Event Coverage
More Members, a New SILVAR Building, and No Dues Increase
SILVAR President Bill Moody welcomes members to SILVAR's annual Economic Seminar & General Membership Meeting.
SILVAR Executive Officer Paul Cardus shared much good news with members at Tuesday's Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® General Membership Meeting held at the Palo Alto Hills Golf & Country Club. SILVAR continues to see an increase in membership, remodeling of its new building is underway and, best of all for members, Cardus announced SILVAR will not be raising member dues again next year. Thanks to the wisdom and judgment of SILVAR's Budget & Finance Committee, SILVAR maintains a solid financial footing, supported largely by wise investments which have allowed the Association to keep dues unchanged since 2002.
Cardus reported SILVAR currently has over 5,300 members - 4,847 primary REALTORS®, 328 secondary REALTORS® and 179 affiliated professionals, an increase of 4.5 percent from last year. Membership at SILVAR has grown 80 percent since 2002. Los Gatos-Saratoga continues to be the largest District with 2,049 members, followed by Cupertino-Sunnyvale, 1,207; Los Altos-Mountain View, 560; Palo Alto, 499; Menlo Park-Atherton, 435; and 425 at-large members.
Cardus shared design and most recent demolition photos of the site of SILVAR's new headquarters at 10500 Bubb Rd. Remodeling is expected to be completed and staff moved in by the first quarter of 2019.
Members continue to use PRDS Forms, which Cardus has described as the Association's "crown jewel." Through September 2018, 3,182 SILVAR REALTORS® have used PRDS Forms on Instanet in the first three quarters of 2018 and 63 percent have accessed the online platform through September 2018.
Cardus thanked PRDS Board President Mark Burns and the PRDS Standard Forms Committee for working steadfastly on the forms "so we have the standard of care that works for our members and your clients." Just this year the committee revised 48 forms for 2019. Cardus added he is never tired of being told that "PRDS and SILVAR set the standards of care for our business."
Cardus highlighted other SILVAR benefits, like DocBox(TM) and DocBox2Go(TM) for online document storage and management. Also, beginning January 2019, PRDS will be available on ZipForm.
Another notable achievement this year is the National Association of REALTORS® presented SILVAR's Global Business Council with the Diamond Global Achievement Award. The Diamond award is NAR's top level award for global achievement and recognizes those global councils that have consistently performed at the highest level for six years. SILVAR GBC is only one of six Associations of REALTORS® nationwide to achieve Diamond status.
Cardus congratulated the GBC and encouraged members to participate in SILVAR global and other programs and attend classes offered by the Association. He also reminded members to complete their NAR mandatory ethics training by the end of the year.
Community involvement is an important undertaking for the Association. Cardus thanked members who volunteer for the annual REALTOR® Service Volunteer Program, which has helped seniors with household tasks they can no longer perform on their own for the past 17 years.
SILVAR's executive officer also thanked members for their contributions to the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation, which has donated over $40,000 in the form of grants and scholarships to date in 2018. This year, The John Tripp Silicon Valley REALTORS® Scholarship granted its second $500 award to veterans enrolled at Foothill and DeAnza colleges. The Charitable Foundation also presents a $1,000 grant to 18 graduating seniors from public high schools in Silicon Valley. The Foundation has assisted students with the scholarship grants for 19 years with $342,000 awarded.
Last but not least, Cardus thanked members for their membership. "We know you have a choice and we don't take that for granted," said Cardus.
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The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.
The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
For further information, please email or call the SILVAR office at (408) 200-0100.