PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
2024 ABOR President
Jason Hodges
Dear Members,
As the President of ABOR in 2024, I want to express my gratitude for your renewed membership this year. It's crucial for all of us to reflect on our identity as an organization and as individual members.
Unless you've been secluded or off the grid, you're likely aware of the various challenges our industry is facing. The prevailing narrative portrays real estate agents and brokers as greedy and self-serving individuals. We often excel at showcasing our successes, making it seem effortless, and perpetuating the misconception that we simply hire a photographer, upload images to the MLS, and instantly receive substantial paychecks. This oversimplification neglects the extensive efforts and dedication that go into each transaction.
We seldom highlight the considerable time and money invested in preparing a property for marketing, promoting listings, engaging in negotiations, managing transactions, and coordinating with various professionals. The hours dedicated to training, education, and relationship-building with contractors, photographers, cleaners, designers, engineers, attorneys, and lenders often go unnoticed. Additionally, we don't frequently discuss the financial aspects, such as fees, insurance coverage, referral fees, commission splits, professional dues, and software subscriptions. The investments in vehicles, maintenance, gas, lockboxes, signs, business cards, advertising, and insurance policies are also overlooked.
I take these considerations to heart, especially in the context of ABOR. Our dedicated team, comprising three full-time staff members and numerous volunteers on the Board of Directors, subcommittees, and task forces, work tirelessly to benefit our members, the local market, and the communities we reside in. We sincerely hope that you perceive ABOR as a valuable professional resource aiding you in achieving your real estate career goals. Below, you'll find a list of benefits and services provided by the Aspen Board of Realtors. Here's to your well-being and continued success in 2024!
Best Regards,
Jason
The Aspen REALTOR® Advantage | Your Investment Defined
The Aspen Board of REALTORS®, proudly serves more than 800 members and 50 affiliates in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Our MISSION is to serve our members by providing programs and services that empower them to conduct their business successfully with integrity and competence.
Organized Marketplace the Aspen Board of Realtors provides tools and services that bring all member companies both large and small together, allowing agents to cooperate and network with your real estate peers and build collaboration, understanding and insight amongst your competitors. This lends itself to a strong marketplace full of real estate professionals that understand and respect each other on a personal and business level.
Professional Development ABOR provides an array of educational courses ranging from basic skills and mandatory courses to advanced certifications, social media, fair housing, marketing, technology, and professional designations.
Code of Ethics Members of ABOR adhere to a Code of Ethics that creates, monitors, and enforces the expectation that REALTORS® adhere to a higher level of professionalism and professional practices.
Mediation/Arbitration ABOR provides local ethics, mediation, and arbitration services to help you resolve disputes in a fair, timely and cost-effective manner. We are the only Association in Colorado that provides Professional Standards on the local level, as a benefit to our members!
Public Relations ABOR participates in worthwhile community efforts on your behalf and in support of our local communities. We also invest in public awareness campaigns promoting the value of using a professional local REALTOR®. In addition, we publish frequent articles spotlighting our volunteer leadership involvement, our partners, and local organizations. Community Involvement: Heldman King Scholarship Program, Lift Up, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Buddy Program, Realtor Relief Foundation, Aspen Out, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers, Aspen Music Festival and School, Realtor Political Action Committee.
MLS/Real Estate Technology As a member of ABOR you have access to our state-of-the-art MLS, www.flexmls.com. Our MLS office offers onsite and in-office training for all members and a public facing website driving leads straight to our local agents: www.aspenglenwoodmls.com. AGSMLS includes numerous additional real estate technology tools: Domus Analytics, ListTrac, Market Stats, Remine, ShowingTime, FloPlan, RE Technology.
Broker to Broker Communication (B2B) Broker to Broker (B2B) e-mails allow our members to communicate professionally with each other on listings, rental properties, up to the minute market announcements, inquiries, and other real estate related topics.
ABOR TECHNOLOGY Helpline Is available to our membership FREE of charge which offers tech support for hardware, software, and all digital devices. 877.573.8102
Professional Staff Professional staff, Board of Directors and experienced committee volunteers dedicated to the members, community, and the mission of the Aspen Board of REALTORS®.
Home Tours, Caravans, and Open House Luncheons ABOR organizes semi-annual home tours and weekly Caravans in Aspen, Snowmass Village, Old Snowmass, Basalt, and Missouri Heights. We also provide an online calendar to market daily open house luncheons.
Government Affairs ABOR advocates for our members with a strong political voice at the local, state, regional and national levels. We monitor, educate, and inform members of key legislative and regulatory issues. We have a Political Affairs Coordinator on our staff, and we work with elected and appointed officials to protect your rights to conduct business in a competitive, fair, and profitable manner and to protect the property rights of consumers.
Task Force & Committee Involvement ABOR coordinates meetings to discuss, strategize, and solve important industry issues as they arise and to support the goals of the organization.
Committees: Grievance, Professional Standards, Community Relations/PR, Governmental Affairs, Education/Programs, Scholarship, and Scholarship Golf. Task Forces: Affiliate, Fall & Spring Home Tours.
AspenRealtors.com The Aspen Board of REALTORS website where you will find membership information, forms, education calendars, luncheon and caravan schedules and valuable information for online schools, courses, DORA, CAR + NAR.
Networking/Events ABOR provides an array of opportunities to help you connect with other real estate professionals and affiliated industry leaders. ABOR annually hosts the Kickoff to Summer Celebration, REALTOR® Scholarship Classic, Fall and Spring Home Tours, and Annual Holiday Party. We participate in community service days, broker forums, office outreach programs and several informative member luncheons throughout the year.
Communication ABOR keeps you informed about industry changes, Association offerings and industry news. Our Newsletter, The Aspen REALTOR® is published bi-monthly and includes upcoming events, education, statistics, important tips to grow your business, active links to “Real Estate in the News”, a monthly summary of government and business activity in the Roaring Fork Valley and many other great articles for our members. ABOR also is very active on social media and has 2,000+ followers. @aspenboardofrealtors
WMRA The Aspen Board of Realtors belongs to the Western Mountain Resort Alliance (with 12 other resort/second home areas in the country) to stay “hyper focused” on all topics specifically related to resort area real estate challenges such as wildfire, property insurance, STR’s, workforce housing, etc.