PPP Loans to Real Estate Agents Extended Until May 31
Roswell, GA -- April 13, 2021 - MooveGuru today announced that the federal government extension of the Paycheck Protection Program Loan (PPP) will allow MooveGuru's partners blueacorn and Capital Plus Financial to continue processing applications until the new deadline of May 31. Earlier this year, MooveGuru collaborated with financial security application developer and SBA lender Capital Plus Financial to develop a process that makes it easy and straight forward for independent contractors like real estate agents to benefit from the PPP loan programs that the United States government is making available. This is the second extension of the program under the new federal administration. Capital Plus Financial is an SBA lender who is collaborating with MooveGuru and blueacorn to develop and launch an online website for real estate agents to easily apply for these loans. Paycheck Protection Program or PPP loans cover independent contractors in Real Estate, about 90% of the 1099 agents will qualify for the forgivable government PPP loan. The loan amount is likely to be around $5000 on the low end and up to $20,833 on the high end according to information provided my Capital Plus, blueacorn, and MooveGuru. Approval rates are currently at 90%. The website to share with agents to apply for the loan is mooveguru.blueppp.com To qualify, real estate agents may not have received a loan in the first round of PPP funding and received a commission check in February 2019 as an independent contractor. "When we investigated the new laws and realized that about 80% of the real estate agents in the US could qualify for the PPP, we set out to find the right partner to help make the process easy for any real estate agent or mortgage loan officer to qualify within 15 minutes. Partnering with blueacorn was the perfect match," says Scott Oakley, CEO of MooveGuru. "They already had an entire platform for real estate agents to qualify within minutes and the average agent is getting $12,500 in forgivable PPP loans." About blueacorn blueacorn.co is a financial technology platform catering to overlooked small businesses such as the self-employed, independent contractors, and small businesses located within low-to-medium income (LMI) communities. blueacorn.co has streamlined the origination and processing of Paycheck Protection Program loans - making it easier, faster, and simpler for the small business owner to apply, get funded, and start their loan forgiveness. About MooveGuru In 2016, Roswell, GA based MooveGuru Inc. launched a free mover engagement program to real estate agents and brokers with the idea of connecting home buyers and sellers to convenience and savings on moving services. Using just-in-time delivery through artificial intelligence algorithms, MooveGuru Inc. ensures consumers receive agent-branded savings from national and local retailers, connects all utilities and makes the moving process more streamlined. Today, more than 1,100 brokerages, their agents, and clients are connected to the MooveGuru platform.

MMSI Posts Record Sales Quarter for Membership Director
Davidsonville, MD – September 12, 2017 - MMSI, makers of Membership Director have announced that the third quarter sales for the company have set a record. In the third quarter of 2017, the company added four major Association of REALTORS® and MLS customers including San Diego Association of REALTORS®, Greater Fairfield MLS (via the SmartMLS merger), Dayton Area Board of REALTORS®, and Maine Listings. In total, the firm reports adding 42,500 active members to the platform this quarter. Membership Director is among the leaders in providing Realtor® Associations and MLSs with software to manage their members. The most important component of association and MLS management systems is the member portal – allowing agents to pay their dues, register for courses and events, vote in online elections, and stay engaged with the organization. For the San Diego Association of REALTORS®, "Membership Director has so much more of the functionality that we need to support the array of services we provide our agents," says Michael Mercurio, SDAR CEO. "Based on the needs of our 17,000 members, SmartMLS selected MMSI as our membership system. The new membership portal gives agents and brokers seamless access to update their profiles and pay their bills easily. The new membership portal allows the MLS to more effectively communicate and engage with our subscribers with targeted messaging. The portal is a one stop shop for member services, account management, and MLS-related needs. The conversion was quick and accurate, and our members love their new membership portal," says SmartMLS CO-CEO, Kathy Elson. According to CEO James Yockel, the key for the Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS® (GRAR) was "being able to put our entire value proposition for our members on a single clean, modern page. This 'consumer-grade' level of design and polish is the future of our industry and it's what agents nationwide have been demanding for years." Before switching to Membership Director by MMSI, Maine Listings was managing software they built internally for membership management. "For a very long time, we were unable to find software that was customizable enough to handle the needs of our MLS," said Cathy Libby, CEO of Maine Listings. A key piece of functionality developed for Maine Listings was the ability for brokers to Add, Edit, transfer, or drop agents from the broker roster. "Together with Maine Listings, we are pushing the boundaries of agent and broker self-service, from anywhere, on any device, 24/7. The new Member Portal also serves as an SSO dashboard, allowing Maine Listings, SmartMLS, and GRAR to drop their legacy SSO dashboards. Their members engage with their customized member portals each and every day," says Mark Richburg, MMSI Vice President. Out of the estimated 1,100 Boards who are chartered by the National Association of REALTORS®, around 400 have membership management software. Since buying Membership Director back from CoreLogic in 2011, the company has invested heavily in the product, experiencing 30% growth year over year for the past three years with 99% customer retention. The momentum continues in 2017 with the endurance of this extraordinary growth. Check out a video of the new Member Portal here: MMSI's Membership Director is the most accurate and customizable membership and accounting system specifically focused on REALTOR® associations and MLSs, on-site or in the cloud. With unmatched flexibility, we will meet your needs and exceed your expectations. With over 30 years of industry expertise and the highest standards of customer service, we are excited to help your organization cater to the needs of your members. Visit GoMMSI.com to learn more. Fully Responsive, ADA-Compliant Member Portal – Our new member portal becomes your members' front door to all of the services you offer. From a beautiful, clean dashboard, members can make payments, update contact information, register for courses and events, and see only the notifications that are important for them. Calls to action guide members to their next steps in our industry-leading user experience.

Brokersumo's Latest Product Update
Here's an overview of the latest platform updates from BrokerSumo: SkySlope Integration We are now integrated with Skyslope so you can sync your transactions into BrokerSumo to make it easier to close out your files and avoid double entry of data. Read about how it works here. Commission Detail Report This is a very detailed commission report and can be utilized in a variety of different ways. It will show you all the credits or debits on a deal. It has a column called Broker Commission after Agent Split. This is the company dollar paid, the amount that would go towards an agent's cap. It's the difference between the Brokerage Gross Commission and the Agent's Gross Commission excluding any fees. In Settings > Agent Permissions you'll see an option to turn this report on in your agents account. We know that some of you prefer to not share all the details of a transaction with the agents so you have the flexibility to turn this report on for them if you want. You can also download a copy of the commission disbursement from this report as well, there is a download button in the Action column. If you've turned on this report for the agents and you've also selected the agent permission allowing agents to view disbursements, they will also be able to download a full copy of the disbursement here. Agent Billing If you send out an agent invoice, and the agent's credit card is declined, the billing log shows this item as unpaid. Now you can click the credit card icon to re-charge the agent's card without having to enter the item again on an invoice. In addition, you'll see a pop up where you can add a late fee to this charge. The agent's card will then be charged for the original fee plus any late fee you add on to it. If the card is processed successfully, the log will be updated with the new amount you just charged so you won't have a duplicate entry in the log and the memo will be updated as well. The memo portion of the invoice can now be seen in the agent's billing log in their agent portal. The agent's can't edit or delete the memo, they can only view it. Invoices that have been emailed can now also be re-sent in the billing log. You'll see an email icon in the Action column. Clicking that will re-send the invoice to the agent. Collect Unpaid Billing Balances on the Commission Disbursement You can now collect unpaid billing balances on the commission disbursement. If your agent has an unpaid balance, when you run a commission disbursement for one of their transactions you'll see a line in the Additional Agent Closing Fees section that says: To collect just click the Collect Now button. This will add an entry to the memo for those billing items that make up the outstanding balance showing that this item was paid for from a transaction and the item will be marked as paid in the billing log. If you delete the disbursement, this item will be returned to unpaid in the billing log. If you are syncing to QuickBooks, we advise that you don't sync this item from the billing log as that will create a double entry in QuickBooks of this item being paid since it's already been paid on a transaction. Transaction Status Types You can now add a status type to a transaction. We've kept it simple for this initial roll out so your options are Active, Pending/Under Contract, Closed, Cancelled, as these can be applied to most scenarios. We will look to expand the options in the future. All your currently closed transactions will automatically have their status type updated to Closed. All your transactions without a disbursement created will be automatically updated to Active. All transactions at 25%, 50% or 75% complete will be changed to Pending/Under Contract. To change the status to Closed, you must complete the Pay Agent task. When this is complete, the status will be automatically updated to Closed. Cancelled status type transactions will be filtered out of the main view transaction page, but you can always access them by clicking the Filter button and updating your filter criteria. You can see all your cancelled deals on the Pipeline report by filtering by the Cancelled status type. Vendor Section You can now add, edit and delete vendors and their information in the Settings > Vendors section. Vendors are used for pre-commission and post-commission credit/debits on the commission disbursement and for paying vendors using the direct deposit feature. Try BrokerSumo free for 14 days. Click here to sign up. To view the original article, visit the BrokerSumo blog.

HouseLogic Helps Homeowners Get the Most from Filing their Taxes
  WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2017 -- After all the paperwork that comes with buying a home, few think about the ultimate paperwork – filing taxes. However being a homeowner comes with many benefits, including the opportunity for an increased tax refund. This month's File With Confidence: Tax Tips for Homeowners spotlight from HouseLogic.com, the comprehensive website for homeowners from the National Association of Realtors®, features six articles offering advice on how homeowners can get the most out of their filings. Following are a few tips from HouseLogic on how to sail through tax season and bring home the largest return. Will My Taxes Look Different Now That I'm a Homeowner? Becoming a homeowner comes with many changes, including saying goodbye to the standard deduction with a 1040-EZ form and embracing itemization on Schedule A. HouseLogic walks some recent first-time homeowners through their new tax benefits, including one-time deductions after buying a home, such as application or underwriting fees. How to DIY Your Taxes – and Not Miss a Single Deduction. Filing taxes alone can be a daunting task, especially when it involves itemizing deductions. Check out HouseLogic's tips for DIY tax filers on how to get every possible tax deduction, including recouping some of the costs of buying or selling a home. Are You Getting the Home Tax Deductions You're Entitled to? One of the many benefits of homeownership is the multitude of deductions that become available come tax time. However, homeowners can get overwhelmed attempting to take advantage of every single deduction to which they are entitled. Follow HouseLogic's list of often-overlooked deductions related to owning a home, including credits for installing energy-efficient home systems. How long to Keep Tax Records. Most people can think of 100 things other than tax documents they would rather make room for and store in their homes, but there are some forms that need to be kept to prove a deduction is deserved, to file an insurance claim or just in case. Follow HouseLogic's checklist to find out how long forms and returns should be stored – in some states it can be up to 10 years. Don't Panic! You CAN Do Your Taxes Error-Free. Here's How. Are condominium fees tax deductible? Does renting a room out on Airbnb count as rental income? Knowing what is and is not deductible can be difficult for even the most seasoned DIY tax filer, and it can be easy to make a mistake. Take a look at HouseLogic's list of the top six blunders homeowners make when filing taxes, including not challenging property tax bills when a home's value is reassessed. When It's Time to Get an Accountant to Do Your Taxes. When do taxes become too complicated for someone to handle on their own? HouseLogic lays out when it might be time to bring in a professional, such as when becoming a landlord or turning a home into a home office. For more information on quick and simple home improvement projects, visit HouseLogic.com. HouseLogic is a free source of information that helps consumers make smart, confident decisions about all aspects of home ownership. Made possible by Realtors®, the site helps owners get the most value and enjoyment from their existing home and helps buyers and sellers make the best deal possible. The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

New REALTOR® Benefits Partner Allows Members to Save on Financial Management Software
  WASHINGTON (October 13, 2016) — The National Association of Realtors®, through the REALTOR Benefits® Program, has partnered with Intuit, the global leader in financial management software products, to offer exclusive savings on Intuit's signature products QuickBooks® Self-Employed and TurboTax®. "The addition of Intuit to the REALTOR Benefits® Program allows NAR to provide our members with access and discounts to world class financial management software products that are well-suited to meet the unique needs of real estate professionals," said NAR President Tom Salomone, broker-owner of Real Estate II, Inc. in Coral Springs, Florida. Through QuickBooks® Self-Employed, a streamlined app for income and expense management designed specifically for the self-employed, users can automatically track mileage, easily attach receipts, and track expenses and minimize tax bills all from a mobile device. Intuit's TurboTax® — America's No. 1 best-selling tax preparation software — offers easy filing preparation, print and e-file capabilities, income reporting and access to credentialed TurboTax® experts for tax advice and assistance. The partnership gives members access to pricing discounts on a suite of TurboTax® properties, including TurboTax Deluxe, Premier and Home & Business versions. "Intuit is excited to partner with NAR to help real estate professionals manage their finances with QuickBooks Self-Employed and TurboTax Online," said Kathy Tsitovich, director of business development at Intuit. "We recognize that busy real estate professionals want to stay focused on one thing — real estate. Our products are designed to help them keep more of their hard-earned income by maximizing deductions, simplifying tax time, and providing clear visibility into cash-flow throughout the year." For more information on the Intuit partnership and other REALTOR Benefits® partners, visit Realtor.org/RealtorBenefits. The REALTOR Benefits® Program is the official member benefits program of the National Association of Realtors®, connecting members with savings and unique offers on products and services just for Realtors® from more than 30 companies recognized as leaders in their respective industries. The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Does the End of the Year Have You Feeling Stressed?
  As we near the end of 2015, the thought of preparing for tax season, final financial reporting and closing the fiscal year can be stressful; with brokerWOLF it doesn't have to be. We've outlined a short list of key features within brokerWOLF that will help you to easily manage your back office and financials, and allow you to take your brokerage operations to the next level. Agent Management: License Expiry Protection Electronic Document Storage Team/Mentor Management Commission Split Management Expert Transaction Administration: Trust/Escrow Ledgers Automated Lawyers Letters/Commission Disbursement Authorizations (CDAs) to Title Companies Detailed Commission & Referral Checks EFTs (Electronic Funds Transfers) Real-Time Agent Billing: Recurring Billing Importing Charges Billing Direct from A/P Emailing Expense Statements Deducting Charges from Commission Checks Reporting: Pending Transaction Income (2.P.2) Agent Expenses Uncovered (8.6.6) Commission Cutting (2.P.5.6) Profitability Per Agent (8.F.2) Calculating Agent Value (8.F.8) Learn more about brokerWOLF! To view the original post, visit the Lone Wolf blog.