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Real Estate Notes

The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors recently named two new inductees to its Hall of Fame. Nathan Booth and John McEnearney were honored at NVAR’s 2004 Appreciation and Recognition Program and Installation Ceremony of the 2005 Officers and Directors on Dec. 8, at the Reston Hyatt.

Nathan Booth has been an NVAR member for 18 years and has participated in nearly every volunteer opportunity at the association. He has served on 19 different committees and the Board of Directors for which he was Chairman in 1999. In 2001, Booth was named NVAR Realtor of the Year. He has also been active on the state and national levels, serving as president of the Virginia Association of Realtors in 2004.

Booth is a pioneer in the field of international real estate. He earned his Certified International Property Specialist designation (CIPS) in 1993 and is currently an instructor for the designation courses.

Tracy Pless was installed as the 2005 Chairman of the Board of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors on Dec. 8, at a ceremony at the Reston Hyatt.

Pless joined NVAR in 1986, and has served on NVAR’s Board of Directors since 1999. She has been active in numerous committees, including Government Affairs, Legislative Bill Review, and the Northern Virginia/Realtors' Political Action Committee (RPAC). She is a graduate of the Realtors Institute (GRI) and a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS).

The following Realtors will serve as officers with NVAR’s 2005 Board of Directors:

* Tracy Pless, CRS, GRI, Chairman of the Board, Long & Foster Real Estate;

* Thomas Donegan, ABR, Chairman Elect, RE/MAX Premier;

* Margaret Ireland, CRS, GRI, Secretary/Treasurer, Weichert, Realtors;

* Trish Szego, CRB, CRS, Immediate Past Chairman, ERA Elite Group Realtors.

Karen Trainor, branch manager of Weichert, Realtors' Fair Oaks Office, announced that Courtney Clime has been honored for her achievements in November.

Clime led the office in dollar volume and revenue units, earning the honor of top producer. She also led the way in listings, listings sold and total sales, and has earned membership in the President's Club this year. Clime, licensed in 2002, is the Top Producer of the NVAR's Million Dollar Sales Club.

Ray Powers, branch manager of Weichert, Realtors' Centreville/Clifton office, announced that several sales associates have been honored for their achievements in November.

Chairman's Club member Paramjit Sikand was honored as top producer for the second month in a row, leading the office in dollar volume, revenue units and total sales. Topping the branch in listings sold for the second consecutive month was Sean Blanchette, a member of the President's Club. Blanchette recently earned membership in the Executive's Gold Club, signifying a high level of sales financed through Weichert Financial.

Jackie Frederick led the way in listings. Frederick is a member of the Chairman of the Board Club and earned a National Sales Award in 2003 for being in the top 5 percent of sales associates nationwide.

The Centreville office of Century 21 New Millennium is sponsoring a food drive to benefit Food for Others (www.foodforothers.org), a Fairfax-based charity that is dedicated to providing food to Northern Virginia's less fortunate community members. The office is accepting all donations of non-perishable food items and grocery store gift cards until Dec. 17 at their location at 5109 Westfields Blvd., Centreville. Call 703-818- 0111.

Long & Foster Real Estate announces the launch of its 15th annual toy drive in support of the U.S. Marines Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. Between now and Dec. 20, each of the company's 212 sales offices will collect toys for distribution to financially and/or physically disadvantaged children within the community.

Drop new, unwrapped toys at your neighborhood Long & Foster office prior to Dec. 20, to help bring joy to needy children this holiday season.

Once the toys are collected and presented to area Marines, they are distributed to local churches, social welfare agencies and to needy children throughout the region.

Karen Trainor, branch manager of Weichert, Realtors' Fair Oaks office, announced that several sales associates have been honored for their achievements in October.

Belinda Beaudry led the office in dollar volume and sales for the second month in a row. She is a member of the Chairman of the Board Elite at Weichert and was in the top 1 percent of sales associates nationwide in 2003. Beaudry holds GRI and CRS certifications and has also been honored as an NVAR top producer. She recently earned membership in the President's Gold Club, signifying a high level of sales financed through Weichert Financial.

Leading the office in revenue units and listings sold was Courtney Clime, who has earned membership in the Chairman's Club this year. Clime, licensed in 2002, is the Top Producer of the NVAR's Million Dollar Sales Club this year. She grew up in Arlington and has lived the past 15 years in Fairfax County, giving her in-depth knowledge of the local real estate market.

Rosemary Graham led the branch in listings. Graham is a member of the prestigious Chairman of the Board Elite at Weichert. She has achieved membership into the Chairman's Gold Club as well, the top club level for sales financed through Weichert Financial. A longtime resident of Fairfax, Graham earned her real estate license in 1987 and has since earned several designations and honors such as GRI, CRS and Lifetime Top Producer from the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. She is a 2003 inductee into the Weichert, Realtors' Hall of Fame.

The Long & Foster Companies reported November 2004 total sales of $4.4 billion for the month, an increase of 45 percent over November 2003. It was the best November in the company's 36-year history. Long & Foster Company sales continued strong for the first 11 months of 2004, and they are up a dramatic 30 percent year-to-date-over last year's record levels.

The top three Long & Foster sales offices in Northern Virginia for November, and based on sales volume, were: McLean ($73 million); Reston ($67 million); and Fair Oaks ($64 million).

Weichert, Realtors has started a new program, Weichert UtilitiesPlus, that offers on-line coordination of essential home-related services through www.weichert.com. Weichert UtilitiesPlus lets Weichert customers save time associated with their moves. The program offers local and long distance phone, Internet access, electricity, gas, furniture rental, bottled water delivery and more. Search www.weichert.com's Gold Services link for services offered specifically in your area, compare offerings between participating providers and access your personalized account to keep track of your order summary, all without waiting in line or waiting on hold. Call the Gold Services Center at 1-800-837-4577.

To better serve Spanish-speaking real estate buyers and sellers, Weichert, Realtors has translated its Web site to help customers who prefer to speak in their native language.

The site features a buyers' and sellers' guide, a real estate glossary and advice on how to prepare to buy or sell a home. Customers access the site by logging onto www.weichert.com and clicking on En Espanol on the left-center side of the screen. Each page offers Weichert's number for Spanish-speaking callers, 1-800-698-8211. Customers calling the 800 number reach Spanish-speaking representatives in the call center.

Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. is again sponsoring a $200,000 Scholarship Program for high school seniors entering an accredited four-year college or university. The Long & Foster Scholarship Program will award $1,000 to each of 200 worthy recipients for the 2005-2006 academic year. The scholarship award will be made payable directly to the college or university in the student’s name. The deadline for applying is March 1, 2005 and the scholarships will be awarded in the beginning of April 2005. More than 1,500 applicants vied for the 150 scholarships in 2004. The scholarship was increased to $200,000 for the 2005 – 2006 academic year.

A selection committee made up of local members of academia will select the final scholarship winners by April 15, 2005. Eligible high school seniors must have at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, demonstrate leadership and financial need, indicate positions of leadership, and list all school groups and/or community organizations in which they have served or been involved in, and any part-time job held while in school. All of this information will be considered in choosing well-rounded applicants.

Applications for the Long & Foster Scholarship Program can be obtained from any of Long & Foster’s 200 residential sales offices located throughout the mid-Atlantic region, from high school guidance counselors, or via Long & Foster’s Web site at www.longandfoster.com/scholarship.

A copy of the application and the required attachments must be mailed to Long & Foster Corporate Headquarters at: Long & Foster Scholarship Program, c/o Corporate Marketing Department, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., 11351 Random Hills Road, Fairfax, VA 22030-6082, Attn: Erin Wendel by March 1, 2005.

Gayle and Bonnie Bailey, Principal Broker and Associate Broker of The Bailey Team, are pleased to announce that Ana Larson will qualify as a Top Producer for Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) Million Dollar Sales Club for 2004. To qualify, an agent must have at least $6 million in sales. The Bailey Team is a full service brokerage firm serving all of Northern Virginia.