A unexpectedly amazing start to 2020 - honored by the Sacramento Association of Realtors as the "Realtor of the Year"

I was really excited for the 2020 Sacramento Association of Realtors Officers and Directors Installation event this year, because after serving 8 years on the Board of Directors, this year I stepped up to serve the association at a higher level as Secretary/Treasurer of the Board. What I was not expecting was to be the recipient of the 2019 "REALTOR of the Year" award.

This is the highest honor given by the association. An Awards Committee selects the recipient and the criteria is quite rigorous -- things like sustained participation as an association volunteer, effective leadership and an ability to generate participation by others in association activities, charitable and public service outside the association, etc. The association gives this to one person each year. As of December, the Sacramento Association of Realtors had over 7,500 members. And this year I was given the award.

I was shocked and humbled to say the very least. And so thankful that my brother and his soon-to-be wife were in attendance at the installation event.

It feels a little strange to get an award for efforts I find so personally gratifying in so many ways. I initially got involved with the association in 2008, a few years after getting my real estate license in 2005. Since then, I have done a long list of things such as serve on or chaired committees, forums, task forces, was President of the Masters Club, and helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the community. I truly love our great organization and my fellow association members who all advocate for the same causes and volunteer to make our Sacramento community a better place. Walking into any committee meeting, event, or forum, I’m surrounded by friends and I’m forever grateful for that.

On a personal level, my 2019 was a pretty emotionally trying year with the loss of my mom to lung cancer in the spring. For 2020 I had been hoping to be able to have an emotional reset of sorts, and to kick things off in this way was an unexpectedly amazing start to the year.

Productive time spent at the fall meetings for the California Association of Realtors last week...

Last week was a long week...I arrived in Anaheim for the fall California Association of Realtors committee and Board of Directors meetings on Monday evening, and left on Saturday afternoon. It was a busy week...I spent most of my time in windowless rooms in committee meetings, roundtable discussions, and educational forums. It was a productive week...as usual, I got to represent the Sacramento region and talk about issues affecting property owners, private property rights, and real estate transactions -- AND be part of the conversation to fix what's broken, streamline what's already working, and brainstorm the next great things. It's been an honor and a privilege to serve Sacramento in this capacity since 2010, and my appointment to this position continues through 2015.

An amazing way to start 2012!!

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you will know that today I attended the Officers & Directors Installation Luncheon at the Sacramento Association of Realtors. Our new President for 2012, Patrick Lieuw (a Realtor with RE/Max) was sworn in, along with the President-Elect, the Secretary-Treasurer, and the members of the Board of Directors...I was actually elected to serve on the SAR Board of Directors for a 2-year term starting last year (2011-2012). Pretty neat. I am very excited to continue to serve the members of the association at this level.

Along with the installation, there was an awards ceremony to recognize outstanding association members for their contributions in 2011. I was pretty shocked and honored to receive the "President's Award" for my service to the association in 2011. This is one of the major awards given. Rather than being selected by the "awards committee" the president selects the recipient. In years past I have been honored for my contributions toward Association Activities (for 2010), and Education (in 2009).

I definitely do a lot of volunteer work at the association (committees, serving on the SAR Board of Directors, the C.A.R. Board of Directors, Masters Club President-Elect, etc), and I love every minute of it. I look forward to more service to my fellow Realtors, and also to the Sacramento community.

4th Annual Young Professionals Council Vendor Fair & BBQ Fundraiser

Today, the Sacramento Association of Realtors “Young Professionals Council” put on its 4th annual YPC Vendor Fair & BBQ. We had over 50 exhibiting vendors, numerous attendees, DJ music, lots of food, raffle prizes, and more. It was a lot of fun, and best of all raised a total of $5,100 for the SAR Scholarship Trust!

A GREAT way to start 2011!

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you will know that today I attended the Officers & Directors Installation Luncheon at the Sacramento Association of Realtors. Our new President for 2011, Doug Covill (a Realtor with Coldwell Banker) was sworn in, along with the President-Elect, the Secretary-Treasurer, and the members of the Board of Directors...I was actually elected to serve on the SAR Board of Directors for a 2-year term starting this year (2011-2012). Pretty neat. I am very excited to serve the members of the association at this level.

Along with the installation, there was an awards ceremony to recognize outstanding association members for their contributions in 2010. I was honored to be one of about a dozen association members to be recognized! I received an award for "Oustanding Service in Association Activities." As I mentioned in my final blog post of 2010, last year I helped raise over $26,000 for charitable causes through different "Masters Club" and "Young Professionals Council" Sacramento Association of Realtors fundraisers.

This was a nice way to start 2011!

2nd Annual Young Professionals Council Gala Event - FUNdraiser for the Salvation Army!

What a fun time I had on Friday night! The Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" held it's 2nd annual gala event to raise money for the Salvation Army! Based on attendance, ticket sales, the silent auction, and sponsorships, I would guess we probably beat last year's total and raised over $4,000!

Sacramento Association of Realtors 3rd Annual "Bowling for the American Dream"

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you will already know that I played in an 80's themed bowling tournament this weekend. For the last few years the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" has done an annual Bowling Tournament fundraiser at Land Park Lanes for the California Association of Realtors "Housing Affordability Fund" (CARHAF)...well this year's event was, like, totally rad!

We dressed up for the 80's theme and had a total blast! We are not sure just yet how much money we raised, but I am sure it is in line with the $3,000 we raised last year. The CARHAF funds programs like the Mortgage Protection Plan and the SAR ECO Grant Program. Can you spot me in the photo? I'm the one wearing the orange and yellow wig...Madonna had nothing on me!

2009 SAR Bowling for the American Dream
2008 SAR Bowling for the American Dream

Young Professionals Council Fundraiser - Help us support "Baby Elle!"

As I have frequently mentioned in the past, I am the chair this year for the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council." For our 2nd Annual Rivercats game and tailgate party fundraiser, we have selected Catastrophic Aid for Real Estate (aka, CARE) as its charity...and specifically "Baby Elle." Such a worthy cause!

The rumors are true...I am running for the Sacramento Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors!

This year I finally meet the qualifications to run for a 2-year position on the Sacramento Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors. I have been serving on various committees at SAR for the last 3 years, and have been honored by SAR for my contributions, and the Nominating Committee felt I might be a good fit to serve on the Board. So I am running...and so are eight others (a total of nine), for six open positions.

So in this contested race, I will be campaigning over the next couple months until all the votes are counted in early August.

While the intended audience for my campaign website is REALTOR® members of SAR (since they are the folks who actually vote), if you are curious to view it - visit http://www.vote4erin.com/. Feel free to 'Become a Fan' of the site if you want to see how my campaign progresses. I have some pretty neat-o campaign stuff that will posted there in the coming weeks.

I really hope that the SAR membership sees I have made many valuable contributions to the association (in addition to many my contributions to the California Association of REALTORS®), and elects me to serve. I am very excited at the opportunity to be able to serve the membership at a much higher level. So wish me luck!

Young Professionals Council Fundraiser for the Scholarship Program

Today, the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" put on it's 3rd annual BBQ and Vendor Fair fundraising event to raise money for SAR's Scholarship Fund and for the Sacramento Moral Values Program. We had over 50 participating vendors, great food, ice cream, DJ music, and LOTS of donated raffle prizes. The weather was MUCH better than last year's event (it rained!!)...that's a photo of me working the registration table...
Next month, SAR will hold a ceremony to present its annual scholarships to Sacramento-area graduating high school seniors. Last year we gave over $44,000 in scholarships. Did you know that SAR's Scholarship program award dollars exceed that of the California Association of Realtors, and also that of the National Association of Realtors? AMAZING.

Raiding the Sock Aisle - Project 680's Biking for Socks

So, if you have been following my blog for any amount of time, you are probably aware that I am the 2010 Chair of the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council." Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting a local appraiser and Rancho Cordova resident, Ryan Lundquist, when he joined the YPC.

Ryan is also the man behind Project 680...a couple years back, he learned that there were 680 homeless students within the Folsom-Cordova Unified School District, and spearheaded a grass-roots effort to raise resources and awareness of this issue. Today that 680 has actually grown to 783 homeless students. It sure does not seem all that long ago that I was in high school - and it is hard for me to get my mind around not having some of life's basic necessities (like socks, underwear, deodorant, etc.) at that age. So Project 680 is doing "Biking for Socks" on May 8. It's a sock drive / community bike ride to raise awareness and gather socks for the homeless student population of FCUSD.

When I learned about this event from Ryan, I thought - well I will go buy and donate a bunch of socks...and possibly attend the community ride in May since I just got a new bicycle.

So if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you will already know that last Saturday I took a little excursion to Target to "Raid the Sock Aisle" for Project 680. I snapped a photo of the empty sock racks in the store and posted the following to Twitter:

http://twitpic.com/19t0uy - Just raided the sock aisle at Target for @Project680 Sock Drive #RanchoCordova #BikingForSocks

My tweet about my raid of the sock aisle captured the attention of KCRA 3 Reporter Deirdre Fitzpatrick...and today, she filmed a story that will air in a couple weeks about Project 680. Ryan and I, along with some of Rancho Cordova's finest, went and raided the sock aisle again - this time on our bikes. Project 680's challenge to everyone: go raid the sock aisle! Post your photos to Twitter with the hashtag #BikingForSocks!

Sacramento Association of Realtors - Scholarship Applications Available NOW

You may recall from a previous blog post, the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" raised about $4,400 for the SAR Scholarship Fund last year in June via a vendor fair event. Just as the "Young Professionals Council" did last year, this year we are also doing a vendor fair fundraiser for the SAR Scholarship Fund.

In 2009, SAR awarded approximately $44,000 in scholarships to deserving Sacramento area students. Well...the application period for SAR's 2010 scholarships is NOW!! Completed applications must be received by SAR by 5:00pm on March 31st, 2010.

The scholarships are available to qualifying high school seniors and college students who attend school in and are permanent residents of Sacramento County or the City of West Sacramento. SAR scholarships are awarded for academic achievement (minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5), community service, and extracurricular activities. You must also be related to a past or current Realtor or Affiliate member of the Sacramento Association of Realtors.

Awards in recent years have ranged from $750 to $3,000. Scholarship awards will be announced in May, and they will be presented in June at SAR’s headquarters in Sacramento.

To download the SAR Scholarship Application, click here.

My week in Indian Wells for C.A.R. Meetings...

Have I mentioned lately that I really love being a Realtor? I love working with my buyer and seller clients, and I also really enjoy my involvement on the other side of things...I mention pretty frequently my involvement in various committees locally at the Sacramento Association of Realtors. I am also an active participant in various committees at the state level. So, if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you will already know that I left town early this week and flew to Palm Springs in order to attend the winter business meetings for the California Association of Realtors.

It was definitely a working trip! In addition to attending my committee meetings and other related events, I still obviously had to work...I still did short sale negotiation, actually closed a short sale on Thursday.

The C.A.R. Board of Directors and its Committees research and formulate policy on all areas affecting the business, professional practices and public policy involvement of California Realtors. I am on 4 C.A.R. committees. The am a member of the Membership Committee, the Local Government Relations Forum, and the Communications Advisory Committee, and I have a leadership position on the Young Professionals Network Committee. Most of the sessions are closed, so I can not go into too much detail regarding the content of what was discussed...

The journey home was quite an experience...the Palm Springs airport was basically shut down due to bad weather. My flight was cancelled and I was basically stranded. Thankfully, one of my Realtor colleagues took pity on me, and turned around 3o minutes into the drive home and rescued me. I finally got home around midnight last night, after I should have been home around noon. UGH.

Anyway, back to work this week! I have a great (non-short sale) listing coming on the market on Wednesday, and all kinds of other great things going on...

Final Blog Post of 2009...

I can not believe 2009 is basically over! It just does not seem that long ago that I was sitting in terminal A15 at Sacramento International Airport, waiting for a flight to Phoenix and writing my final blog post of 2008. I have been doing a lot of reflection on 2009 lately - from both a personal perspective and a professional perspective.

In 2009, professionally I:

• qualified for the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Masters Club" again - and met the requirement for all of 2009 by the middle of the year
• again qualified as a Lyon Real Estate "Senior Executive Associate" based on my production. As of the end of November, I was ranked within the top 50 agents in my entire company (out of something like 900 agents)...not sure what my final ranking will be just yet
• was the #1 Listing Agent of the Month in my Sierra Oaks Lyon Real Estate office of +/- 130 agents two separate times (for the months of February and November)
• successfully closed 14 short sale transactions, and have written lender approval for several others that will close in 2010
• hired a Full Time assistant (yippee!) who is amazingly helpful
• 46.26% of my earnings, and 13 closed real estate transactions resulted from my internet presence (someone finding me online via google, one of my websites, my blog, etc.), while 42.03% of my earnings, and 11 closed transactions resulted from referrals...the remainder of my transactions and income were generated from other sources (sign calls, open houses, etc)
• was quoted for different media articles regarding real estate
• was awarded the Top Honor in the National Association of Realtors / Hewlett Packard "Real Estate Technology Contest"
• was a featured speaker for the California Association of Realtors at their June and October conferences, and I have also been an instructor on several occasions for classes at the Sacramento Association of Realtors
• helped raise almost $11,000 for charitable causes through different Sacramento Association of Realtors fundraisers
• was elected to serve a 2-year term on the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Masters Club" Steering Committee.
• was appointed as the Chair of the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" for 2010, and appointed as one of seven "Advisors" to the California Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Network"

I have set many new professional goals for myself for this year, including increasing my production, possibly hiring another assistant agent to work with me, running for a seat on the Sacramento Association of Realtors Board of Directors for the 2011-2012 term, and much more...look out 2010!!

Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" Raised over $4,000 for the Salvation Army CanTree!

Ever heard of the Christmas CanTree Project? This is the 27th year for CanTree, which is one of the major charitable efforts of the Sacramento Association of Realtors. The Christmas CanTree Project routinely raises more than $65,000 per year. Since 1983, SAR has raised more than $2 million to feed Sacramento's hungry citizens.

I am proud to say that on November 13, the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" held its first ever formal dance gala event to benefit the Salvation Army CanTree.

We had over a hundred attendees at our event that danced to dj music, sampled food from some great local restaurants (Zocolo, BJ's Brewery, and Tokyo Fro), sampled wine from local wineries (Carvalho, Revolution Wines, and Ehrheart), and bid on silent auction items from numerous local donors...when the night was over, we had raised approximately $4,620 for the Salvation Army CanTree!

Official confirmation that I am a HUGE Tech Geek Realtor...

Ok so if you were not already convinced otherwise, this should confirm once and for all that I am a Tech Geek Realtor.

Yesterday I received confirmation that I was awarded the top honor in the National Association of Realtors / HP Real Estate Technology Contest. You can read the press release here.

I am absolutely honored to have received this recognition! I wear my geek badge with pride!!

Where in the world is Erin Attardi?

Yes I am ok...I got a few emails from my regular blog readers asking if I was ok, and why I had not written anything new lately (including my 4th installment of Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment, which I will write a bit later this week). My answer? It's the end of the summer, and I have been playing! Even Realtors deserve a day or two off now and then, right?

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you will already know I took two little excursions in the last week, and both coincidentally were to celebrate my parents' birthdays.

Before I left though on Friday the 11th, I helped throw a little fundraiser for the California Association of Realtors Housing Affordability Fund (CARHAF) with the Young Professionals Council's 2nd Annual "Bowling for the American Dream" fundraiser. What a blast! This year's event had a 1950's theme...the final total is not in yet, but we estimate that we raised about $3,000 for CARHAF!

So anyway, last Monday, to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday, I got up really early and went fishing on SF Bay with my husband, dad, and brother. We caught 4 white sea bass (including a 51-incher by my brother), and 7 halibut. That was a great day! Our catch yielded over 100 pounds of meat! There was so much that although the guides cleaned our fish for us, we still ended up taking the fillets to a butcher for processing. Let's just say that if you have a good recipe for white fish, please email it to me!!

Then, first thing this last Saturday morning, my brother, mom and I flew to Los Angeles to see the San Francisco Giants play the Dodgers. Hmm...the Giants got absolutely slayed in both games we saw (Saturday and Sunday), but we still had a great time. Before we returned on Monday evening, we had lunch at this famous restaurant called The Ivy in Beverly Hills. Good times.

Back to work!!! (Un)fortunately, my summer travels are over...

Young Professionals Council donates $1,004.50 to Sacramento Moral Values Program!

A couple weeks ago, I blogged about a fundraising event the Sacramento Association of Realtors Young Professionals Council did to benefit the Sacramento Moral Values Program (MVP). Last week, a few YPC members went to MVP to give them the $1,004.50 we raised, and while we were there we took a tour of their facilities! I know they will put the money to good use!

Sacramento Rivercats Fundraiser with the Young Professionals Council!

Last week the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" did yet another fundraiser. We attended a Sacramento Rivercats game, and had a really fun tailgate party that was sponsored by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage! Between ticket sales, the sponsorship, and donations, we raised $1,004.50 for Sacramento's Moral Values Program (aka, MVP). Up next, we are planning our 2nd Annual Bowling Tournament to benefit the California Association of Realtors "Housing Affordability Fund"...coming in September!

Young Professionals Council BBQ & Vendor Fair Fundraiser

Today, the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" put on a BBQ and Vendor Fair fundraising event to raise money for SAR's Scholarship Fund. We had 46 participating vendors, great food, ice cream, DJ music, and LOTS of donated raffle prizes. We weathered an unexpected summer rain, but a good time was had by all! While the final tallies are not in just yet, we estimate that we raised over $4,000 for the fund.
Right before our event today, SAR held a ceremony to present its annual scholarships to Sacramento-area graduating high school seniors. Today SAR gave over $44,000 in scholarships. Did you know that SAR's Scholarship program award dollars exceed that of the California Association of Realtors, and also that of the Nationals Association of Realtors? AMAZING.
This is YPC's second time doing the Vendor Fair fundraiser. Last year's event raised over $3,300, which was donated to the Mustard Seed School at Loaves & Fishes. We already set a date for next year's event, which will take place in early May 2010.