clarify what REALTORS® can and cannot do, as well as address some of the related industries we all rely upon to close a transaction. Washington REALTORS® has been working with the cabinet-level staff within the Governor's office but the Governor's order remains very clear about certain things. Please review the list of FAQs  and if you have further questions, email comment@warealtor.org.

WASHINGTON - In an effort to promote affordable and sustainable homeownership, especially among credit-worthy first-time buyers, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today published a long-awaited final regulation, and policy implementation guidance, which establish a new condominium approval process.