Last week, NYSAR CEO Duncan MacKenzie and Government Affairs Director Mike Kelly had a meeting with representatives from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office and the Division of Budget on an initial proposal to implement a statewide First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account program. The program, outlined in NYSAR’s 2015 legislative priorities, would allow individuals and couples to put aside money in a special savings account to be used only for upfront costs associated with purchasing a first home in New York State. This will continue to be one of NYSAR’s legislative priorities in 2016.

The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) and REALTORS Property Resource (RPR) signed a technology agreement with Upstream to develop a cross-industry platform for real estate data entry, collection and distribution for real estate brokers. Upstream will create a single entry point for brokers to manage property data, and offer distribution to MLSs, publishers and vendors. 

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The share of first-time buyers declined for the third consecutive year and remained at the lowest point in nearly three decades, according to the National Association of REALTORS’ 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers survey. 

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Please take a minute and tell Congress to stop taking money from future homeowners by answering the latest Call for Action - only 15 percent of New York State's REALTORS have taken action so far!It’s important to tell your representatives to support House Bill H.R. 22 with the REALTOR-supported amendment, which removes an extension of higher Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee fees (g-fees). Take action now!

In addition to last week’s local city, town and county races, there were five special elections for state Legislature. None of those special election seats changed party from the outgoing official. Republican Fred Akshar defeated Barbara Fiala soundly to replace Tom Libous in the Southern Tier Senate seat. Three Democrats will replace outgoing Democrats in the Assembly, and a fourth Democrat will replace John Sampson in the Senate. A regional breakdown of election results can be found here. 

Stay up-to-date on NYSAR Government Affairs news and events by following us on Facebook and Twitter.

The Tuesday, Nov. 17, NYSAR Radio show will cover recent court and New York State Department of State decisions. Tune in at 10 a.m. on Nov. 17 on your PC or Mac by using the player on the NYSAR Radio page. You will need to be logged in to listen. If you have not yet created your account with the website, you will need to click on "New User" on the Member Login page and follow the prompts. Find more information as well as a list of links to play NYSAR Radio from any of your mobile devices here.

Enrollment for health insurance in 2016 is now open! USI Affinity will hold a webinar on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 9:30 a.m. to discuss individual open enrollment and the NYSAR Health Exchange. Register today! 

USI Affinity’s dedicated sales representatives will help you navigate the plan options and find the coverage that best suits your needs. Shop the NYSAR exchange at http://www.myrealtorinsurance.com/nysar or call USI Affinity’s dedicated sales representative Ned Cox at 888.834.3713 for more information.

The Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) course will be offered Nov. 17-18 at the Hudson Gateway Association of REALTORS in Goshen, NY and Nov. 18-19 at the Greater Binghamton Association of REALTROS in Binghamton, NY. Elevate your standards, enhance your performance, and demonstrate the knowledge and skills essential to professionally and ethically represent sellers.

Register online today or call NYSAR at 800-239-4432 x219. Find more information here.

Join NYSAR and former IRS trainer and best-selling author Sandy Botkin this Thursday, Nov. 12 at 2:30 p.m. for a free webinar on how to pay the smallest amount of taxes possible next year by doing a few simple things today. The webinar will cover: how to deduct your meals and entertainment; how to legally deduct your home office; how to get the equivalent of free gas for your vehicle; how to easily track your mileage and other expenses to stay tax compliant; and more. The webinar will conclude with an overview of the Taxbot mobile app. As a NYSAR Member Perk, members receive a 50-percent discount. There will also be a brief Q&A session at the end of the webinar. Register today!

NYSAR Member Perks partner Taradel, an approved affiliate of the U.S. Postal Service’s Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM®) program, helps you design, target, print and mail marketing pieces to every address in a specific zip code or carrier route. Through this partnership, NYSAR members receive a five-percent discount, and this holiday season you can save even more! Use promo code "HOLIDAY50" to save $50 on any order of 5,000 or more direct mail pieces, and use "HOLIDAY100" to save $100 on any order of 10,000 or more direct mail pieces. Click here to access the exclusive NYSAR EDDM® member portal and get started today!

One out of every four adults will have their identity stolen – are you next? According to NYSAR Member Perks partner IdentityForce, a leader in identity protection, identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States and can happen at anytime, anywhere and to anyone. Knowing this, NYSAR has negotiated a special discounted rate to provide you with a proven solution to safeguard your personal information. Don’t wait to fall victim to identity theft, let IdentityForce start protecting you today! Visit www.identityforce.com/nysar for more information and to enroll. To view and share an infographic about how you can protect yourself from identity theft, click here.

Submit your bids for the Amazon Echo, a cloud-based voice service that instantly provides information, answers questions, plays music, reads the news, checks sports scores or the weather, and more.Bidding closes Friday, Nov. 20. Visit the RPAC page of NYSAR.com to learn more.

Congratulations to the Greater Capital Association on hosting another successful RPAC event, this one at the Thirsty Owl in Saratoga Springs. Thank you to the 67 attendees for their support toward raising another $3,000 for RPAC. GCAR has now reached nearly 120 percent of their goal, reaching more than $52,000 this year!